This is my story and some of the learning that I gained from it. At the moment I’m working during the night in bakery store and continue to study during the day, in the afternoon when I wake up. I have many good friends, I am in contact with home, I can send them some money from time to time. Sometimes I give a hand to children and adults arriving here from different countries around the world.

I hope that you enjoyed my story, telling it has been very important for me.

Perhaps my thoughts and reflections will be useful also for you, to understand and guide your own story as well as to draw a map for your safety and success in order to grow at best the unique tree of your life.

RAPPORTO GRANDI Resiland TRATTO

I sometimes was not very clear about who I was because my experience made me different from what I was before leaving, but at the same time I wasn’t like my peers from the country of arrival. I after understood that my story, with its problems and results, is unique and important regardless of where I come from and where I go. I realized that not recognizing my own story could confuse me. Although it may be very hard, experience always creates the opportunity to learn.

 

Value your story because it is unique and important and take into consideration that it is constantly changing and enriching with new elements.

I always wanted to maintain contacts with home. At the beginning I felt a little bit afraid of explaining my real situation in the new country to my family and my friends because I was facing some difficulties and I didn’t want to disappoint them. Then I realised that it was better to explain the truth even if it may not be what they expected. Being sincere with the people that stayed in my land was also important to orient and inform others who, like me, were planning to leave; and of course, being sincere with myself was important too in order to take control of my life.

 

Try to tell the truth to your loved ones at home and your friends when explaining the situation in the new country; it can be important also for other people who are planning to leave.

I have been thinking about my return since I left home. The possibility to go back to my country has been always in my mind. I often thought of the moment in which I would have been able to visit my village again, even if I still don’t know for how much time I will be living in the new country. In any case, I know that the possibility to go back will never disappear and this thought reassures me because it makes me see that alternatives do exist.

 

Don’t avoid thoughts about return; it will probably be always present in your life even if only in your mind.

Some time after my arrival, I realized that there were several organisations and groups of people that voluntarily do things for the city and contribute to the society through their activities. Even if in some cases I was not sure if it would be good for me, I decided to collaborate with the ones that seemed more positive and constructive. The first was a football team and the other was a group of volunteers that organised activities to improve the city. Thanks to this I discovered people with my same interests; with them I have a lot of fun. But it also gave further sense to my presence in this place, because I felt part of a community.

 

Participate in activities or associations that may interest you; it can be a way to help others, to have an active role in the new society and to be recognized for it.
  1. Feeling at home
  2. Establishing meaningful relations
  3. Preserving dignity
  4. Turning 18