This week started off by going to Naples! I was so happy to get to explore another city in Italy, this time with an amazing guide, Alessandro. After walking about 12,000 step and taking in some Napoli food, sites, and culture, we visited Alessandro’s workplace. This multicultural enterprise provides numerous opportunities for migrants struggling, such as the trafficked, abused, displaced, and more. I’m very grateful to have gotten this perspective and the time given to us to learn more about Dedalus. Some details that especially stuck out to me is this program not only helps victims of trafficking through medical assistance, legal assistance, and shelters, but also works to demolish discriminatory beliefs that circulate around immigrants and refugees. One example, is by facilitating encounters between real people, allowing both parties to gain a positive experience with one another. This allows for the humanization of migrant populations as well.
Something else that I believe really humanized the experience of crossing borders and traveling away from one’s home country, though not to generalize, was the movie The Swimmers on Netflix. I truly wish people everywhere would watch this movie. Even this being my third time watching it, it was no less gut wrenching and amazing. While reading about the treacherous passages a person must face when traveling by sea in the reading My Fourth Time, We Drowned, especially when it ends with death and shipwreck, was so incredibly upsetting and sad. Putting an actual visual to what that looks like was something else though. The movie was very well made, in those moments, I could feel their pain, their fear, and hurt. It is something I could never imagine going through and I think if more people had the chance to watch moments like what we saw in The Swimmers, their compassion would grow.
While volunteering this week in Sant ‘Egidio, I spent some time pondering about the probability of being able to conduct an interview with a refugee or a regular visitor of the program. As time passed and I helped individuals select the clothes they needed as well as passed out a few treats while others waited, I did find myself a tad stressed, noticing that at that point in time, I would still not be quite comfortable conducting an interview. Since the clock is ticking, and I don’t see myself reaching that point anytime in the very near future, I brought it up to Diem in her office hours for some ideas and inspiration on how to go about getting the opinions and experiences of the individuals who use Sant ‘Egidio’s services. I LOVED the strategy Diem suggested, putting out small questions in various languages where people can input their responses as they come and go into Wednesday’s services. I could also put out some small goodies and treats as incentive. It would be completely optional but would still give me the opportunity to receive a number of thoughts and opinions from the people whose lives are the most affected by the services provided by Sant ‘Egidio. I still have to discuss this in further detail with our supervisors to make it a reality, but I really do feel much better having a tangible solution to the problem I was facing. Especially with school ramping up a bit, talking out solutions was absolutely a de-stressor.
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