Migrant women stories, simple passionate words that tell a precarious life story.
These are voices of people that try to explain that differences enrich humanity.
Laila, Gloria and Nara work as cultural mediators inside the house of detention in Rimini, section ‘foreigners’. This service is run by their association Associazione “Todo Color” in collaboration with Regione Emilia Romagna and Asl in Rimini. The associaton Todo Color is run by migrant women that are everyday involved in the struggle for the extension of human rights and dignity.
Question – How long have been living in Italy and why did you come here?
Laila – I’ve been living here since 1998, I came to Italy because I was studying at the Italian Cultural centre in Rabat. I managed to enrol the university of Bologna in Rimini thanks to my cv.
Gloria – I arrived in Italy back in 1989. I used to live in Venezuela and I was married to an Italian citizen. Living in Venezuela was tough and we came to live together my mother-in-law in Rimini.
Nara – I come from Armenia and I have been living in Italy since 1990.
Question – Was it difficult to obtain residence papers and documents?
Laila – I didn’t have great problems, I was registered at the Italian embassy in Morocco. I reached Italy and within 8 days I went to police headquarters which issued a residence papers allowing me to study in Italy.
Gloria – I didn’t meet problems since I was married to an Italian citizen. After two years my three children and I became Italian citizens.
Nara – I met huge problems when I needed documents to get married, I had problems in my homecountry and then here in Italy. In Armenia there were not offices that issued certificates explaining my civil state. I did not know whom to refer to, I was lost. Anyway the hugest problems occured on my arrival in Italy. I went to police headquarters in Rome ten times only to render my documents valid. Everytime something was wrong, a ‘comma’ or a word was always wrong.
Question – Which are the most frequent problems you meet as women and as migrant women?
Laila – The most frequent problem is finding a house, a flat and renting it. It was very difficult to find lodging when I was a student. Landlords would not trust me because I was a migrant student without a job. Landlords think that migrants are poor. On the other hand finding a job was not very hard: Rimini in summer is a very touristic city and there’s a lot of seasonal work. I mainly worked during summers.
I still do meet problems, Italians are always astonished because I fluently speak Italian, because I do not cover my head in spite of being an Arab nor I wear traditional clothes. Many people are distrustful and not tolerant towards foreigners.
Gloria – I main problem I met was renting a house. We arrived in Rimini and we could not find a place where to live. At the beginning we moved to a residence which was rented to tourists during the summer. After many years of a terribly precarious life we then found a flat which rented. Finding a job was also quite difficult, my biggest problem was speaking Italian. When someone does not speak well Italian finding an employment is hard.
Nara – I had great problems in finding a job, a stable and permanent job. I am 50 years old and I really would like to have a quite life. Unfortunately without a job, life cannot be quite nor happy nowadays. I would also feel much better, appreciated, useful if I worked. I think my age, the fact that I am a migrant citizen and bad luck as well are the reasons that make a stable employment hard to be found.
Question – Are you working?
Laila – Yes, I am very satisfied with my job. I am a cultural mediator which is a very nice job. It helps in having migrants meet Italian culture but also vice versa. We communicate with people who have just reached Italy and are not integrated and usually find themselves in great difficulties. We give information, we help people in meeting others.
Gloria – I work as a cultural mediator. We have an association run by women from Colombia, we meet every week, we organise parties, dinners, etc. I enjoy helping others, sometimes I meet people in the streets I see that they are confused, that they need information. I immediately recognise people that come from Southern America.
Nara – My husband once told me “a coarse to become cultural mediator is being organised. Migrant citizens are the ones allowed to partake. Why don’t you try?” I accepted the proposal and I met many migrant women, who came from different cultures which did not mean anything to me before. At the end of the coarse I found a job and I help people to understand what to do, laws, etc. I am very proud of my role and of the fact that I can be useful to others: being migrants is sometimes very difficult and complex. When I give pieces of information, my solidarity and some humanity I feel that I am helping someone to solve their problems and to feel less lonely.