Mtissage
Mtissage
collana diretta da A LBERTO T AROZZI
Metissage raccoglie e divulga materiali per un confronto tra culture, generi, gruppi, generazioni, soggetti e progetti differenti, approcci allo sviluppo e al servizio sociale, al cambiamento locale e globale, diversi per visione teorica, metodologia e prassi dintervento. Un lavoro sociale che agevoli la comunicazione Nord e Sud, maggioranze e minoranze, utenti e operatori dei servizi, normalita del centro e anomalie della periferia.
Comitato scientifico : Maurizio Ambrosini, Pietro Basso, Fabio Berti, Costantino Cipolla, Vittorio Cotesta, Catherine de Wenden, Maria Caterina Federici, Guido Giarelli, Fabio Lo Verde, Antonio Mancini, Marco Martiniello, Umberto Melotti, Alberto Merler, Everardo Minardi, Giacomo Mule, Maria Lucia Piga, Andrea Pitasi, Micol Pizzolati, Raffaele Rauty, Paul Statham, Carolina Stefoni, Mara Tognetti-Bordogna, Laura Zanfrini
Coordinamento edit .: Antonio Mancini, Elisa Pelizzari, Alberto Tarozzi
La presente pubblicazione
stata realizzata
con il contributo di
A.N.P.E.A.S. Onlus
( www.anpeas.it )
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Titre
Mtissage
THE ROLLER-COASTER RIDE
OF AN AFRICAN CHILD
FROM GAMBIA TO ITALY
Lamin DARBOE
FOREWORD, Patrizia Pano
LHarmattan Italia
via Degli Artisti 15
10124 Torino | LHarmattan
5-7 rue de LEcole Polytechnique
75005 Paris |
Copyright
harmattan.italia@gmail.com
www.editions-harmattan.fr
LHarmattan Italia srl / LHarmattan
Torino / Paris, 2018
EAN Epub : 978-2-336-85704-6
FOREWORD
PATRIZIA PANO
(president of A.N.P.E.A.S. Onlus and director of C.A.S. Xenia Ripabottoni)
During the last years, immigration has increasingly become an important and highly discussed topic, playing a big role in political issues. Some parties have used the topic as a political tool to increase their popularity and win approval from voters. In 2016, many migrants reached the Italian coasts. At that time the national reception system was affected by internal conflicts between the ones who were trying to improve the formerly system and the ones who wanted to inhibit it. The C.A.S. (Extraordinary Reception Center) Xenia was founded in this uncertain and confused situation. It is based in Ripabottoni, a small village in Molise, Southern Italy.
On Sunday 9 th October 2016, an apparently ordinary day, 36 migrants coming from Africa arrived in the small village. Among these poorly dressed and malnourished people, there was Lamin Darboe, an English teacher from Gambia and later the author of the autobiographical story narrated in this book.
At the migrants arrival most of the village residents were against them and their settling there. The locals eventually changed their mind as soon as they looked at the poor and frightened eyes of these new, different people. They even launched a solidarity campaign, based on small but socially meaningful acts. In this way the village residents ceased being afraid of the strangers and began involving them in many activities: the migrants even sang in churches chorus (the Catholic and the Evangelic one), which are part of the religious community of Ripabottoni. Some of them started playing football in the local team, to let the club survive the lack of young players. A few others helped the elderly with grocery shopping and household chores.
Everything run smoothly in the little village and, what at the beginning was considered a catastrophic event for Ripabottoni, became an opportunity to strengthen the local values, to support the towns economy and enrich its society. The younger ones learnt the village customs and had the opportunity to show the residents their traditions and habits. Therefore, the carnival as well as other religious holidays became perfect events to exchange knowledge and practices between the locals and the migrants. Everything seemed to work like a charm in the little village of Ripabottoni, but something unacceptable eventually happened.
The city council of Ripabottoni had never approved the presence of the C.A.S. within the village and had tried to stop its activities from the very beginning, without respecting the achievements of the integration process. The city council adopted a strategy to dismiss the hosting center by sending many solicitations to the Campobasso prefecture. Its purpose was to obtain the closure of the C.A.S. Xenia.
Unfortunately, the strategy was successful and on January 11 th the Extraordinary Reception Center Xenia in Ripabottoni closed.
In the meantime, a voluntary organization was founded in Ripabottoni. It collected 181 solidarity signatures in one day an extraordinary success for such a small community. These signatures confirm the residents willingness to keep the center alive. Although many protests were held in the village, the hosting center was closed and the institutions didnt provide any explanation for their decision.
The Italian media and even the international press reported the events in Ripabottoni CNN and Le Monde are just two important examples. This small village became the center of interests, where an open question remains why did they want to ruin a model of integration, which was actually so successful?
Although these events have called the whole countrys attention on Ripabottoni, the impact of the center closure was dramatic for the migrants. They were scattered in several centers in the region of Molise and will never be back in this village.
During the events in Ripabottoni, the A.N.P.E.A.S. Onlus (National Association for Social Activities) provided a variety of services to the migrants. Together with another voluntary association, it financially supported a B.L.S.D. (Basic Life Support and Defibrillation) course for the migrants in order to supply them with meaningful tools for their future and their social integration.
Through the publication of this book the A.N.P.E.A.S. association intends to support vulnerable people combating for their rights by bringing fort the exchange of ideas and information.
INTRODUCTION
This book has been written to tell the story of my early life in the village of Kiang Karantaba (Republic of Gambia), my pursuit of secondary education in the town of Brikama and then in the capital Banjul, my work as a teacher and why I left behind my family, friends and loved ones in pursuit of refuge.
This narrative account describes the journey I endured from the moment I left home with all the fatigue, threats and prejudices I passed through and how I crossed the dreadful and cruel desert. From there, I recall the perils of the lawless country of Libya, the frightening voyage across the Mediterranean Sea and how I eventually dropped anchor at Messina.
I recount my arrival in Ripabottoni (Italy) and all the experiences thereafter: the relationship with the staff and locals as well as my religious, social and cultural integration into village society, the closure of the centre and the reactions to it. Next comes the aftermath of my departure from Ripabottoni, my sorrow at leaving my new friends and the deterioration in my situation since. Finally, I share my dreams and ambitions for the future.
