HOME AWAY FROM HOME
TABLE OF CONTENT
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4-5 ABOUT THE PROJECT 6-7 OBJECTIVES 8-9 TOPICS 10-11 EXPERTS 12-15 RESULTS 16-17 OPINIONS OF THE PARTICIPANTS 18-19 CONCLUSIONS 4Ž
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About the Project
"Home Away from Home - empowering local NGOs to take an active role in the migrants’ integration process" was an Erasmus+ mobility for youth workers project, that provided participants first-hand information about immigration in Europe and practical tools that can be used when working with this topic locally. The training course took place in Aveiro, Portugal, from October 5th to October 15th 2019. There were 25 participants coming from Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Portugal. The project was financed by Erasmus+ Programme, implemented by Agora Aveiro association for the promotion of active citizenship. Partners that took part in the project were: Walk Together (Bulgaria), iDemo (Croatia), NGO ELIX (Greece), AkiDwA (Ireland) and Rise Hub (Italy).
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Objectives
Objectives of the project were: raising awareness about the current situation in Europe when it comes to migration, enhancing intercultural awareness, making steps towards a more inclusive society, providing participants with specific theoretical and practical knowledge; improving different skills and competencies of participants through training course, and sharing the outcomes of the training to influence a broader audience, such as local communities of the participants, or volunteers and/or employees from partner organisations.
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Topics
During the first days of the training course, participants explored several topics in depth, including: migration (with the focus on Europe), its development and consequences, human rights, discrimination, and inclusion. Non-formal education methods such as workshops, role plays, simulation games, and discussions were used to tackle critical thinking and different resources about the topics were shared. Participants got familiar with different tools for inclusion such as Human Library, Forum Theatre, and SPEAK platform. Also, they learned how to use guerrilla marketing to promote social causes and participated in a SPEAK event. In addition to this, we hosted experts who work directly with immigrants and refugees, holding an interactive session where they shared their experiences, opinions, and discussed the topics with the participants.
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Experts
An entire afternoon was dedicated to meeting seven professionals with significant experience when it comes to the topic of the training. They were: Pedro Amaro Santos (Humans before borders), Khuloud Kalthoum (founder of Speak in Braga), Pedro Neto (Director of Amnesty International in Portugal), Joana Correia (Cruz Vermelha São João da Madeira), Isabel Martins da Silva and Adonia Karatza (MEERU/HUBB) and João Henriques (CLAIM Aveiro).
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Results The project had two major outcomes and several other results. The first and the main outcome was a Human Library event that was organised by the participants on October 12th 2019 in the Municipal Library of Aveiro. The main topic was migration, and the Human Library had 10 “human books” - refugees, migrants and volunteers from institutions and organisations working with refugees and migrants. During the two hour-long event, more than 50 people visited and got the chance to speak personally with “books” and learn about their lives. The Human Library received plenty of positive reactions both from the “books” and “readers” and was featured in local media.
What is a Human Library? Human Library is a library-like event that gathers people with different life stories. These people act as “human books”. Readers come to the library, borrow a “book” and spend 15-30 minutes with them, listening and sharing their stories. T his kind of event serves as a great opportunity to meet people we usually don’t have contact with, to examine your prejudices and to learn about the different lives of people around you.
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Participants used guerrilla marketing to send a powerful message about human rights, more concretely human trafficking, and did it by standing together on a square acting as objects in a so called “Human Museum". They were holding messages they wanted to share with the public. The action lasted for one hour and took place on Aveiro’s busiest square. Passers-by were intrigued by the action and approached, asking what it was about or just sharing their opinions with us. Some took photos of the “Museum”. They were then given flyers with explanations and more information.
What is Guerrilla Markeeting? Guerrilla marketing uses unusual and creative strategies to capture attention and develop word-ofmouth. NGOs use it to promote positive values and attitudes or to draw attention to any kind of social problems. It is done in an unconventional way, with a little or no budget and expected high impact. Examples of guerrilla actions for good causes are numerous, as there are plenty of ways to do one the only limit is one’s imagination!
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Opinions of the participants What did you gain thanks to this project?
The debates, discussions and tools taught were brilliant. I learned to get "naked" in front of people I don't know, to let me know with strengths and weaknesses. I have known new realities about immigration and refugees's topic. This project taught me a lot , the most important thing I took away from this training is not be quick to judge or dismiss someone else’s opinion because it does not align with yours
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Conclusions In the last decades, but especially in the last five years, there has been an increase in the volume, diversity, geographical scope, and complexity of migration. The reasons why people migrate are many, and compound. They include the lack of employment opportunities in their countries, poor health care, and educational opportunities, narrow-mindedness and traditionalism (in case of LGBTQ community) or the desire to reunite with family members. Other reasons are more complex, including armed conflict and other situations of violence, natural/environmental disasters, chemical/nuclear disasters, famine etc. Whatever the motives are, actions have to be taken, on several levels, including emergency rescue, legal assistance and access to services, international protection and integration, nondiscrimination and guaranteeing fundamental rights, awareness-raising, information campaigns, mutual understanding and participation, training, education, information exchange. UN Declaration of Human Rights says that "Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state". We would like to add that everyone has the right to feel included in their new communities, and this is the challenge that we are addressing with this project.Â
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The so-called refugee crises provoked the rise of populism, mostly right-leaning and managed to shake the foundations of the EU and put at stake both the legitimacy of the EU's policies (border, asylum, and migration). It has also challenged EU's commitment to the values described in the Treaties. Opportunist populist political parties, some EU governments, and many influenced individuals react to this crisis connecting it with fear, prejudice, xenophobia or racism. On the other hand, numerous initiatives and projects developed by NGOs and individuals have been overshadowed by these dangerous trends. With this project, we empowered NGO members working or planning to become more active in the field and keep promoting the values that make us ‘European’: solidarity and human rights protection, by developing projects for the inclusion of the newcomers in our local communities. Historically, migrants have contributed to the cultural, economic, and social development of different societies. Taking into consideration ageing of the European population they can also improve the demographics of our continent. We believe we must change the narrative that too often talks about “us” versus “them”, and focus on ensuring more inclusive and democratic societies.
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