From 14th to 22nd April 2019 our Italian team made up of seven enthusiastic youths coming from different places in Italy had the opportunity to participate in the youth exchange Y-TOUCH: Let’s keep in touch which took place in Antalya, Turkey.
In total there were 28 participants coming from 4 different countries: Italy, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.
The project was about refugee children in Europe, their rights, opportunities and chances and also their disadvantages, their lacks and needs, with a special focus on the particular status they have in every participating country.
Here is the post-mobility note written by Ilaria Pelucchi – the fantastic Group Leader:
” During these days, we took part in many activities, conferences and workshops focused on topics connected to migration such as: prejudices against migrants, xenophobia, the main terms of immigration, refugee children’s rights, discrimination and refugees’ status.
The third day a Youth Summit has been organized with local organizations, NGOs and offices engaged in protecting refugees and migrants’ rights. Among them there were: UNICEF, UNCHR and Antalya Immigration Office.
Each national team presented themselves and gave a speech about their perception, ideas and thoughts on refugee children in Europe.
The fourth day we had the opportunity to visit the University of Antalya and Fatma Parılt school of Antalya, where we played and drew with some Syrian refugee children who are attending that school.
As last activities, we followed a conference about refugee children’s post traumatic behavior and watched and discussed about interviews that every national team made before the project to migrants and refugee children living in our local communities.
We had a great experience with all the other participants, and we’ve got along great with the members of our national group. We exchanged different points of view, perceptions and ideas with the other cultures on many different topics, getting over any prejudice and established insights.
We presented our country during the national evening with enthusiasm and we’ve been able to teach some geography, history, traditional dances and fun facts about Italy.
We also brought with us few national products to taste, such as limoncello, taralli and biscuits.”
And here is the account of Joseph Insirello, another participant:
Now that I’m back home safe, it’s time to share one of the most touching experiences of my life with all of my friends. I have just returned from Antalya, Turkey, where I was a participant in a project called “Y-Touch: Let’s keep in touch!”, which lasted from the 14th of April to the 22nd, focused on refugees’ and migrants’ stories and lives.
There, I had the occasion to meet children refugees from Syria and draw pictures with them.. never had I felt so inspired, by their will to live and keep going despite what the world had done to them, but at the same time my heart was full of sorrow for our inaction in front of their tragedy. In the photo below, me and Müge Develier with those adorable kids! This encounter gave me a real shock, which brought me into a state of long-term reflection….maybe you’ll see more on this in the next months.
At the same time, I met the bad boys and girls you can see in the picture below, Ilaria Pelucchi, Laura Pisanu, Eugenio Marcone, Serena Biasia, Giuliana Megan, Meriem Ilmi, each one contributing to our journey’s success and inspiring me, in one way or the other, to achieve more and listen to different opinions even more (did someone say “abortion”?).
The same goes for the wonderful men and women of the Turkish, Romanian and Bulgarian teams who brought, each in its own peculiar way, their vibe to this event. Thank you all guys!”
