Tuscany
“What is essential about what is happening here is that the work is done with and alongside these guys, rather than to them.” Alon and Melissa’s reflections from Cetona and surrounding areas
The small town of Cetona in Tuscany looks idyllic. Rolling green hills and cloudless blue skies; vineyards and olive groves; thermal spas and medieval old towns.
Though for many of those who live here, it is harder than the picturesque scenery would have you believe. Historically, this is serf country; where 17th century farmhouses were once inhabited by farmers maintaining the towns economy through agriculture, many now exist to house holidaymakers as the local economy is becoming increasingly based on tourism. It is a small town of about 2000 people, public transport is slim and work is not always easy to come by.
Much of the town’s upkeep and community activities are thanks to volunteer efforts. For example, an impressive 3-day flower market that took place whilst we were there was entirely run and financed by local people, whilst essential public maintenance like railing painting and street cleaning is supported by volunteers, some of whom are asylum seekers living in the town hostel.
It is these asylum seekers that we came here to meet, a group of 20 West African men who have been living in this hostel for over a year whilst they await a decision on their asylum claim. Crisis Classroom first met some of them one year ago when they came here to run training for a group of local volunteers and an activity day at Suzie’s Yard, an organic farm run by English/Italian woman Suzie. Here’s that day back in 2017:
Coming back here was one of the most important things we had to do on this trip because a lot has happened since that first meeting. In November 2017, an initiative called Loop-La-Loop was born organically out of their time spent getting to know each other. Abega, Aliou, Abdou, Samba, Ismaila, Kiassou, Ngally, Bass, Ass and Suzie have formed a social enterprise based around their crocheting and musical activities. They learnt to crochet together in the hostel with YouTube videos, initially as a way to learn English but what they found was a remarkable tool for bonding, healing and growing. Now they make and sell hats to order, as well as teddy bears for displaced children around the world (which you can commission!). But much, much more than just a business or art project, this group have become a tight-knit family and support network for one another. They teach crocheting in the local schools, volunteer, attend community events together and much more. There’s a lot to say about what they do and we felt that it was important that the guys spoke for themselves about what their project is, so we carried out some interviews and are in the process of editing a video that will be available soon.
Whilst we work on that, we wanted to share what we have learnt from our time with this group and other projects in the surrounding areas.
We are seeing a pattern emerge, in which grassroots actions taken by local communities are filling the gaps that they have identified as missing from state and large NGO responses to mass migration. This gap is often relating to the educational, emotional, social, and cultural support provided to people arriving.
These are essential needs that mean the difference between head down, not looking at anyone, unable to communicate and speak the language, time spent waiting, eating and sleeping, to feeling valuable and valued, with purpose, part of a community and with a support network around you.
What we have found time and time again is that what is more important than WHAT activities are done, is HOW they are done. It is about the journey and not the destination. In Cetona we saw the public performance of the Giufa Project, a drama programme involving a class from the local school and some of the guys from the hostel creating and acting together. The final performance was a showcase of what they had created and the relationships they had built. As Director Laura Fatini said to us during rehearsals, “The aim is not to make the kids good artists. The aim is to make them good citizens.”
With Loop-La-Loop, Suzie identified that the new arrivals in her community lacked appropriate winter clothing. She could have given them hats but instead she facilitated a space where they could learn to make hats for themselves. They learnt alongside each other in a process that helped fulfil these needs whilst also providing all the participants with a myriad of benefits, allowing them to meet other people in the community, get work and travel to other parts of Italy. They’ve said it has helped them sleep, calmed their mind and relaxed their bodies. They told us that now they walk with their heads held higher, can look people in the eye, feel more valued and part of a community. Most importantly, they laugh and smile a lot (something we were told wasn’t always the case less than a year ago). And for Suzie and other locals, these young men provide a new energy and richness to their community.
What is essential about what is happening here is that the work is done with and alongside these guys, rather than to them (unfortunately a core part of many refugee and migrant experiences). Many of the guys have spoken about how the group is explicitly a space of democracy and anti-racism — everyone has a voice, and all decisions are taken together and with the needs of the group at their heart.
However to build this trust and reap these benefits requires significant dedication and commitment from all sides. We visited a great project in Perugia called Urbagri4Women, run by TAMAT, which is teaching a group of asylum seekers living in local welcome centres agricultural skills, giving them a piece of land to work on and supporting them to build their own association that can run it. After a year of support from TAMAT it will be theirs. Alongside this the organisers run weekly business and Italian language lessons. The team has decided they want to experiment with growing okra, something that has never been done that far north in Italy.
The ideology of the project is based on similar principles to Loop-La-Loop: the group learns and makes decisions together and the project aims are flexible to their needs. However, just as with Loop-La-Loop, it has taken time for the group to build trust in the project and feel confident to put their ideas forward. When we asked the TAMAT project leaders what they felt was missing, they identified getting honest feedback from the participants as a challenge. Trust and confidence are growing, they have begun choosing names and roles for the association they are forming and are starting to put themselves forward more. However the organisers feel there is still a way to go before it is truly theirs (something the organisers are striving for). We hope that as the project goes on they reap the same benefits that we have seen elsewhere.
Some of the reasons for these challenges comes from cultures of mistrust across the refugee and migrant crisis, which we have seen evidenced in many European settings where people feel unsafe and unwilling to share their thoughts openly in case it harms their asylum case, something we have heard is a very real reality that faces those deemed ‘trouble makers’. Whether between migrants and Europeans; local and foreign volunteers; state and grassroots; and within local and migrant groups themselves, misinformation is rife and people are afraid of each other. The spaces these groups are creating are working hard to overcome these challenges and build better relationships.
What’s special about these projects is that they give the people involved the ability to ask the most important question of all: ‘What’s next?’ For the men of Loop-La-Loop, it is not their intention for crocheting hats to be their future and few, if any, will stay in Cetona. Similarly, many of the people at Urbagri4Women will not go on to be agricultural farmers. This is about supporting people to do something important that they enjoy and that has value at a time when their lives are being forcibly put on hold — giving them the space to look forward. Apart from helping them in their asylum claims, it is about language, social interactions, work experience, community involvement, financial support and purpose.
Of course its not all roses here — asylum seekers still face huge obstacles: significant hostility and racism from the local community and institutions, past traumas, struggles to find work, and unfair and abusive working practices. And for locals, to create and sustain projects like these take mammoth personal efforts and often requires serious dedication. Many people involved in this work have told us how it has changed their lives, for better and for worse (something we would like to explore further).
There is no quick fix to the problems that come with the mass migration into Europe that will continue into the foreseeable future. But what we’ve seen is that ‘normal people’ really can and do make a difference. Through getting to know each other a little better, opening up their communities and making room for new people and new things, little bits of beauty like these projects can come into existence. And everyone benefits. So how do we do it? And how do we help others do it? We’re learning this more and more as we go on and hope to continue this learning southwards as we head towards Rome, southern Italy and then Greece.
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