A Tuscan reception center for migrants has had success in helping migrants to integrate. It offers a range of services, including psychological counselling, legal and medical assistance, language courses and vocational training.
'We will not be stopped by prejudice,' says Luigi Andreini, president of the association Progetto Accoglienza (by Gaetana D'Amico) BORGO SAN LORENZO (FLORENCE) - There is a little-known corner of Tuscany where for years migrant families in emergency situations have found hospitality and safety. It is Villaggio La Brocchi, a shelter run by the association Progetto Accoglienza. Since 1992 it has been operating in the municipality of Borgo San Lorenzo dealing with migrant reception and related issues. It is located in a renovated building complex, and first opened its doors in 2004. It is currently home to 10 families.
It also boasts the restaurant 'Ethnos,' run by Sara Tagi, originally from Ethiopia. It also has a library, a space for conferences and concerts, and the 'La Tinaia' holiday home.
It employs 15 qualified young people who work with the refugees from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and Afghanistan. It also provides legal and medical assistance to new arrivals, as well as language courses, vocational training and on-site support for the 27 children living there.
A different approach to integration
"We try to offer a different approach to integration," says Luigi Andreini, president of the association Progetto Accoglienza. "Sixty-four percent of migrants arriving in Italy have problems related to psychological vulnerability, in the best-case scenario. The person who arrives is not the same as the one who set off; he or she has been beaten or tortured in Libya, raped and may even be pregnant," explains the president. "When we started, we did not think we would soon be needing a psychiatrist. Now we have a consultant to supervise the staff and to treat the migrants," he adds.
Receiving new arrivals continues to present challenges due to peoples' different experiences and backgrounds, and also due to the changing political landscape in Italy. "There is no point in pretending. There is a different level of awareness now, and anti-immigrant prejudice has grown," admits Andreini. "What is needed is a counter-narrative, because what is being conveyed at the moment is destroying any possibility of achieving successful integration. It presents all migrants as being dirty and bad, or as stealing jobs, which isn't true. If all our immigrants left Italy tomorrow, the country would descend into crisis."
'Migrants carry disease? It's not true'
"It is said that migrants carry disease, but it's not true," says Andreini. "They bring disease if they are left in conditions of exclusion and irregularity." The problem is understanding people's diversity, he adds. "It is a changing society and managing change is never easy. But change is the origin of the future, and if it is approached with less conflict all the better. We also sometimes question ourselves. Of course we are sometimes faced with situations that become critical, situations that require us to reflect on our methods and on our approach to immigrants," concludes Andreini. (In the pictures: Villaggio La Brocchi and Luigi Andreini, president of the association Progetto Accoglienza. Credit: ANSA/GAETANA D'AMICO)