Wow, I can't believe we just had our final class session today. Although it feels like I have been homesick for weeks now, it feels like just yesterday that I was climbing up 94 stairs to get to my apartment after an exhausting trip from Santorini, Greece. Today's class sessions were all so bittersweet. It began with visiting the Iqbal Masih School again but to different classrooms. We were divided into groups and sat in preschool to kindergarten classrooms. In the classroom that I was in, the children were having free play time. Most of them drew pictures so I sat next to them. As much as I love playing with children, I found it so difficult to communicate and draw with them because of our language barrier. None of them spoke English, but we found a commonality by making silly faces. The next class we visited was a 4th grade class. Since the speaker spoke some English, we were able to understand the general class content. I was told that this classroom didn't have any foreign students but one student with movement problems that had a special desk. I liked that this school was inclusive and accommodating for this student. Overall, my experience at Iqbal Masih was very positive and modeled the school that teachers strive for in providing children with the education they deserve no matter where they are from or what they look like.
In the evening, we met with G2, a national organization of sons and daughters of migrants and refugees born and/or grown in Italy. We spoke with Alphousseyea, Yue, Mohammed, and Dona. . This organization wants to tell people that they are not just the second generation of migrants, but rather the second generation of migration. The four we interviewed were either born in Italy or grew up from an early age. One of the things I found most interesting was from Alphousseyea. He said that when he went abroad to Canada, he found a large community of Italians. There he spoke with them and they seemed to understand that he could be Italian regardless of his ethnic background. But when he is in Italy, even though he has grown up and lived in Italy all his life, he is asked daily by people where are you from? Another thing that was hard for me to grasp was the way the media not only portrays immigrants but the second generation. The other day when a young person was killed, the headline said 'Young Italian of color'. The media had to be sure to label them as well as differentiate them from ethnic Italians. This phenomenon is so new here in Italy and does not seem to be getting any better. Throughout this trip I have been somewhat pessimistic in the government changing, but when I see groups like G2, it makes me hopeful for the future of immigrants and their families in the next few years.
This trip has been an amazing experience for me and I am sure for many of the other students in the group. I didn't realize how much I really learned and enjoyed about the trip until lunch today when we talked about our highs and lows of the trip. Although my lows were a constant struggle for me dealing with customer service, the ignorance of people, and language barriers, the highs definitely made up for everything. The joy I saw on the faces of the young children as they sang songs, the impact one group can make in the lives of others like them, and the stories from refugees has changed my perceptions on life and the outlook I have to creating a better future for children. I can't begin to express how thankful I am to have come to an amazing country like Italy to study education and immigration with this group. I have not only gained these experiences, but a stronger appreciation for my parents and what they have overcome in order to provide my younger sister and I with a successful future.
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