TRENT. “I’m telling you my story because, despite what I’ve been through, I would like the dreams I have in my heart to come true.”
Kawtar he is 32 years old and comes from Morocco. She left her country alone for escape a terrible family situationand arrived at Trent at the beginning of April after a very long journey and in which he lived very harsh experiences.
It’s one of many women who, coming from different countries, arrive in Italy and find themselves living suspended in limbowaiting to find somewhere to sleep, with the dream of trying to build a future and a new lifeleaving behind in many cases physical and psychological violence and various abuses.
In the city at Trent the phenomenon is increasing, with i reception services dedicated to women they are barely able to cope with the emergency (article here).
We meet Kawtar at the Bruno Social Center – where Italian courses aimed at migrants from the LiberaLaParola project and which over time has transformed into sharing space where migrants are supported in their process inclusion in society – and when he starts telling us his story his eyes they become lucid.
Almost as if to apologize, he immediately explains to us: “I’m trying to put the pieces of my existence back togethertrying to forget what I have experienced in recent months.”
“It all started after death of my father last year, I had a normal life in Morocco but then the problems started” Kawtar begins to tell explaining that, after family bereavement, iThe brother took over the reins of the family: “He wanted to force me to marry a friend of hiswith the marriage arrangements having already been made without my consent. The person in question had serious drug addiction problems and his previous relationship had fallen apart for this reason: I didn’t want it accept such a fate and I decided to run away.”
Kawtar tells us how in his country had a good jobsince it had been for years employed in a company of the automotive sector: “I was responsible for creating the electrical wiring of cars and it was a good position. It was precisely in the work context that theopportunity that I wanted to seize: talking about the situation with my manager, he proposed that I accept a job offer in Serbia that would allow me to leave the country.”
The young woman then decides to leave, but However, things don’t go as hoped: “Once I got there Serbia the possibility of getting the job did not materialize, and I found myself in a Unknown country and without the possibility of backtracking: following some advice received I therefore decided to try reach Italy“.
The journey, however, is not easy, with Kawtar who joins a group of Syrian migrants who traveled the same route: “We have crossed the border into Bosnia and with means of luck we are arrived in Croatia but where have I been arrestedremaining in prison for two endless days and losing contact with the rest of the group. I then got back on the road, arriving in Slovenia where I stayed in a refugee camp for a few days, then managing to leave again.”
With the aim of reaching Italy “now close”, Kawtar manages to cross the border arriving in Friuli Venezia Giulia and, after a few nights spent outdoors in makeshift housing decides, following the advice of a person he met, to reach Verona by bus: “Arrived in a town in the province, after having slept rough for a few days, I found accommodation, sheltering myself for a few weeks in an abandoned building together with other migrants, many of whom are of Moroccan origin like me.”
And this is where he finds himself living most terrible situation“as if everything I had been through previously hadn’t been enough.”
“Some men who shared that structure with me began to have unpleasant behavior towards me“ Kawtar explains to uswith his gaze which, remembering those episodes, gradually becomes darker: “One of them, in particular, he tried to abuse me, hitting me several times“.
The young woman, while retracing those moments with evident difficulty, shows us her left arm with still visible parts the signs of the beatings receivedalmost as if wanting to certify the very bad experience lived.
“I chose this way get away from that place and some people I met at that time – continues Kawtar – they advised me to try reach Trentinotelling me that it was ato a less dangerous area and that perhaps he would offer me some more opportunities“.
Arrived at the station in Trento, in the first days of April, However, he is unable to find shelter where to stay: “The first two weeks in the city were very difficult, and I was cforced to always sleep outdoors. I felt quite lost but then I found out about it possibility of using some services of reception, with the dormitory that was suggested to me though it had no seats available. A lady then directed me to Casa Paolawhere fortunately they welcomed me and where I currently sleep.”
In these last few weeks Kawtar he explains to us that he has started to become familiar with the city, and confides that he feels comfortable despite the weight of what he experienced be burdensome in any case: “Now I am still in difficulty, especially on a mental levelbecause everything I have experienced in recent months struggles to leave room for positive and even thoughts look to the futurealthough I am determined to do so, I turns out to be difficult. But I want to succeed, perhaps by finding a new job that allows me to take back my life.”
Before saying goodbye Kawtarwho until then had entrusted his words in Arabic to an interpreter, takes a smartphone placed on the table and start writing a sentence on Google Translate and shows it to us: “Thank you for listening to my story, tell it to someone it was difficult but very important: as I already said, I really hope that this too can make my dreams come true, at least in part.”
