Dear Director,
I turn to you to denounce what hundreds of Calabrian women are suffering, victims like myself of the politicized bureaucracy in our tormented Calabria. I never thought I’d find myself writing this long rant of mine. Of course, I write “outburst” because it is the only word suitable to describe what I am going to tell you. After I graduated, about ten years ago and with top marks, a sudden malignant tumor took my father away. A tragedy for many in Calabria, which has now unfortunately become a tragic routine, but with my mother being a housewife and also in poor health I inevitably had to give up enrolling in university. Consequently the only choice, practically forced, was to start working. It is known that in Calabria you either have a public job or you have some “saint in heaven”, otherwise the work as an employee is mostly seasonal and exploited.
However, thanks to the fact that I had studied several languages, at least I managed to enter the tourist reception sector. In any case, after giving up my dream of obtaining a degree, I immediately understood that with only a seasonal salary and unemployment, sooner or later I would have had great difficulty in leading a dignified life. Seasonal work in Calabria has always been fertile ground for the exploiter on duty, the one who, from year to year, promises you that next will be the good year for a raise and then, instead, you find yourself with the same salary that you get. makes one get by at the cost of immense personal sacrifices. So, having considered this, over time I convinced myself that the only solution was to start working on my own, at the first good opportunity that arose. After over ten years of employed and seasonal work, with ups and downs, last year it seemed the long-awaited and desired opportunity had finally arrived.
Through a friend of mine, in October I learned about the “Yes i start up Calabria Donna” project, an initiative promoted by the Calabria Region – Department of Work and Welfare with the support of the national microcredit body aimed at promoting and supporting self-employment and the self-entrepreneurship of Calabrian women.
Honestly, as a Calabrian, I knew that the regional bureaucracy is a slimy and sticky swamp, but I had convinced myself (or rather deluded myself) that this time luck would be benevolent. Nothing could be more wrong. Meanwhile, to participate in the financing, I had to enroll in a free course and, after about a month and a half, my tutor and I prepared my business project that had been kept in a drawer for years. Obviously, not having a degree to spare and now having over ten years of experience in the tourism-accommodation sector, my project was based on this same sector. But here comes the famous “rubber wall” of Calabrian bureaucracy: its clockwork times.
In fact, having finished the preliminary course last December, for over six months I and hundreds of other Calabrian women have been waiting in vain for the official publication of the regional announcement. This is essential to be able to present our questions and, once the business plans have been evaluated, to be called for the interview which, if positive, would start the implementation. At this point, however, I ask myself some questions: now that we are in June and with the summer tourist season now skipped, who would be the crazy person who would get entangled in a business situation like the one just described? Between taxes, contributions, rent, bills and various expenses, the projects should be operational at least a quarter in advance. But here comes the best part, so to speak.
Dear director, going to see who the manager who signed the preliminary draft of the project is, I notice that he is a certain Roberto Cosentino. From the newspapers I discover that Dr. Cosentino is a candidate for the position of Mayor in the next municipal elections of Vibo Valentia. I sincerely hope that politics has nothing to do with the delays of the Calabrian bureaucracy. It would be criminal to let thousands of potential entrepreneurs rot and, if so, it would be absolutely serious. Unfortunately, little by little, the years pass and with them the dreams of most of us young Calabrians. Today I write this last outburst of mine from distant shores because, in the end, I am forced to leave my beloved Calabria forever.
Signed letter
