By:
Chiara Iacuzio,
Italy Correspondent

Published:
20 December 2022

Translation:
Leonardo Urbini, Giulia Daltri

It was September 22, 2022. At Napoli Centrale, the main train station in Naples, Italy. I look forward to the arrival of Andrew and Promise (story forthcoming), the two young men from Nigeria with whom I have exchanged a considerable number of messages over the past few months.

That ongoing exchange of messages is fundamental to the work we do at MotM. It is how we build a relationship of mutual trust with the people we track and interview, a safe environment where their confidentiality is respected. It makes meeting in the field a more seamless encounter, and it allows us to keep the relationship alive in the future, creating a virtual network of solidarity, respect and friendship.

I look around. It’s chaos, as usual. But through the crowd I see two big smiles walking toward me. Together we move to a quieter place where we can chill, chat, and maybe share a little meal. That is how Promise, Andrew and I, surrounded by the din of Naples, together, make a space for ourselves. A place where questions are asked and answers are given, tears and smiles are exchanged, life stories are shared and recorded.

Having talked so far only in English, it is only after a brief conversation with a waiter that Promise and Andrew realize that I am Italian. They are visibly surprised, and I learn that until that afternoon no Italian had ever sat at the same table as them. No Italian, in their six years living in Italy, had ever been interested in spending time with them.

As an humanitarian journalist and social worker, and, most importantly, as an Italian citizen, my heart breaks apart. Italy, once a patchwork of different cultures where the most diverse ethnicities peacefully lived together, is now turning into an exclusively monocultural society, where the social, cultural, economical and humanitarian enrichment of living with diversity is obscured by widespread feelings of mistrust and discrimination.

Promise, who would like to study medicine, speaks about his frustration on the street where people assume he is begging for change. When he asks for directions he can’t even finish his question before he is told, “I have no money to give you.”

Andrew says that he no longer cares about those who treat him with contempt and indifference. He no longer cares because he knows he has a bright future.

“But I didn’t think the same three years ago, when I met Pamela,” he tells me, who is the Founder and Lead Correspondent here at MotM. At the time Andrew was going through a dark period, feeling lost and paralyzed in his hope for a better future.

Leggete in italiano

“Then Pamela came at the right time, with the right words, and my life changed forever”. “If it hadn't been for MotM,” Andrew says, “I don't know where I would be now, maybe in Nigeria or maybe in another country, but I certainly wouldn't be living the life I want, the life I deserve. My life has changed because of MotM, my life has been saved by MotM.”

Months after our meeting, Promise, Andrew and I are still staying caught up. The messages continue and we keep our connection alive – it strengthens every day, as we await the next time we can meet in person.

In joy or sorrow, we are there – that’s what Humanitarian Storytelling means. And it is only possible because people like you who, with their donation, enable the closeness we maintain with our subjects. So that we may get closer to the truth. So that we may create a document for change now, and for history. 

So, THANK YOU for your contribution to our 4th Annual Holiday Fundraiser. Thank you for ensuring a 2023 that’s full of encounters to be enjoyed, stories to be told, and new friendships and precedents for the future to be made.