Project Overview
The Journey began as a research project focused on the presence and experiences of African migrants in the city of Verona, spanning from 1976 to the present day. What started as a small, exploratory study has since grown into a deep, multifaceted exploration, driven by the powerful stories and motivations shared by our interviewees. The project, which began in 2013, continues to captivate us, thanks to the richness of the experiences we’ve uncovered.
Breakdown of the Project:
Early 2013:
After completing a filmmaking course with the New York Film School Direct, I was eager to put my newfound skills to the test. What began as a simple research project on African migration in Verona quickly evolved into something far more significant. The stories shared by the people we interviewed were so compelling that we couldn’t stop. The project organically expanded into four distinct parts:
- The Journey – Africans in Verona
- Veronetta – New Faces of a Neighborhood
- The Color of Our Children
- We Refugees
As we progressed with limited resources, we found growing support and interest within both the African community and Italian society, as well as from various cultural institutions. The videos we produced were screened at numerous universities—including the University of Verona, the University of Padua, the University of Brescia, and Gorizia—where they sparked meaningful discussions. These screenings not only encouraged us but also confirmed that Italian society was keenly interested in the stories we were telling.
These screenings gave African migrants the platform to share their often unheard experiences, offering a fresh perspective on immigration in Northern Italy. The question now is: Do you want to hear these powerful, often unheard stories? Do you want to understand why these Africans left their homes and journeyed to Northern Italy from 1976 to the present day? What challenges did they face, and why do some still choose to stay?
1st part: The Journey – Africans in Verona
Hamid Barole, An Eritrean poet and writer
This is the first part of the project and its target was to analyze the experiences of the first African migrants in Verona/Veneto within the last 30-43 years. In this part of the project, you will hear directly from the protagonists themselves, reading the book “The Journey – Africans in Verona”, on why they left their home countries for Italy, what they were expecting and what they eventually got on their arrival.
“We came here, starting from zero. We didn’t have anything. Even the first friend we made, we made it ourselves, thanks to our personal effort, so we didn’t even have a friend, to start with.”
Why The Journey?
This narration is very important as a migration experience. It might appear that we are talking about these few Africans who travelled to Northern Italy out of their own free will. What could be so interesting in that? Well, it’s actually far deeper than that and you will find out yourself.
If you pay enough attention to this story, you will definitely find part of yourself in it, irrespective of whether you are a migrant or not. And if course, if you truly understand what is meant by human migration, you will know that there is no person on earth today who is not related to migration in one way or another, so this story is not just about some people.
Captured moments in frames
Some pictures from the project
Beyene Zerazion, “Eritrean, oculist medical doctor” –
with his friends in front of Arena, Verona
Charles Ani, “Nigerian, architect” – with his fellow students during his University days
Jean François, “Ivorian businessman” – with his friends in a feast
Osifo Robert, “Nigerian, ex-President of the Nigerian Association in Verona” in his house
2nd part: New Faces Of a Neighborhood
The objective of the second part of the project was to explore the territories where most of the first Africans stayed when they first came. We wanted to see what kind of real changes have occurred over the years. It was also interesting for us to pay good attention, so we could understand the type of dialogues that were present in most of the territories before the arrival of the migrants, both Africans and others.
Why that strategy, you might ask? Well, we wanted to compare and contrast, and in most of the cases, quite frankly, the migrants didn’t change the type of dialogues, much of which were already fragmented because the people living in some of the neighborhoods were not all from the same place and didn’t really know themselves well enough to have a real harmonious relationship.
In this narration, we gathered testimonies from both migrants and the residents themselves, on how the presence of African migrants might have, of course, added to the atmosphere of less than 100% friendliness.
However, we equally listened to a lot of beautiful things from such a mixture of cultures or intercultural fusion as in Veronetta of Verona, Arcella of Padua and in some related neighborhoods of Vicenza, where the residents explained how they have lived together with their differences all these years.
The objective of the second part of the project was to explore the territories where most of the first Africans stayed when they first came. We wanted to see what kind of real changes have occurred over the years. It was also interesting for us to pay good attention, so we could understand the type of dialogues that were present in most of the territories before the arrival of the migrants, both Africans and others.
Why that strategy, you might ask? Well, we wanted to compare and contrast, and in most of the cases, quite frankly, the migrants didn’t change the type of dialogues, much of which was already fragmented because the people living in some of the neighborhood were not all from the same place and didn’t really know themselves well enough to have a real harmonious relationship.
In this narration, we gathered testimonies from both migrants and the residents themselves, on how the presence of African migrants might have, of course, added to the atmosphere of less than 100% friendliness.
However, we equally listened to a lot of beautiful things from such a mixture of cultures or intercultural fusion as in Veronetta of Verona, Arcella of Padua, and in some related neighborhoods of Vicenza, where the residents explained how they have lived together with their differences all these years.
Danielon Marco
“The type of dialogue in the neighborhood was such that the question of “the other” was not an issue – it was not considered necessary to face the question of “who was different” from us. It’s true that we are talking of Veronetta, but I think we can comfortably expand it to other neighborhoods in Italy and in the Western world in general.
For a long time, people have been living with this kind idea of lifestyle because we have been educated based on individual identity, therefore the dialogue between different people had its initial difficulty in this regard.”
Marcelino Marrundo
“The people are not curious. One of the problems is this; the lack of curiosity to know the others, to understand how the other (the foreigner) lived in his country…, what kind of food they eat, and what language they speak to communicate…?
The local people are not interested in these and this is not because they have no intellectual capacity to understand certain things, but simply because they are not interested to know. That is the point.”
Pierluigi Grigoletti
“The same people that have been here for a long time were not talking among themselves, also in the place I was born. Verona and its provinces are certainly not famous for much talking.
Like the others, I equally had the negative perception, a sort of self-defense that there is always somebody out there who wants to take away something from you… therefore, you don’t talk with those you do not know and the others too were not doing very much to first start the process of dialogue.
Also, when the first migrants came into the territory, many of them were evidently different from us and they did not understand the Italian language well.”
Moustapha Wagne
“People do not take into account that this neighborhood is a lab for whoever is interested in learning about the phenomenon of immigration… In Veronetta, you see different kinds of people.
There is a high concentration of people from different cultural backgrounds, so shame on anyone who is afraid because of this. Where the danger lies is that if we as parents have a problem, the problem automatically falls on our children.
If you look, you will see that some of these children, Ghanaians, Nigerians, Senegalese, Moroccans, do form groups from time to time, and they talk among themselves.”
3rd: The Color Of Our Children
This story was inspired by an unpleasant incident that happened in the province of Vicenza, some 30 years ago. This act of discrimination against the children of African immigrants in Veneto/Italian schools has become a long-forgotten event for some. As we trace the 30-year-old incident, zooming our lens on the Veneto cities of Verona, Vicenza, and Padua, it quickly becomes clear that the outcome is not what you would expect–the case and its related experiences was not limited to Vicenza and Veneto alone, and where Italian society in general is concerned, not much has changed over the years.
This story was actually the first we separated from the original project and it’s about not too interesting elements in the Italian educational system: the discrimination of non-Italian children within the school.
Something has definitely changed now. No doubt about that. However, this part of the project was still important for us, to know how we get from where we are today and to evaluate how far things have really changed.
The research was projected to look into Italian schools and it attracted voices such as those of school directors, teachers, parents, social workers and students themselves, all to drive home the point: “what is really going on about cultural diversity within the schools in Northern Italy?” It’s probably the hottest argument in the entire project and we are so happy to have faced the issue and added our small voice to the conversation.
Ethiel France – the main protagonist of this story
“I needed to start primary school because I got here (Vicenza) at the age of 5 and a half, almost 6. At the time, my father had recently been involved in a serious accident and he could not do very much. My mother had just come to a place she didn’t know very well and she was still struggling with Italian language, so we basically relied on her cousin in Vicenza to help us and take us everywhere we wanted to go. I remember I went with my parents to the local council in preparation for my enrolment in the primary school…
The person we met in the council did everything that needed to be done and he told us to go and see the priest who was heading the school in the town. We went happily to see the priest, but right there our day grew cold with the reaction of the priest who said to my mother: ‘Well, sorry I cannot accept your daughter in the class because she is of the colored…’ This, the priest said, was to avoid a difficulty on the part of Italian children who had never seen an African child before and would find it difficult to socialize with me.”
Imagine being this young woman
What would be going through your mind in that moment? That’s why we included this story in our research—to spark conversations about the emotional impact of prejudice in such pivotal moments.
Why am I being judged before I even had a chance?
Ethiel likely felt a rush of confusion and hurt. Starting school should have been an exciting step. Instead, the priest’s words felt like an unfair barrier, denying her an opportunity she should have had, regardless of her race.
What kind of world have I entered, where I’m judged by how I look?
The priest’s rejection probably triggered feelings of alienation and confusion in Ethiel. This likely left her questioning whether the Italian society would ever accept her for who she was, or if she would always be defined by something she couldn’t change.
Why does my mother, have to fight for me against prejudice?
Ethiel must have felt deep concern for her mother, who was already dealing with the challenges of a new country and language. To see her burdened with the fight for something as basic as access to school—especially in the face of racism—would have been painful.
Mariluisa Damiani
A teacher and researcher of multiculturalism and cultural diversity in the school system.
“In most cases, children live diversities within the school systems as a normal way of life.
However, there is a certain difference between how they live it in the school and how they perceive it in terms of cultural diversities in the sense that in the schools, cultural diversity has become an attitude in that there are the same children who come from other countries and they found themselves having to live among their classmates from other cultural backgrounds.”
Giorgio Santarello
Director of Padua provincial administration, work and formation section.
“The programs in our schools are given by the Ministry of education in Rome, therefore, they cannot be modified, except in some minor areas.
They have now even taken off the study of geography from the senior secondary schools…I don’t know why. I don’t see that as a good decision. Following the ministerial programs, there are very few possibilities of modification.
I think the regions can ask the ministry of education to introduce other formative programs, but I really don’t know what the spaces of regional intervention are.”
Domenico Martino
Director of the ministry of education in Vicenza, at the time of interview.
“In Vicenza, there are nine functioning networks of schools and projects to promote integration.
In the beginning, the formative offer was directed to create basic linguistic aids, but now, seeing the huge presence of second generation and foreign citizens in the territory, the proposal has also become a means of preparing children for the labor market.
In any case, the presence of more cultures represents more challenges for the school, and not only, but also of enrichment and of the necessity to mediate.”
Jennifer Iloegbunam
A Nigerian cultural mediator in Verona.
“There was one good example with my daughter of primary three. We were reading her book, which contained some short stories about vacations.
At a point, she stopped me and said: ‘Mommy, today we read this story in school about Nigeria, of some children who were going to school in Nigeria, of food and of moimoi…’
As she was telling me, I could see the enthusiasm on her face.
Ernesto Passante
Head teacher of Veronetta schools, Verona at the time of interview.
The teachers expect two main things from parents. The first is for parents to share in the values the school is proposing, the importance of being in the school, and learning what is required to live better.
The second is for them to be present with their children, to help them study, because sometimes the children are abandoned to themselves in their inexperience about school demands.” –
Cadigia Hassan
A cultural mediator and journalist in Padua.
“As a mother, it appears to me that the school is equipped to receive children from different cultural origins.
For example, there are cultural mediators who accompany the educational process, and there are afterschool programs for children who do not understand Italian language very well.
4th: We Refugees – Verona 2016
This is the 4th part of the project and it’s equally very important in its own right. It’s the part that represents the political aspect of the story, more than any other.
In this part, we tried to explore a new phenomenon of migration, which is completely different from the one we have studied since 2013. At a point, we too came to understand that there was more to the whole story than we had thought and we decided to reach out to more people who knew better how to answer our questions.
For the above reasons, there are more than just the voices of some African refugees who narrated their survival stories: “from the African desert to their tortures in Libya and the life-and-death crossing of the Mediterranean Sea to Italy”. Here, we equally hear the voices of the politicians, University lecturers, and journalists, all making sense of the story.
Here are some of the videos from the 2016 conference at the University of Verona
Final Transformation of The Project
You might be wondering, “What happens now that we’ve completed the fourth part of the project?” Well, We Refugees is not the final chapter. In fact, the title of the project—The Journey—has always hinted at what’s to come. A journey is a continuous process, always moving toward a destination.
Thanks to the valuable feedback and the wealth of experience gained over years of research, the project has evolved into a dynamic online platform. It remains driven by the same curiosity and commitment to storytelling. Obehi Ewanfoh, the founder and director of the project, has expanded this journey by launching the Obehi Podcast in 2019, AClasses Media, and several books inspired by his experiences. Through these channels, he continues to engage with members of the larger African diaspora community.
His weekly webinars and the Diaspora Storytelling Series—which feature voices from the United States, the UK, Canada, and beyond—are just a few examples of his ongoing efforts to connect and share diverse stories of the African diaspora.
Within the association, two distinct projects continue to grow: Project DMTE: The Diaspora Memorial & Tourism Exchange, and SCADI: The Smart Cassava & Agribusiness Development Initiative. Both align with the original vision of The Journey, contributing to our collective mission.
We invite you to join us on this journey as we continue to explore and celebrate our shared experiences.