March 15, 2018 - MEDU RV & A Really Hard Life

Mark here.  As I mentioned previously, the mobile medical clinic (RV) goes to three different sites each week.  I have been with them to two of them, both at the major train stations in Rome (Tiburtina and Termini).  On Thursday night I went with them to the third, which is an abandoned warehouse farther from the center of town (on the northeast side of town, beyond the Rebibbia Metro stop).  Though all three sites are really tough places to live, this one seemed harder for some reason.  

Though, as I have mentioned previously, I wish I could have taken some pictures to give you a better idea idea of what it is like, it is not possible without invading the privacy of the people living there and without hurting the already tenuous trust they have in MEDU.  However, I did take the picture below of the outside of building.  It is on a dark, barely paved street in an industrial area.  It really felt like stepping into a movie scene where something really bad is about to go down.  

When we first got there, we put on red bibs that said that we were from MEDU, and five of us (two cultural mediators, two intake workers, and I) went into the building to tell people that we were there.  It is a large, 2-story warehouse that was originally open on the inside except for columns to support the building.  The people living there have scavenged boards, metal, cardboard, and whatever else they can find to fashion walls to divide up the space and make little "apartments."  There were people cooking on and huddled around open fires in the middle of the floor and in some of the "apartments."  Some were cooking on small camp-like stoves.  Between the "apartments" were open spaces with garbage and other refuse piled around.  There were large rats that seemed completely unafraid of us rummaging through this stuff.  A couple of "apartments" had electricity from small generators they were running.  There was a distinct smell of marijuana throughout most of the building. 

I did not see any women or children at this site, and everyone I saw was of African descent.  The people were friendly and seemed to respond well to us being there.  Though it was a little anxiety-provoking to walk into the building, I did not feel threatened or in danger as we walked through (It helped that there were five of us.).  We walked through both floors and also went up on the roof, where apparently people have lived in the past.  The cultural mediators said that a couple of weeks ago when it snowed and was quite cold in Rome, government officials or police came into the building and made people go to shelters in town.  They said that the number of people living in the building is quite low compared to what it was before this "clear out," though many people are moving back in.  Most of the people in this site have been in Rome for several months or even years.  The ones who came to the RV seemed more upset and frustrated by the Italian government and the bureaucracy than I have seen at the other sites. 

Less than 10 people came to the RV for help (We were there from 7:00 to 10:00pm.).  As was the case in the other sites, people came with skin conditions, stomach aches, coughs, etc.  Beyond medical help, MEDU also tries to provide information and resources to help in navigating the bureaucracy.  They give advice on how to navigate immigration issues and help them to find free legal services.  It seemed like there was more of this work going on at this site than there had been at the other sites.  MEDU collects anonymous information about where each person is from, what path they followed to get from their home country to Italy, and what the journey was like (i.e., did they work along the way, did they suffer beatings, were they imprisoned, did they have food and drink along the way, etc.?)

I really wish everyone could have the experience of meeting and listening to these people.  They have each been through so much!  They have each made extremely difficult and dangerous journeys to get to Italy, almost always suffering beatings, imprisonment, and other tortures along the way.  The people we spoke with desperately wanted to work and have a good life, but they are typically prevented from doing so because they do not have government permission to stay or work in the country, because they do not speak Italian well enough, or, frankly, because they are black.  Many report having had good careers, education, and skills that they are not able to use in Italy. 

It takes tremendous courage, drive, intelligence, and ingenuity to get here.  They come looking for a better life, often to escape terrible things in their home countries.  Instead of finding that better life, they typically find a country that is overwhelmed by the number of people coming and that is unable to assimilate them.  Along with that, they also frequently experience discrimination, racism, and, at times, inhuman treatment.

Lest you think I am being critical just of Italy, I think the U.S. is far less welcoming to immigrants and refugees than most European countries.  Clearly there are not any easy answers to the global immigration problems that are occurring right now.  That said, the current trend in many countries, including the U.S., to deal with it by closing and/or tightening boarders, seems wrong to me.  I love the lifestyle I have in the U.S., and I want to maintain it.  However, it does not seem right to assume that my lifestyle has no impact on other countries or to assume that other countries can just resolve what is not working for them on their own.  It feels wrong to leave others to live in a way that is less than human.