A participatory fieldwork and social research for development on

Multicultural and Social Integration of the Senegalese Immigrants in Rome

Research Supervisor Dr. Vanda Altarelli Dipartamento di Sociologia e Comunicazione Facolt di Scienze della Comunicazione, Universit degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza

Research Team Ms. Francesca Pacifico, Italy Ms. Maya Siag, Palestine Ms. Gloria Alvarez, Guatemala Mr. Ecaw Tendeng, Senegal Mr. Sbastien Tendeng, Senegal

This participatory fieldwork and social research project in part of the Second edition of the International Course of Applied Anthropology and Development Processes organized by Dipartamento di Sociologia e Communicazione, Universit degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza and the Italian Foreign Affair Ministry (MAE) October 2009- February 2010

Table of Contents
Introduction 3 Methodology 4 Context .8

Main Trends.11

Conclusions & Recommendations 25

Annex ...27 1. Persons Met .27 2. Data Collection Instruments ..28 Questionnaire Format 28 Focus Groups checklist with answers ...34 Interview format with answers ..52 Life story ...55

Bibliography 57

Introduction
This report on Multicultural and Social Integration of the Senegalese Immigrants in Rome is a participatory fieldwork and social research for development. It was prepared by five students from the second batch of the course in Applied Anthropology and Development Processes which took place in Rome, from October 2009 to February 2010. This research was undertaken to provide insights in the processes of integration of the Senegalese migrants in the Roman cosmopolitan context. Our study analyses the socioeconomic and multicultural integration of this group, based upon the importance that the evolution of immigration from Senegal to Italy has acquired during the last decade. This participatory fieldwork aims to answer who are the Senegalese immigrants in Rome, why they are here, which challenges they face; and their perceptions on what is needed to be done for fostering their integration. The majority of the Senegalese immigrants in Rome is here mostly to improve their economic conditions since (according to their own judgment) back home the opportunities to achieve such success are highly limited. Social mobility in Senegal becomes extremely difficult for the common citizens since there is lack of job opportunities, compounded by lack of financial and natural resources necessary to build sustainable livelihoods. We aimed at understanding and evaluating the level of social and intercultural relationships Senegalese migrants might establish with regards to work opportunities, educational improvements, language acquisition, religious activities, cultural challenges and the degree of integration they manage to establish. Upon their arrival in Rome, these immigrants face a new environment where different peoples with different backgrounds, behaviors and cultures, blend together to coexist in one of the most multicultural cities in Europe. The economic and cultural process that the Senegalese immigrants find here is constantly challenging their minds and their cosmo vision building a new identity with new and unknown paradigms that eventually end up becoming part of their lives in the citt eterna. To achieve this research, a sampling was designed comprising Senegalese immigrants at all levels of the social scale. Qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection have been used ranging from questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups. Since integration is closely related to immigration, one of the most important tasks of this work consisted in understanding and analyzing the challenges described above. Consequently, our main objective is to positively contribute to better integration and well-being of these immigrants who have taken the challenges and the opportunities of starting a new life in Rome.

Methodology
A mixture of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), Questionnaire and Focus Group instruments has been used as the methodology of appraisal, analysis, planning, action, management and evaluation of the fieldwork for the Senegalese case, because the goal of the PRA tools is to involve people as active creators of information and knowledge, to raise their awareness and setting a more appropriate research agenda. (Altarelli, 2009) To distribute the different PRA tools, we chose two forms for obtaining information:

1. A Questionnaire:

distributed among 23 Senegalese immigrants at their workplace, houses or the Senegalese embassy. First we built our questionnaire using tools such as Income and Expenditure Matrices, to understand the sources of income and expenditures as well as to reveal the incentives, needs and challenges of the Senegalese immigrants in the labor aspect of the Rome society. We shaped the language and form of the questions using the Appreciative Inquire tool from which we were able to make questions that were provocative propositions, which would help us in identifying the goals of the Senegalese immigrants who come to Rome. Questions like Do you feel more Senegalese or Italian?, Have you accomplished the goals you had back home?, and How would you improve the Italian immigration system, were asked for this purpose. AI was also a useful tool to identify the participants strengths, recognizing them as resourceful and also to measure their capacity of adaption. Then, the research group went to places where we could locate Senegalese immigrants whether it was in their work places, such as Ottaviano where most of the Senegalese bag sellers work, or in the area of Pigneto which is a neighborhood with a high concentration of Senegalese immigrants. Since our research group includes two Senegalese members, they could tell by their appearance if a person is from Senegal, thus approaching them by speaking Wolof or French, and introducing the group and the research, asking the person if he/she could give us some time to ask some questions for the researchs purposes. The questionnaire was written in English, but was orally translated into Wolof, French and sometimes into Italian. We asked the questions in the language that the respondent found most comfortable to answer us and then we filled the questionnaire ourselves.

After approaching these first two places, we decided to visit the Senegalese embassy. Thus we were able to extend our sample and our results, because in the embassy we found immigrants with other occupations and who lived in other parts of Rome rather than Pigneto. The respondents sample varied between men, women, age, marital status and their legal or illegal status. Some were newcomers, and others have spent more than 10 years in Italy.

2. Four Focus Groups

clustered different socio-economic sectors from the lowest income class (bag sellers) to the upper-middle class of Senegalese immigrants (such as the Catholic Association of Senegalese immigrants in Rome). Aside with PRA tools, we made a Focus Group Checklist using the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach which helped us to identify the variations among the Social Capital of the Senegalese immigrants. Their networks and connections, their relations of trust, formal and informal groups, neighborhood leaders, people who recommend them for a job and their brotherhood system among others, were results obtained with this checklist. To enhance the interaction and debate among our participants, the questions were also structured as provocative propositions. We were also able to identify the Human Capital among this community, with respect to their levels of education, knowledge and skills and their capacity of adaptation. Connected with the human and social capital, our questionnaire and our Focus Group checklist also contained questions concerning their Financial Capital with respects to: remittances, access to bank savings and additional forms of income. As regards to the Physical Capital, we also asked during our focus groups whether the transportation system of Rome was easy to use for illegal immigrants. From the Sustainable Livelihood Approach, we found that there are three major Vulnerability aspects affecting the Senegalese immigrants which are: the global financial crises, the new policies of the current Italian government and the new immigration policies of the European Union. The literature that we reviewed thus contains information about the immigrants integration in the European Union, the particularities of the Italian immigration system and how does it affect the specific case of Senegal and also we researched literature on the background of the Senegalese immigration in Rome, as well as writings about its evolution and cultural challenges. To assure the accuracy of our results (and also to confront some works with outdated and sometimes inaccurate findings), at each step of our fieldwork, we compared our participants answers with those of the authors who have previously studied and analyzed the integration of the Senegalese in Italy.

During our questionnaire and Focus Group interviews, we also used Direct Observation as a complimentary tool to write down our perceptions and interpretations, which were then inserted in our final conclusions. The details of our focus groups are:

Focus Group 1: Gender: Female. Religion: Catholic and Muslim. Two Senegalese
baby- sitters and two household helpers ladies. Ages range from thirty- to-fifty years old; Interviewed in their house located in Nomentana. The contact was established from Senegal. Duration: 3 and half hours.

Focus Group 2: Gender: Male. Religion: Muslim. A soccer player, one jewelry
salesman, one artist and one construction worker; Ages ranging from 17 to 38 years old; interviewed in the Senegalese Embassy while waiting to be attended. Duration: 1 and half hours.

Focus Group 3: Gender: Male. Religion: Muslim. Ten Senegalese bag sellers. Ages
ranging from 24 to 57 years old; interviewed in their house located in Pigneto after working hours. The contact was established after meeting one of the bag-sellers in Castello di Santangelo. Duration: 4 hours.

Focus Group 4: Gender: Female and Male. The seven members of the board of the
Senegalese Catholic association, including: one salesman, one tourist agent, one catholic priest, one baby sitter, two university students (male and female) and one housewife. Ages ranging from 32 to 50. The contact was established through the baby sitters that we met previously. They were interviewed in the house of one of them, on the day of their monthly meeting. Duration: 4 hours. In general, the cooperation from the participants was highly satisfactory. But it was more difficult to expand the exercise in focus group 2 and 3 where sometimes some of the participants had to abandon the session and then return. We then used the SPSS software to insert and organize the data from our questionnaires and Focus Groups to systematize the data gathered. Our main tool to analyze data and establish tendencies was Triangulation. We crosschecked the information obtained across the different Senegalese groups and we also contrasted individual answers obtained within the same group. We provide charts that contrast these differences as well as qualitative conclusions. As for our limitations, before starting our research we thought of dividing the population according to first, second and third waves of immigration to Italy. But after analyzing the results of the first fifteen questionnaires and the first two focus groups, we discovered that actually the level of integration of the Senegalese immigrants does not depend on the time spent in Rome or on the age of the participants. In fact, we found out that their level

of integration usually depends more on the economic and social activities they manage to develop. We also avoided making a Venn diagram because we found out that the interaction among different social actors of the Senegalese community is not as strong as we thought. The focus group checklist that we intended to distribute among Senegalese children born in Italy was instead adapted to make an interview with an Italian-born young woman with Senegalese parents. Her name is XXX and she is 24 years old and we were able to contact her because we met her father during our fieldwork days at the embassy. After the school in Pigneto replied saying that they do not have any Senegalese children studying there, unfortunately we were not able to find another primary school to talk with Senegalese children considering the time limits to complete this research. Finally, some of the people whom we tried to contact did not reply, including a staff from a UN agency, and an African art event.

Context
Since the colonial period, Senegal has experienced a long tradition of both inflow and outflow of migrants, mainly related to economic reasons, in particular because of the occasional downfalls of the traditional agricultural system. It produced the following historical pattern: first, internal rural-urban migration in Senegal, then the sub-regional migration within West Africa (especially towards Gabon, Ivory Coast, etc.), next the international migration within Europe (from France to Italy) and finally, a change of direction of emigration from Senegal with migrants coming directly to Italy. Senegalese migration to Italy began in the 1980s with migrants coming initially from France and later directly from Senegal. Most of them in the 1980s and 1990s were Wolof; coming mainly from the north-western regions of Senegal. The year 1989 was that of the boom of Senegalese immigration and of Senegalese internal migration within Italy. Many Senegalese, who had previously worked in the south, began moving to the richer, more industrialised north. Until now there is a very important increase in the migrant presence: from 27,500 people in the 1990 it became more than 40.000 in the 1999 and this number is continuously increasing. Nowadays there are 67.510 Senegalese people residing legally in Italy making this community: -the most numerous one, among all the migrant community of the sub-Saharan countries, followed by Nigeria and Ghana; -the third African one, after Morocco and Tunisia; -One of the first fifteen foreign communities in Italy. The most important incentive for their stay is job seeking (about 85%) and further less, familiar reasons (13%). However, this data doesnt include the great amount of irregular persons who according to the Italian Embassy in Dakar, ought to be more than 200,000 units. The majority of them are the so-called overstayers, Senegalese citizens who come with a regular expiring visa but, who after the expiration date, they can barely achieve the sufficient requirements to stay in the national territory for longer: these are likely to be the 70% of all the actual clandestine migrants in Italy. The easiness to entry into the local borders and the possibility to be employed in the huge informal labor market (which opened up specific niches for immigrant employment), are some of the most relevant reasons that make Italy being considered a sort of dreamland: easy to reach and to get rich it became through time one of the most attractive gateways to the Western world and consequently, the favorite destination for any transnational migration. In spite of its own migrant past, the current debate about Italian migration is one of the most controversial ones in whole Europe, especially in what concerns to immigration policies and the growing of a racist attitude among the local people.

Opinion polls indicate that Italians have mainly negative and stereotyped views of immigrants and there is disturbing evidence of growing racism. Further inflows of immigrants are likely, whatever policies Italy attempts to put in place.

The Bossi Fini Law

The current law concerning immigration issues is known as the Bossi-Fini Law named after the names of the politicians who proposed it. It came into force on the 26 August 2002, it amends the 1998 immigration law as well as the Turco-Napolitano law and it introduces new clauses. The most significant aspects of the law are as follows: -each year, before the 30 November, the Prime Minister will lay down the number of non-EU workers who can be admitted into Italy in the following year. -there are no limitations to entry into Italy for highly-skilled workers. -other non-EU immigrants will be allowed entry into Italy only if they have a 'residence contract' (contratto di soggiorno) - ie a contract of dependent employment signed by an employer (a firm or a family) and the immigrant worker. The contract must provide for accommodation and the payment of travel expenses for the workers to return to their country of origin. When the contract expires, the immigrant worker must return to the country of origin. -a specific immigration office is be set up in each province of Italy to oversee the entire recruitment procedure for immigrant workers on both open-ended and fixed-term contracts - when their residence permit is issued, immigrant workers must provide their fingerprints; -after six years of regular residence in Italy, non-EU citizens with the necessary economic requisites to sustain themselves and their families will be able to receive a form of permanent permit instead of a temporary residence permit; -irregular immigrants will be deported and accompanied to Italys borders. Deportation will be immediate and will not be suspended even if the immigrant appeals to the courts; -suspected illegal immigrants stopped by the police will be taken to specific centers controlled by the police. The authorities will try to discover their identity during the following 60 days. If they are found to be illegal immigrants, they will be ordered to leave the country within five days (a period they must spend in the center). If they fail to do so, the illegal immigrants will be arrested for between six months and a year or deported and accompanied to the borders. If illegal immigrants return to Italy, they will be arrested and tried by the courts. Furthermore, the last effort to regularize the immigrant situation in order to foster their socio-economic conditions is the so called Accordo dintegrazione(Integration

agreement), proposed by the current government after the last harsh episode of intolerance in the south of Italy. The law applies for all regular immigrants and it consists in granting integration points to acquire the residence permit. During a period of 2 years, they must collect a total of 30 points in order to stay in the country, passing through several compulsory steps: demonstrate that they have learnt Italian language (in a A2 level), to know the national Constitution, to subscribe to the Public Health System, and to have their children attending public school. In addition to the Bossi-Fini rules, to validate their own successful level of integration, immigrants basically should become more Italian then the Italian themselves. Nowadays immigrant people in Italy are about 4.5 million and they represent the 9.5% of the national GDP. Considering these facts, it is hard to imagine a day without migrant people working here. However, Italians will have an occasion to experience it to some degree, this next 1 st of March at Rome, when we will witness the first immigrant strike in the story of this country.

10

Main Trends
1. For the majority of Senegalese immigrants integration means: Being in a foreign and far place. Adopting the culture and the way of thinking of the people of the new nation by relating with them (specially the language) including learning to live by their set of rules. It does not mean to get completely inside because as long as there is a sense of solidarity, integration will happen. However, integration is a process that cannot happen without the recognition and acceptance of the local people of this far and new place. Integration is the process through which, over time, newcomers and hosts form an integral whole. For this to begin to happen, newcomers must be encouragedand assistedto weave themselves into the host community's economic fabric as soon as possible after arrival. In that regard, the first objective of integration should be to enable newcomers to get the fairest possible returns on their human capital investments and thus contribute as early and as fully as possible to community life. Economic and labor market assimilation, however, is only the starting point of integration. While pursuing effective economic incorporation, newcomers, hosts, and the social, cultural, and political institutions of the receiving community must also engage the much harder task of shaping their now-common space. (Papademetriou, 2003). Successful integration is not determined solely by the actions immigrants take and the resources they possess. The receptionsupportive, neutral, or negativethey receive from the host community plays a critical role.

11

You must behave as a pleasant person. You must not try to be smarter than an Italian or more astute. Then theyll like you. You must be humble and open minded.

2. The majority of the Senegalese immigrants, especially those in the lowest socio-economic status, do not feel integrated in Rome. And the ones who feel integrated have developed economic and social activities that go beyond their occupation. However, most of them have acquired some behaviors that are Italian.

The majority of the respondents (74%) say that the way they behave in public is more Senegalese. But this number rises. A larger majority of them (91%) say that the way they behave at home is more Senegalese. The majority (87%) also says that the things they do in their free time is more Senegalese. The large majority (91%) said that the personality of other members of their family is more Senegalese. Almost half of Senegalese immigrants (44%) say they dress like an Italian also because they like dressing well. Almost half of them (47%) say that they have an Italian attitude towards women rights and gender equality. More than half of them (70%) say that their way of doing business is more Italian. The majority of bag-sellers (85%) said they dont feel integrated. The majority of bag-sellers said they watch TV and sleep in their free time. The minority (35%), who said they do feel integrated, are not bag-sellers.

12

It is hard to access legal documents. If you work without papers, your bosses exploit you, they dont pay you as much as the law requires and you have not an assured job where you work. That is why the majority of Senegalese illegal immigrants end up selling bags in the streets. They cannot find anything else to do without the papers.

3. The majority of the money that Senegalese immigrants are earning in Rome goes to remittances, bank savings and personal savings. Furthermore, they hardly invest any money for their own education, health and leisure.

We know that all these relationships depend a lot on what we will bring back when we return back home. If we come back empty handed, we will be doomed and rejected.

13

4. The majority of the Senegalese immigrants are in Italy to improve the living conditions for their families back home. And in Italy they live modest lives. The majority (70%) said they havent improved the quality of their house. More than half of them (70%) said their income is higher now than when they lived in Senegal, independently of their current occupation. The majority of them (83%) said they have raised their social status. A large majority of the participants said they send remittances back home (82%). Nearly all the participants (96%) say they want to move back to Senegal some day. The majority (91%) said they want to help Senegal to develop. Nearly all the participants say that they want to run their own business back home someday (87%). A large proportion of them (70%) want to help other Senegalese to come to Europe.

Before going back home we just want something more. Buying a house of my own, a business of my own. We are here but our hearts are back in Senegal. When you come here to find a new life, and you go back home with nothing, the first ones in insulting you will be those same ones to whom you were sending money all along. No one will help you. They think that you just came here to play, to party.

5. Most Senegalese indicated that they cannot find jobs in their field of expertise. I studied pastry in Senegal and here I cannot work in my profession, therefore I am working as a babysitter. I tried in 5 different job posts to get a job as a tailor which is what I worked on back in Senegal. Since I was not recommended and I am black, the all told me well call you back but never did. So now I work as a cleaning lady. In Senegal I was an athlete, here I am a bag seller. Back home I studied international marketing at the university and I worked as a secretary. Here I am a hairdresser. In Senegal I used to work in transport logistics. Here I am a bag-seller.

14

6. Senegalese immigrants do learn Italian because it becomes the only language that can be used in their jobs. While language learning is a primary task for many immigrants, the processes involved may differ by race and ethnicity, gender, age, and educational level (Pavlenko 2001; Kouritzin 2000). The reason is a simple one. The learning of a new language requires exposure to others speaking the language, continual repetition, training in vocabulary and the rules of syntax. Through formal and informal mechanisms, the immigrant will, over time, shift from telegraphic speech to the ability to fully use and manipulate the language. Almost half of them (49%) say they speak Italian. More than one fourth of them say they read and write Italian, 27% and 25% respectively

Italians usually dont know any other language. So if you want to get a job, you must learn theirs. Thats the major reason why we learn it. You can speak perfect Italian and not be integrated at all. And it could also be that you dont speak one word of Italian but you are fully integrated. It depends on the person. The integration process becomes slower if you dont learn the language. And it is faster if you care to learn the local language; especially in Italy where the majority of people only speak Italian.

15

7. The brotherhood connections that exist back in Senegal are maintained and even enhanced here in Rome by all of them, but in particular by the Muslims. Almost all the studies on Senegalese migrants stress a very strong sense of solidarity and a cohesive, group-centric organization (e.g. Campus, Mottura and Perrone 1992, Schmidt Friedberg 1994). Such a mode of organization is believed to provide newcomers and job- seekers with advice and financial help. This communitarian lifestyle is also found within households ruled by hierarchical and age criteria, and the fair distribution of duties. Such trends will, of course, hamper language learning. Similarly, both male and female immigrants may form kinship and friendship networks with persons from their same country of origin (Goldstein, 2001). The Mouride movement seems to be developing continuously in Italy

Almost half of them (48%) said they are involved in community activities

Here in Rome, the relationship among Senegalese people is stronger than back home. Here they feel more the need of being together and helping each other because they are in a foreign place. Here it is easier for Senegalese people to mingle. Maybe back home they wouldnt talk to each other because of old disputes or different religions and regions. But here all of that is forgotten and there is only one label: Senegalese.

16

We know 2 associations: One only of ladies regardless if they are Muslim or Catholic. We gather on the second Sundays of each month. And we eat together, we chat, and we collect money that is used whenever one of the girls is in need. The other association is composed only of Catholic Senegalese members. We get together on each third Sunday of the month. Each one of us prepares a dish that can be Italian or Senegalese food. We talk, we dance, and we have good time. Each time can be in on of our houses or in a special place.

8. Discrimination, which has increased during the period of the current Italian government, is pointed by the majority of Senegalese as the main obstacle to get a better skilled job and to further integration. For migrants to contribute fully, they need to be effectively integrated into the labour market. Paradoxically, at the same time that migration is increasing in importance, there is worrying evidence that integration results are less favorable than in the past. Immigrants are generally more exposed to long-term unemployment and social exclusion, as well as poorer working conditions and temporary employment.

Before arriving in Rome, more than half of the respondents (57%) said that they did not expect to be discriminated

17

In Senegal, whenever there is a problem between a foreigner and a Senegalese, the police always approach first the foreigner to support him and ask him if everything is ok. But here, the carabinieri come in without knowing what exactly happened, they grab you and put on you the handcuffs. Even if the Italian guy was the guilty one, their first instinct is to think that you are the one to blame. Why dont they ask first? Here, it has a lot of influence what the people see on the TV and the news. And they always portray us as an evil menace. So everyone ends up thinking that. If you are well dressed in an expensive way, they wont buy your stuff because they will think that we are rich. And also if you go well dressed to Termini, for sure the police will stop you to ask you where you got the money to dress like that. They treat you as a criminal whose selling drugs or something to get those clothes. Whenever you have a job you are not safe. At any moment you can loose it just because you are not Italian but black. These discriminatory practices are exacerbated by the economic and financial crises which makes even legal immigrants more vulnerable since they are the first to lose their jobs I was working as a security agent on a company but at a certain moment five persons were fired and we were all Senegalese and the only immigrants working there. And we were very competent in our work. People from Bangladesh are lucky in having work in Italy due to their light complexion. If you are a white girl from Eastern Europe without papers here in Rome, they surely will take you over a black girl even if this black girl has a legal permit to be here. Italians like people who look like them. They dont think that much about the documents. I knew a Senegalese guy who married an Italian girl. She got pregnant and her parents were so afraid that the kid might be black. Because this world is cruel to black people. Thats what they said. I also knew a Senegalese married with an Italian guy. Their son has never met his grandmother back in Senegal, because his Italian father says that over his dead body, his kid will go to Africa. He does not want his son to ever go to Africa. Because he says that in our continent there is only violence, corruption and drugs. As if in Europe this wasnt the case as well. In Italy it is not like in other countries. The children of foreigners are not Italian citizens when they are born in Italian territory. They must wait until they are 18 to acquire the nationality. Therefore, they are not considered as an Italian child even legally.

18

If your mother is Italian, you have better chances of integration than if your father is Italian. You have more rights and you acquire the citizenship more easily. If you are the child of a black and white marriage, your status is better if your mother is the white one and your father is black. The other way around, makes you more discriminated. And if your parents are both Senegalese with legal documents, you still dont enjoy an equal status as an Italian child. Is better to be the kid of a mix marriage than a kid of a Senegalese couple with legal documents.

9. The majority of Senegalese agree that the second generation immigrants integrate without major problems in Italians schools. Integration is a two-way process in which newcomer and established residents share responsibility for the wellbeing of one another and of the broader community. Yes they do integrate well at school. And they find Italian friends. The mother must always remind them where they come from, and then they do not forget. They must integrate in school and have Italian friends but without forgetting where they come from. I have an aunt with two kids. She put them in school here. And now they say What do I have to do with Senegal? What do I care what goes on in Senegal? Just as the Senegalese people go to meet the family of their Italian partner, they should do the same because we have nothing to be ashamed of.

10. The majority of Senegalese agree that in Rome there is no religious discrimination whatsoever, and that in the case of the Muslims, they always felt welcome to practice their religion freely. Italy and Rome have a huge past of religious toleration. If I would be appointed to choose an international religious city, I would choose Rome. Religion is not a problem. It is more important the lack of organization between Senegalese people because all the organizations for Senegalese here in Rome, are only religious ones. There is no space for us to talk about other important issues: politic and economic problems that we all have. Being a Catholic does not give you any advantage here in Rome. It does not integrate you easily. Because actually, Rome is a highly tolerant city; In fact it is easier for the Muslims because their sense of unification and organization is higher than the one of the catholic Senegalese.

19

When a catholic has a problem he doesnt speak to anyone about it. Catholic are not educated to think collectively back in Senegal whereas Muslim are. This is why we have this association; to bond more among ourselves. 11. The majority of Senegalese immigrants think that mixed marriages can be a positive attribute for integration as long as both persons respect each others cultures.

Mixed marriages are a good thing. And it is very important because in Africa marriages signify a bond between two families. And they start being friends. If two families are friends they marry their children to strengthen their bonds and if Senegalese people marry Italians,

20

your start a bond. You begin to have something in common. Your paradigms slowly go down. It is a good thing. My cousin was married with an Italian girl and after two years they got divorced because they dont have the same way of seeing life. For example, you cannot imagine a guy in Senegal doing the cooking or changing diapers. For me the concept is just one: love. Where there is love, the cultural barriers do not exist. But in fact the Muslim Mourides marry more Italians than Catholic Senegalese because in their religion your status rises when you bring someone new to the religion. But of course in this case the clash of cultures does not exist because the Italian girl ends up adopting the Senegalese traditions and Islam religion fully. Mix marriage for me is not a matter of integration. It becomes very material actually. It must go beyond that: it is all about love. But here, people marry Italians to get the legal papers. It is all material. And thats why there is no real integration going on because at the end, is just a matter of convenience.

12. The majority of the Senegalese say that their integration is also difficult because the Senegalese institutions back home and here in Rome do not support them. The first negligence comes from the Senegalese government because they should have a view of the importance of the immigrants. We inject a lot of money into our countrys Economy. Both Italian and Senegalese institutions should work for us. But the initiative should come first from our government. They should not exclude us, so this way the Italian government would also facilitate things for us. It is both the Italian and also the Senegalese institutions who do not want more immigrants here. The people working for the Senegalese institutions here in Rome see us as a menace for their own jobs and people. And the Italian institutions convince Italian people that we are a plague who steals their jobs. The Senegalese embassy does not function well. They just give good public image but in reality they do not do that much. They seem to forget they are here to help us. I know the case of a lady who left back home her husband and his son. She came to Italy to work and she died here. And the embassy did not do anything when they claimed her body to be buried in Senegal. They said this could not be possible. Because even if the lady was legal here in Italy, she forgot to do the recognition procedure in the embassy, so therefore they couldnt do anything and she was buried here far from her country. In the embassy here, they pay no attention to us. They do not care about their own people who are here. If they do not help you in the embassy, how are others going to respect you?

21

13. The majority of illegal Senegalese, who said that they dont feel integrated, have also a low multicultural interaction. They only relate with Italians at work, and they hardly relate with other nationalities.

22

The majority of Senegalese with legal papers, with a high skill occupation, said that they establish a higher multicultural interaction. They relate with Italians and with other nationalities beyond work affairs, and have a broader variety of activities.

14. The majority of Senegalese immigrants stated that the 4 main challenges to better their integration are: facilitate the access to legal papers, eliminate discriminatory attitudes, facilitate the access to better skilled jobs and facilitate the access to decent housing.

Italy is very involved in stopping immigration. They are all aware that before, Italy was the country to come and make money back home. They should look around them: countries like Belgium for instance, who are more tolerant and cooperative with immigrants.

23

That money (Foreign Aid money) never goes to the people who need it. Ours does. The help of all those NGOs is not felt by the people who need it. Ours does. The governments of our country only care about having good diplomacy with Europe. They do not care for their people. The failure of our governments is what brought all of us here to Europe in the first place. If they are not efficient with us, the Europeans should consider this and treat us immigrants better.

24

Conclusions and Recommendations

After, this fieldwork research, we experienced that even if a migration group comes from one same country, the people who take the challenge of living abroad (in this case, the Senegalese of Rome), constitute an heterogeneous group of people rather than a unitary one, possessing distinct personal and social endowments who migrated under disparate circumstances. Our main findings demonstrate that there are different stages, different contexts, different forms of organization at the beginning of the migratory chain, different backgrounds of class, urban or rural culture, and of religious attachment. (from a low income to a sustainable life, from Muslim to Catholic Senegalese, the brotherhood interaction of the Mouride as well as a strong link of relationships back home and the challenges of networking and integrating in Rome) Moreover, since a transnational circulatory model of migration is seen to be successful, it tends to be imitated. (such is the case of the Mouride) Finally, having an ambivalent audience to respond to, and a multi-polarized context to leave from, a Senegalese transnational community can manifest itself in many different ways. Senegalese showed a more disaggregated configuration than the anthropological defined community of representations (this is one of the reasons why we didnt make a Venn Diagram). Two apparently contradictory yet coexisting narratives inform Senegalese selfrepresentation: a dominant discourse of solidarity and a hidden discourse of autonomy and individuality. Furthermore, after perceiving the differences in needs, desires and ways of living only within the Senegalese community, we can assure that initiatives such as the Bossi-Fini law and the Accordo d integrazione cannot pretend to legislate in a one size fits all way, the integration of all the nationalities who coexist in Italy to achieve a sustainable life. The needs of the immigrants in Rome go beyond the four standards of: public schooling, health services, and language and constitutional mastery of the Italians.

It is well known that the most of foreigners, who managed to apply and regularize their position via flows, decree quota, were already living in Italy. They were very lucky: they found employers that decided to apply to a long bureaucratic procedure. More specifically, the Senegalese immigrants have expressed that what they mostly need to be integrated is the permanent and constant recognition as a fundamental part of the Italian social and economic system.

25

The main obstacle to achieve these needs is the evident intolerance and exclusion perceived in Rome. As long as there is an atmosphere where the immigrants rights are legitimately violated, any attempt of ending racism through laws, will be useless. With the current lack of faith and credibility that has risen about international aid and development, the European authorities should keep in mind more than ever, that the principal motor of development of a country is its own people. Any attempt to hamper and marginalize those who have left everything behind to better their familys lives is also a direct attempt to slow down the development of their home country. Insisting on giving handouts to third world corrupted governments, and frustrating the means of survival that third world immigrants have found to succeed, is a double menace for the achievement of sustainability. Laws that vaguely state what to do, ignoring how to do it, will hamper the process of integration for the Senegalese in Rome, and also for all the immigrants in general.

26

Annexes
1. Persons met
Our interviews have been done with the collaboration of Senegalese immigrants in the periphery of Rome in Italy. The sample of our questionnaire shows its originality in the different occupations held by the persons we have met in the field. Down Pigneto with a large number of the bag sellers, that constitute the majority of our sample, the baby sitters and house holders at Momentana, in the Senegalese embassy with persons that have different types of occupation, the Senegalese catholic association, and also at Tiburtina with the participation of one Senegalese student born in Italy . This diversity allows us to have an amplified picture and opinion on the conditions of Senegalese migrants in Rome, but also to study their socio-economic and multicultural aspects. The participants were very cooperative in answering the questions and we notice that in terms of education, the bag sellers are less educated than the others and they cannot afford to have jobs related to high level of education in Senegal and even in Italy. Most of them migrated in Italy because of economic reasons, the majority is illegal and they live in bad conditions. Selling is the only activity that they can work in to survive. They dont feel integrated in Rome. Their objective is to make money and go back home. In contrast, the baby sitters and house holders have at least attended and sometimes completed their high school degree. They migrated in Italy with a contract of employment upon arrival. Nevertheless, they dont feel integrated. But their legal status allow them to have an acceptable living condition and a permanent job that incentives them to always extend their stay in a legal way. The point that makes them unsatisfied is that they cannot practice their cooking profession in Italy because of the present scarcity of job and sometimes for racist reasons. Their situation is quite similar with that of the member of the catholic Senegalese association in the immigration system and conditions of living in Rome. The picture we can have in the interview made in the Senegalese embassy is that, all the participants feel integrated because a part from their job they have other extra activities and the size of their income is also considerable. They are principally in contact with Italians in their activities and during their free time but they are strongly attached to their African identity. The Senegalese student feels integrated first because she is born in Italy, and she has the Italian nationality. In one world she is Italian, an Italian who feels sometimes discriminated, and strongly attached to her Senegalese culture too. She is educated to never forget where she is from. She considers the immigration as a positive aspect to the host country because it constitutes the beginning of mutual cultural exchanges. She deplores the condition of certain Senegalese immigrants who are suffering because of the lack of legal paper, and suggest sensitizing the Africans in general for them to know

27

that coming to Europe is not the solution to get rid of poverty and to achieve well being. For her, the best thing to do is to invest in their own country weather it is difficult or not.

2. Data Collection Instruments

Questionnaire Format
Social and Multicultural Integration of the Senegalese Immigrants in Rome. Questionnaire Thank you for your participation. Your information will be used only for academic purposes of this research and your name will never be disclosed to anyone. 1. Gender: Male _____ Female _____ Occupation: ________________________ Religion: _________________________ Year of Birth: __________________ Place of Birth: _____________________________________

2. How long have you been living in Rome: More than 20 years 15 to 20 years 10 to 15 years 5 to 10 years 1 to 5 years 3 months to 1 year less than 3 months

3. How often do you contact family and/or friends back home? daily _________ weekly __________ monthly _________ once a year ____________ I havent contacted people back home since my arrival ____________

28

4. 5.

Marriage status Single Married __________ or divorced _______or union _______ with: a. Italian person b. Senegalese person (living in Rome) c. Senegalese person back home d. Other nationality (living in Rome) _______ Nation ____________ Living conditions Who do you live in Italy with? Alone with spouse with spouse and children with children as a single parent with friends or colleagues___ or other families___ Nation/s: ____________ With nuclear and at least one member of extended family

6. Languages Languages that you speak and/or read; and/or write: Language Wolof French Italian English Other: 7. School level: Primary School level _____________ Completed: yes _____ no___ Studied in: Senegal _________ Italy__________ other ______________ High School Level _____________ Completed: yes _____ no____ Studied in: Senegal _________ Italy__________ other ______________ Vocational Colleges______________________ topic___________________ University level: _______________ Completed: yes _____ no____ Studied in: Senegal _________ Italy__________ other ______________ Career studied and degree obtained: ___________________________________________________________ Speak Write Read

29

Income: 8. How much do you earn monthly? 1. less than 300 Euros ____________ 2. from 300 to 500 Euros __________ 3. from 500 to 800 Euros __________ 4. from 800 to 1,200 ______________ 5. more than 1,200 ______________ 9. How many hours do you work on a day? 1. less than 5 ____________ 2. between 5 and 8 ____________ 3. 8 to 10 hours _______________ 4. more than 10 hours __________ 10. Do the earnings from your job represent the totality of your monthly income? Yes _________ No__________

Amount __________

11. If no, please check which other sources of income do you receive? Salary of members of family living in Rome _________ land ownership _______________ in Senegal________ in Italy ______ Government help ______________ Secondary Job ___________ occupation: _____________ Other: _____________________________________ 12. How much of your income do you use for: Remittances _____________________ Bank savings _____________________ Personal savings __________________ Living expenses in Rome (rent, electricity, phone, food) ___________ Education for you or family members in Rome ____________ Medical expenses (of you or family members in Rome) _________ Leisure time _____ Other _________________________

13. Secondary Income Sources Do the earnings from your job represent the totality of your monthly income? Yes _________ No__________ If no, please check which other sources of income do you receive? Salary of members of family living in Rome _________ land ownership ____in Senegal___in Italy __ Government help ______________

30

Secondary Job _________occupation: ______ Other: _____________________________________

14. What do you do in your free time and where do you go?

15. Please check the nationalities with which you have most contact with and for which purposes: Regions Italian Senegalese Bangladeshi Latin America South East Asia Central Asia Arab World Africa East Europe If you have contact with a nationality that you cant identify, please ask our survey guide. At home At work Community Religious activities activities Free time Other

16. Please check the areas of Rome where you most frequently go to and the purpose: Regions At home At work Community Religious activities activities Free time Other

31

17. What do you think are things needed to be fully integrated in Italy? Yes No Knowing the Italian language Having a university degree Having an income of at least 1,000 Euros a month Celebrating Christmas and/or other traditional Italian holidays and events Eating Italian food Dressing like an Italian Participate in Italian politics Having children born in Italy Having Italian friendships Having friendships with other nationalities Having contacts with the first wave of Senegalese immigrants here Living in a neighborhood lived majorly by Italians Having my whole family living in Italy Owning a business Listening to Italian music Being married to an Italian 18. According to the previous statements, do you feel you are already integrated in Rome? Yes _________ No ________ Why?

19. Do you act more like an Italian or more like a Senegalese in what respects to: Italian The way you dress The way you eat The religious practices your political opinions your attitude towards women rights and gender equality The way you behave in public The way you behave in your home The way you do business The personality of other members of your family The things you do in your Senegalese

32

free time 20. Now that you are here, have you accomplished (or do you still think you will accomplish) the goals you had back home, in what respects to: yes Quality of my house Bringing all my family to Rome The size of my income Rising my social status Rising my level of education Not being discriminated Relating with Italians Relating with other immigrant groups Relating with religious communities Involving in community activities Becoming Italian citizen Moving back to Senegal some day Helping my country to develop That my children are equal to other Italians Run my own business in Senegal Helping other people migrate in Europe 21. If you could better the Italian immigration system; what would be your three priorities? 12322. Do you have a legal permit to live in Italy? Yes If yes, when does it expire? No no this wasnt a personal goal for me

33

Focus Groups Checklists

Focus Group 1. Baby Sitters and Cleaning Lady.
1. Is it hard to get a Job in Rome? Why? Yes and even more in this period. Maybe we find a good job in the sense of the labor you must make, but the payment is not the expected one. The crisis and the paranoia with the crisis have made things more difficult for us. It is hard to find the job that one would like to have. For instance, finding a job in a Hostel or a restaurant which is what two of us would like to have becomes really hard for the fact of the crises, added to the racism; since some people now in Italy blame the intensity of the crisis to the immigrants who supposedly come here to steal the jobs of the Italians. -I studied pastry in Senegal and here I cannot work in my profession, therefore I am working as a babysitter. - You also must be recommended by someone to get a job. And it is hard to find such persons. - I tried in 5 different job posts to get a job as a tailor which is what I worked on back in Senegal. Since I was not recommended and I am black, the all told me well call you back but never did. So now I work as a cleaning lady. Italians do not trust someone who doesnt look like them. The first thing they ask to the person who recommends you is What country is she from? Is she Muslim or catholic? Is she black? Is she Brava? 2. Is there a difference between being a legal and illegal immigrant here in Rome? How? Why? -In the way we treat each other, we are all equal. -But the difference comes in the kind of jobs you can access. If you are illegal it is harder to find someone to recommend you and then to take you. Obviously it is harder without documents to find success here. In the 1990s it was not like right now. Back then it didnt mater that much if you had papers or not. But with the government of Berlusconi, things have gotten harder and harder for immigrants in general but even more for the illegal ones. But one thing is the law and the other things are peoples perceptions. For example if you are white girl from Eastern Europe without papers here in Rome, they surely will take you over a black girl even if this black girl has a legal permit to be here. Italians like people who look like them. They dont think that much about the documents. 3. Do most of Senegalese immigrants learn fully the Italian language? Why? Yes they do learn it but not in schools or with courses. Most of us learn it in the street or the job. Its not that the courses are expensive. For example Caritas does it for free. But at the end we dont have the time to keep up with the routine. - For instance in my first year here, I worked with a lady who wanted to learn French and wanted her kids to learn French. So for my first year here

34

I didnt learn the Italian language. And then I learned it through the TV. as most of us do. Italians usually dont know any other language. So if you want to get a job, you must learn theirs. Thats the major reason why we learn it.

4. Do most Senegalese immigrants adopt the Italian eating habits? Why? Yes because pasta is really easy to make. I personally love spaghetti. - It is also very cheap. We get here one pack of pasta for one euro. 5. Is it easy to make friendships in Italy? Why? The majority of our friends are also Senegalese. With other nationalities including the Italians, we can say Hello! Ciao! But thats it. The relationship does not grow further majorly because they are not interested in getting to know us. -I have no Italian friends. Maybe in my workplace I speak to one or two of them but I have never found any Italian interested in meeting me. 6. What is the perception of Senegalese people on the way Italian people dress? Is nice. With various tastes. We like it. 7. Is the transportation system of Rome easy to use for Senegalese immigrants? Yes it is very easy to use. And it is a good advantage that you dont have to show your ID card at the moment when you buy your metro or bus ticket. Thus, illegal immigrants can move freely around Rome. 8. Does it have any impact the fact that Rome is a Christian city? How? Actually Rome doesnt feel like a catholic city. - My mom dreams of coming to Rome, to the most Christian city in the world as we all think before arriving. But even if you are a believer, once you are here, you really dont notice that this is a Christian city. This is also an advantage, because in Rome there is no such thing as religious discrimination. 9. How does marriage and family traditions are held by Senegalese immigrants in Rome? Is it different from that of the Italians? How? We do maintain our traditions just like in Senegal. We celebrate marriages in the church. But we also do what we can. We cant behave completely as we do back home. We are not in our country. We dont dance in the street as we do back home when we are celebrating a marriage because Italians dont like it. - In fact the last August 15, when we celebrate the Virgins day, our Italian neighbors called the Carabineri because we had the music too loud here in the house. That would never happen in Senegal on this day. 10. Is there a Strong relationship of Brotherhood among the Senegalese immigrants? How? Why? Yes we know 2 associations. One, only of ladies regardless if they are Muslim or catholic. We gather on the second Sundays of each month. And we eat together,

35

we chat, and we collect money that is used whenever one of the girls is in need. For example if her housing contract ended, or if she gets married, r if a relative back home got sick; we use this money to help each other. The other association is composed only of catholic Senegalese members. We get together on each third Sunday of the month. Each one of us prepares a dish that can be Italian or Senegalese food. We talk, we dance, and we have good time. Each time can be in on of our houses or in a special place. 11. Is it stronger here or back home? It is stronger back home because sometimes here people just dont have enough free time as to get together and take care of each other. But we at least try to talk to each other over the phone. -Even when you are sick in the hospital you notice that you will only receive visits on Sundays because that is the day people are freer. Then on Monday, no one is there. 12. Do you know of many Senegalese who have married Italians? Have Italian partners? What do you think about mixed marriages? Yes we do know of some mixed marriages. And we think is a good thing. Of course it all depends on the mentality of the Senegalese person and of the Italian person in question. - Senegalese people, I think do not have any problem with Italian culture. They can respect it and adapt to it. But the Italians sometimes have problems with us. - I knew a Senegalese guy who married an Italian girl. She got pregnant and her parents were so afraid that the kid might be black. Because this world is cruel to black people. Thats what they said. - I also knew a Senegalese married with an Italian guy. Their son has never met his grandmother back in Senegal, because his Italian father says that over his dead body, his kid will go to Africa. He does not want his son to ever go to Africa. Because he says that in our continent there is only violence, corruption and drugs. As if in Europe this wasnt the case as well. 13. What does the word Integration mean to you? Can you describe the characteristics of a Senegalese who you think is integrated? Frequent Italian people. These Senegalese persons, make Italians understand that they are just like them. That there is noting to fear. But it is not good to forget where one comes from. And many people, who integrate, then do not want to go back to their country. - We would return gladly and immediately if we knew that we had a chance back in Senegal. But a lot of Senegalese forget this. - Before going back home we just want something more. Buying a house of my own, a business of my own. We are here but our hearts are back in Senegal.

36

We live with fear. We left all our family there. I just spoke with my daughter today and she told me her teacher gave her some money. I dont know what for. And being here makes me unable to act immediately. What we are looking for is a better job. As a house keeping leady I earn way more here than back home. And when you come here to find a new life, and you go back home with nothing, the first ones in insulting you will be those same ones who you were sending money all along. No one will help you. They think that you just came here to play, to party.

14. Do Senegalese who are integrated loose their identity? How? Why? More or less. -I have an aunt who is in France but she has never spoken to us again. Most of the people, who integrate themselves, end up changing. When they get what they want they dont go back. I am one person here in Italy, and I am another one back in Senegal. - The people who integrate then just go to Senegal and then return to Europe. They just go for vacations. They dont think of staying forever. - I know one lady whose sons grew up here; at the end she still went back to live in Senegal but the sons decided to live in Italy. We must educate our children. We must tell them where they come from and the importance of their heritage. I have an aunt with two kids. She put them in school here. And now they say what do I have to do with Senegal? What do I care what goes on in Senegal? Just as the Senegalese people go to meet the family of their Italian partner, they should do the same because we have nothing to be ashamed of. 15. Are Senegalese children living in Italy well integrated in School? How? Yes they do integrate well at school. And they find Italian friends. The mother must always remind them where they come from, then they don not forget. They must integrate in school and have Italian friends but without forgetting where they come from. -My cousin has acted like that and her son now feels Italian and Senegalese. 16. Is it easy to maintain the friendships and family relations back home, when living in Italy? Yes it is. We all speak to them often. But at the same time we know that all these relationships depend a lot on what we will be bring back when we return back home. If we come back empty handed, we will be doomed and rejected. 17. Are there many Senegalese Associations here in Rome? Which ones? What is their purpose? Go to question # 10. 18. Are there many Senegalese/ Italian Associations here in Rome? Which ones? What is their purpose? Not that we know of.

37

19. Do most Senegalese immigrants plan to stay here permanently? Some yes some not. Depends on the job they find here. The better the job, the least is their will to go back home. (Refer to question # 13) 20. Which Institutions -both Senegalese and Italian- provide support to Senegalese immigrants? How do your rate the support of each? There arent really institutions which really provide support the Senegalese. The embassy of Senegal does not do their duty. 21. In which areas do you think Senegalese immigrants need support to integrate better in Italy? They need help to find places to work and most of all the need of changing the racist mentality of the people here. If the embassy of Senegal actually helps people with their documents and papers, I havent seen it. - I know the case of a lady who left backs home her husband and his son. She came to Italy to work and she died here. And the embassy didnt do anything when they claimed her body to be buried in Senegal. They said this could not be possible. Because even if the lady was legal here in Italy, she forgot to do the recognition procedure in the embassy, so therefore they couldnt do anything. 22. Who should provide this support? In which ways? Are there any cases? The support should come first from our own embassy. But if not even our embassy respect us, the Italian authorities of course wont support us. There was once a boy in the embassy who did work for the people he did care. He helped a lot of people with their documents and papers and finding jobs for them. He did a lot to have contact with the Italians. But now hes gone. People here in the embassy treat us bad. They jell at you. They have no consideration whatsoever. If the bad treatment starts from there, how can we expect that things will change? Housing: Yes it is hard because the landlords put many restrictions. And they dont like to rent to black people. -In our case, is fine because now I own this house. But still there were many restrictions on how many people could live here and so on.

38

Focus Group #2. Embassy of Senegal. Football player 17. Jewelry seller 35. Artist. Construction worker 29. 1. Is it hard to get a Job in Rome? Why? - It is very hard because of the migrant situation - Even it is also hard to the Italian to find a job - It can be difficult but for me I dont have this problem. 2. Is there a difference between being a legal and illegal immigrant here in Rome? How? Why? - If you want to do a worthy job in Italia you must have papers. I am working in a supermarket because of the papers I have. Otherwise I may be selling bags in the street. But I am regulated since January and I am still waiting to get my Italian ID. (But whenever I have the ID I will move to another country maybe London) - Personally it is because of my situation that I have this job. I have legal papers and an Italian wife. 3. Do most of Senegalese immigrants learn fully the Italian language? Why? - I learn Italian because I am still studying and I need the language to communicate with my friends in the football team. - In my job I have contact with all the nationalities. I learned Italian and other languages because as a permanent job I work in a supermarket. And since I am an artist I need English too. In my free times I read Italian and English books. 4. Do most Senegalese immigrants adopt the Italian eating habits? Why? - For me I live with other Senegalese and we specially eat Senegalese. - I live with Italian and I get used to their food - Sometimes I go to other friends to eat food from Senegal but at home its mostly Italian food. 5. Is it easy to make friendships in Italy? Why? Yes you must behave as a pleasant person. You most not try to be smarter than Italian or more astute. Then theyll like you. You must be humble and open minded. - I am the only African in the team and all the Italians treat me nice. - In my job I deal with all nationalities Spanish, French, German, Italian. And I get along very well with all of them because I respect my business and I respect them. 6. What is the perception of Senegalese people on the way Italian people dress? -Yes I try to dress like them. -If you come to a country you must act as they do. 7. Is the transportation system of Rome easy to use for Senegalese immigrants? - I wouldnt know. I go everywhere on the teams bus.

39

For me the transportation is better in Dakar than here. Here it takes 45 minutes for a bus to arrive. It takes too much time.

8. Does it have any impact the fact that Rome is a Christian city? How? We have never felt discriminated for being a Muslim. Never. 9. How does marriage and family traditions are held by Senegalese immigrants in Rome? Is it different from that of the Italians? How? It depends on who do you marry. If you marry a Senegalese women you will obviously maintain more traditions than if you marry to an Italian girl. But we always have to keep in mind no matter what that we are in another place and that we must re adapt ourselves. 10. Is there a Strong relationship of Brotherhood among the Senegalese immigrants? How? Why? - Here in Rome, the relationship among Senegalese people is stronger than back home. Here they feel more the need of being together and helping each other because they are in a foreign place. - But not only that. Here it is easier for Senegalese people to mingle. Maybe back home they wouldnt talk to each other because of old disputes or different religions and regions. But here all of that is forgotten and there is only one label: Senegalese. 11. Is it stronger here or back home? It is stronger here. (Refer to question # 10) 12. Do you know of many Senegalese who have married Italians? Have Italian partners? What do you think about mixed marriages? - Yes I think it is a good thing because a lot of prejudgments are thrown down. And eventually if there are family links between two cultures, then the tolerance among them grows and they can live peacefully. - I am dating an Italian girl. And sometimes it is embarrassing because people look at us in the street thinking: why is she doing with that black guy? But I dont care. For me it is easy to be with a white girl. I like more her mentality than the one of a girl back home. - I am married with an Italian women and she become Muslim. My kids when I will have them will be Muslim. And I want my kids to speak Wolof, French and Italian. We are equals and we dont have any culture problems. 13. What does the word Integration mean to you? Can you describe the characteristics of a Senegalese who you think is integrated? It is to be in a far country away from home from a long time. Becoming Italian. Adopting their culture, their way of thinking. You just need to get to know them to integrate with them.

40

14. Do Senegalese who are integrated loose their identity? How? Why? No. they dont loose their identity. Because we all love Senegal and we could never forget where we come from even if we tried to. -I cannot forget the people of my color. - We want to go back. My wife has visited Senegal. - Maybe we dont go back to live there. But to go and to return. To visit the family and the friends is always important. We can make money here in Rome, go back to visit and then live in Europe. 15. Are Senegalese children living in Italy well integrated in School? How? Yes they do. - I am going here to language school and they all treat me as an equal. - I have given art classes to Senegalese and other immigrant children here in Rome, and they all are happy in their school. They are treated well and equally. 16. Is it easy to maintain the friendships and family relations back home, when living in Italy? Yes it is. We speak to our families back home weekly. We are always aware of their needs and lives. 17. Are there many Senegalese Associations here in Rome? Which ones? What is their purpose? Not that we know of. - I dont contact many Senegalese here. - I deal with Senegalese for business only. 18. Are there many Senegalese/ Italian Associations here in Rome? Which ones? What is their purpose? Not that we know of. But there must be some. 19. Do most Senegalese immigrants plan to stay here permanently? No we think that most of them want to stay here but always with the mind of going back to visit. 20. Which Institutions -both Senegalese and Italian- provide support to Senegalese immigrants? How do your rate the support of each? The embassy does not function well. They just give good public image but in reality they dont do that much. They seem to forget they are here to help us. 21. In which areas do you think Senegalese immigrants need support to integrate better in Italy? In the labor area. Because it is hard the access to legal documents. And without those it is hard to get a good payment job. If you work without papers, your bosses exploit you, they dont pay you as much as the law requires and you have not assured job where you work. That is why the majority of Senegalese illegal

41

immigrants end up selling bags in their streets. They cannot find anything else to do without the papers. It is both the Italian and also the Senegalese institutions who do not want more immigrants here. The Senegalese institutions see us as competition for their own jobs and people. And the Italian institutions convince Italian people that we are a plague who steals their jobs. 22. Who should provide this support? In which ways? Are there any cases? Both Italian and Senegalese institutions should work for us. But the initiative should come first from our government. They shouldnt exclude us, so this way the Italian government would also facilitate things for us.

42

Focus Group # 3. Senegalese Bag-Sellers. Pigneto. 1. Is it hard to get a Job in Rome? Why? - It depends on the person. Because there are people who can give you a job but there are others who exclude you, even if you have a god economic status. - It is hard in the sense that whenever you have it you are not safe. At any moment you can loose it just because you are not Italian. -I was working like a security agent in on company but at a certain moment five persons were fired and we were all Senegalese and the only immigrants working there. And we were very competent in our work. -It is because of the international crises and the European system in general which has adopted a new strategy; that is, to invest in Africa to avoid the high rates of taxes. And of course there will be a scarcity in jobs. 2. Is there a difference between being a legal and illegal immigrant here in Rome? How? Why? - For the white people it is essential to have an Italian ID. If you give your Senegalese ID they respond that this not a paper - There is no difference between being legal or illegal because only by your immigrant situation you cannot pretend to have a job like that of an Italian person. - People from Bangladesh are lucky in having work in Italy due to their light complexion. 3. Do most of Senegalese immigrants learn fully the Italian language? Why? God help them in this sense because I speak Italian better than French. Most of us learned French and Arabic courses but Italian is very easy. - Knowing the Italian language is essential it is the beginning of integration for communication. - If we dont learn that language we cannot be in this country - I suffered in my job because my Italian is not so good. I was obliged to stop the Italian courses because of the lack of time - We are all obliged to learn it very well for our job of bag sellers. 4. Do most Senegalese immigrants adopt the Italian eating habits? Why? It depends on the environment in which you live. If you live with them you will have the tendency to eat their food. But its better for the Senegalese to keep their traditional food 5. Is it easy to make friendships in Italy? Why? - The persons here are not treated equal. If I find a person who behaves kindly with me, I reply in the same way. Here in Italy, if the person is intelligent and open minded, he will make friendship with you. If he doesnt want to because he rejects you, then there is nothing much you can do. - In Senegal, whenever there is a problem between a foreigner and a Senegalese, the police always approach first to the foreigner to support him and ask him if everything is ok. But here, the carabineri come in without knowing what exactly

43

happened, they grab you and put you the handcuffs. Even if the Italian guy was the guilty one, their first instinct is to think that you are the one to blame. Why dont they ask first? - And then is the same in the airport. There can be a 100 white people coming off an airplane, and no one stops them. But if there are two back persons, for sure they will get stopped and their bags will be checked -I found a job in McDonalds just because I was lucky enough to find friends who helped me. -Here, it has a lot of influence what the people see on the TV and the news. And they always portray us as an evil menace. So everyone ends up thinking that. -Some times it is not possible because there are some parts in Italy where colored people are not accepted to live. 6. What is the perception of Senegalese people on the way Italian people dress? The Italians have a culture of dressing well. This is one level that you must control if you want to get integrated. There are Senegalese who are only here to make money and leave. They dont care about integrating or making relations. But there are also those who come here to integrate even in that sense. And there are others who go to another extreme, copying Italians in everything. -But if you are well dressed in an expensive way, they wont buy your stuff because they will think that we are rich. And also if you go well dressed to Termini, for sure the police will stop you to ask you where you got the money to dress like that. They treat you as a criminal whose selling drugs or something to get those clothes. -Maybe this is because the Italians think that we live under a bridge, or that back in Senegal we dont have any of the kind of things they have here. 7. Is the transportation system of Rome easy to use for Senegalese immigrants? 8. Does it have any impact the fact that Rome is a Christian city? How? There is no struggle or clash between religions here in Rome. We can all practice our religion freely. - Italy and Rome have a huge past of religious toleration. If would be appointed to choose an international religious city, I would choose Rome. - None of religious discrimination was felt until three years ago with Berlusconis government because before, I even had friends who were carabineri. Religion is not a problem. It is more important the lack of organization between Senegalese people because all the organizations for Senegalese here in Rome, are only religious ones. There is no space for us to talk about other important issues: politics and economic problems that we all have. - On the last 5 of October 2009, there was an incident here. And a Senegalese person got arrested unfairly. None of the other Senegalese got involved to help him. Not even the embassy. But the Italians, who live here, went to the police and denounce this as unfair.

44

9. How does marriage and family traditions are held by Senegalese immigrants in Rome? Is it different from that of the Italians? How? 10. Is there a Strong relationship of Brotherhood among the Senegalese immigrants? How? Why? Go to question # 8 11. Is it stronger here or back home? Go to question # 8 12. Do you know of many Senegalese who have married Italians? Have Italian partners? What do you think about mixed marriages? - Mix marriages are a good thing. And it is very important because in Africa marriages signify a bond between two families. And they start being friends. If two families are friends they marry their children to strengthen their bonds and if Senegalese people marry Italians, your start a bond. You begin to have something in common. Your paradigms slowly go down. It is a good thing. -Mix marriage for me is not a matter of integration. It becomes very material actually. It must go beyond that: it is all about love. But here, people marry Italians to get the legal papers. It is all material. And thats why there is no real integration going on because at the end, is just a matter of convenience. -To be married to another culture, depends on the specific people who are getting married. It can be difficult for someone like us who always have the dream to go back home. If you get married here, this dream may be forgotten. And your kid doesnt know if hes white or black or what. Here there are two interests that confront each other. - Lot of Senegalese marries Italian girls. I would say that 90% of those marriages split due to a clash of cultures. My brother married a Senegalese girl back home and an Italian girl here. But in Senegal, the man controls the women. Here in Italy is the woman the one who pulls your ear to her will And also, the sons product of such marriages, are never treated equally as a 100% Italian blood boy. The children from this marriage are never considering Italian. Is better not to mix things. 13. What does the word Integration mean to you? Can you describe the characteristics of a Senegalese who you think is integrated? To be integrated in Italy, you dont need to be completely inside the whole system. You just need to adopt certain things. Like for instance, the Italian language. There should be a sense of solidarity for our efforts. Italians should stop and think that we are not like them. Two people in one house. We are living in houses with other 20 people. We are to work to help our families, no to steal. We are doing everything we can.

45

What do you think of the contradictions of the European Union, with all the international organizations and the money for aid that goes to help Africa, and the discrimination they have against the Africans who come here to work? - That money never goes to the people who need it. Ours does. The help of all those NGOs is not felt by the people who need it. Ours does. The governments of our country only care about having good diplomacy with Europe. They dont care for their people. The failure of our governments is what brought all of us here to Europe in the first place. If they arent efficient with us, the Europeans should consider this and treat us immigrants better. -Italy is very involved in stopping immigration. They are all aware that before, Italy was the country to come and make money back home. They should look around them: countries like Belgium for instance, who are more tolerant and cooperative with immigrants. Here when the people are in the train and they see you, they grab their bags closer to them because they feel we are going to steal them. 14. Do Senegalese who are integrated loose their identity? How? Why? Go to question 13. 15. Are Senegalese children living in Italy well integrated in School? How? Go to question 12. 16. Is it easy to maintain the friendships and family relations back home, when living in Italy? Yes it is. They are the main reason why we are here. 17. Are there many Senegalese Associations here in Rome? Which ones? What is their purpose? Go to question # 8. 18. Are there many Senegalese/ Italian Associations here in Rome? Which ones? What is their purpose? Not that we know of. 19. Do most Senegalese immigrants plan to stay here permanently? Yes they do in the beginning but it all depends on the quality of life they get to have in Rome. The richer you get, the easier you forget about going back. 20. Which Institutions -both Senegalese and Italian- provide support to Senegalese immigrants? How do your rate the support of each? Go to question 22. 21. In which areas do you think Senegalese immigrants need support to integrate better in Italy? Go to the question about international aid and governments.

46

22. Who should provide this support? In which ways? Are there any cases? The first negligence comes from the Senegalese government because they should have a view of the importance of us, the immigrants. We represent a lot of money for our country. In the embassy here, they pay no attention to us. They dont care about their own people who are here. If they dont help you in the embassy, how are others going to respect you? Is like in the embassy, they just forget that they are here to help us. -It is not the lack of men. The problem is they just care of themselves. On that incident of the 5 of October, no one form the embassy or the consulate showed up to help. They didnt talk to the carabineri. -We advise people from Senegal not to come here without a plan like we did. Come here if you wantbut to study, or with a job offer upon arrival. Immigration from Senegal should stop. We come here from Africa to work because back home there is nothing to do. But I dont feel better since I got here: I work a lot, I feel tired, and I am aging faster. If there would be just a little chance of making progress back I would definitely go back without a doubt.

47

Focus Group # 4. The Catholic Senegalese Association of Rome. La Associazione di Senegalese Cattolici di Roma, (The Catholic Senegalese association of Rome), consist of a diverse group of immigrants of this country, who get together one Sunday a month To talk about topics of common interest, eat Senegalese dishes, share time together. It includes many families, adults, children, members of the Catholic Church and even people from the embassy. We spoke with the committee of the association; each one of them with a different task among the group. They are organized nationally (Italy) and regionally (Rome). We spoke with the National, President, General Secretary, the cashier and the secretarys assistant; as well as two members of the association: one Senegalese priest and a baby-sitter. They organize parties, dinners and lunches. Their objective is to enhance the networking of the Senegalese people here in Rome by having a good time altogether. They also try to help the Senegalese immigrants who are here illegally by acquiring their legal status. The members include people who have been here as long as 17 years to people who just arrived in Rome. They include people from all economic status who amount to almost 100 members. Why did you choose Italy? - I came here to study. - I came here because I had a job opportunity before my arrival in Rome. - I first was in France working, and then I came to Italy because I had friends living here. - I came here because my husband was working for the United Nations. Back in Senegal I had a job but I decided to drop it to help my husband in his job. Because there things that are not for men. Like the kitchen. What kind of Job do you have? I work in a tourism office. I am studying here in Rome. (Priest and Sebastien) 1. Is it hard to get a Job in Rome? Why? 2. Is there a difference between being a legal and an illegal immigrant here in Rome? How? Why? In this association we cannot differentiate between legal and illegal Senegalese. For us, we all are brothers and we must help each other. Besides here in Italy, with or without papers, you are always treated as an immigrant. But obviously the person who does not have a high intellectual level, will feel more excluded because he cannot integrate himself if he has difficulties in learning the Italian language. Between an illegal person who has studied and an analphabet with legal status, the first one will rapidly integrate because his mind allows him so. - A person with high intellect without documents does many things and finds his own path to integration. But the immigrants with low education who come to Rome, are firstly, people who back in Senegal were already excluded from education and the 48

economic system back home. They were already marginalized. And when they arrive here, they continue to be marginalized. If you are not integrated in your country, it is even harder for you to integrate in another country. And this is the case for the common citizens in Senegal. - It is also a matter of culture. For example, catholic Senegalese send their children to school. But Muslim Senegalese prefer to put their children to work. And when they send them to the Koranik schools, these children are commanded to collect money for the Marabout. - Also a Christian cannot live with ten people in a same room; is not part of our traditions. But Muslim people can. This is why it is also hard to find Catholic Senegalese selling bags in the street, the majority of bag sellers are Muslim. 3. Do most Senegalese immigrants learn the Italian language? Why? Knowing Italian is not enough to be integrated but it is definitely the most basic point to start integration. - You can speak perfect Italian and not be integrated at all. And it could also be that you dont speak one word of Italian but you are fully integrated. It depends on the person. - But it also true that an integration process becomes slower if you dont learn the language. And it is faster if you care to learn the local language; especially in Italy where the majority of people only speak Italian. - We need to make efforts to understand Italian language but if the Italians do not make the efforts to recognize us, reciprocity cannot exist. 4. Do most Senegalese immigrants adopt the Italian eating habits? Why? The 90% of what we cook in Italy is Italian. Publicity and accessibility makes it easier for us to adapt ourselves to the Italian cuisine. Now we eat more pasta than rice. 5.Is it easy to make friendships in Italy? Why? 6.What is the perception of Senegalese people on the way Italian people dress? 7.Is the transportation system of Rome easy to use for Senegalese immigrants 8. Does it have any impact on Senegalese immigrants the Fact that Rome is a Christian city? How? Actually, the perception that we had of Rome as the Christian city before coming here, was very different as from the reality. Here the people have no respect for the catholic churches. They talk on the phone inside the church, they swear and they dress improperly. In Senegal, you must be quiet and calm. - I thought I was going to find more participation and practice of the faith. But in my parish people do attend and respect. I have confessed more Christians here in 2 years than 5 years that I was in Senegal. - Being a catholic does not give you any advantage here in Rome. It does not integrate you easily. Because Rome actually is a highly tolerant city. In fact it is

49

easier for the Muslims because their sense of unification and organization is higher than the one of the catholic Senegalese. 9. How does marriage and family traditions are held by Senegalese immigrants in Rome? Is it different from that of the Italians? How? 10. Is there a strong relationship of brotherhood among the Senegalese immigrants? How? Why? For Muslim Senegalese the bond is stronger because their sense of unification and organization is higher than the one of the catholic Senegalese. They help each other when they have a problem, the collect money and they are very aware of each other problems. Whereas the catholic, when he has a problem he doesnt speak to anyone about it. Catholic are not educated to think collectively back in Senegal whereas Muslim are. This is why we have this association; to bond more among ourselves. 11. Is it stronger here or back home? 12. Do you know who have married Italians/ have Italian partners? What do you think about mixed marriages? - I prefer having a Senegalese immigrant to avoid culture clashes and racism. - My cousin was married with an Italian girl and after two years they got divorced because they dont have the same way of seeing life. For example, you cannot imagine a guy in Senegal doing the cooking or changing diapers. - For me the concept is just one: love. Where there is love, the cultural barriers do not exist. - But in fact the Muslim Murit marries more Italians than catholic Senegalese because in their religion your status rises when you bring someone new to the clan. But of course in this case the clash of cultures does not exist because the Italian girl ends up adopting the Senegalese traditions and religion fully. 13. What does the word integration means to you? Can you describe the characteristics of a Senegalese who you think is integrated? The most important thing is the acceptance and recognition of the Italians. It is very important that you have an open mind. But is not enough; It is also important that the people around you are open minded enough as to accept you and recognize you as a positive aspect in their realities. - A person, who really wants to be integrated, cares enough as to get to know everything that has to do with Italy: its history, geography, politics, regions, social aspects and of course the culinary aspects. 14. Do Senegalese who are integrated lose their Senegalese identity? How? Why? - I cannot loose it. It is an advantage for me to discover the other in his culture (In the kitchen, the touristic places which show their past history) it helps me to become stronger.

50

15. Are Senegalese children living in Italy well integrated in school? How? In Italy is not like in other countries. The children of foreigners are not Italian citizens when they are born in Italian territory. They must wait until they are 18 to acquire the nationality. Therefore, they are not considered as an Italian child even legally. - If your mother is Italian, you have better chances of integration than if your father is Italian. You have more rights and you acquire the citizenship more easily. - If you are the child of a black and white marriage, your status is better if your mother is the white one and your father is black. The other way around, makes you more discriminated. - And if your parents are both Senegalese with legal documents, you still dont enjoy an equal status as an Italian child. Is better to be the kid of a mix marriage than a kid of a Senegalese couple with legal documents. 16. Is it easy to maintain the friendships and family relations back home, when living in Italy? - It is easy with those Italians who never forget that Italians were once immigrants too. Economically they need immigrants because they would never accept to do the jobs that the immigrants do. - The Italians who accept this are more open-minded and they are interested in being our friends. It all depends on them. Because we, as Senegalese immigrants are always open to make friends with the Italians. But they must want it too. 17. Are there many Senegalese associations here in Rome? Which ones? What is their purpose? 18. Are there Senegalese/Italian associations? Which ones? What is their purpose? 19. Do most Senegalese immigrants plan to stay in Italy permanently? 20. Which Institutions -both Senegalese and Italian- provide support to Senegalese immigrants? How do your rate the support of each? 21. In which areas do Senegalese immigrants need more support? 22. Who should provide this support? As it respects to the Senegalese embassy, we dont think they make a good job in helping us. Only when there really grave problems, and then the embassy gets involved. They speak more than what they do. In paper, their performance seems perfect. In reality, they dont care about the people they are here to serve. If a Senegalese immigrant has a problem, it is better for him not to rely or to wait for the embassy to help him because they just wont.

51

Housing Problems: You can see all around the ads of rent which say I am renting my place. But not to foreigners. Rome is not ready to welcome immigrants just yet. Berlusconi has made things even harder for us than it was before. Wherever you go to search a house they ask you: where are you from? And how many people will live in the house.

Interview Format
Interview with Ms. XXX Student in Political Sciences. Second Generation of Senegalese immigrants in Rome 1- FOR YOU WHAT IS THE MEANING OF INTEGRATION? - For me it is the capability and ability, of other people coming from another country, of trying to accept and live according to the culture, the rules, and the political opinions of the country of immigration. 2- DO YOU FEEL YOURSELF INTEGRATED IN ITALY? WHY? - Personally yes. Because if feel myself like all the Italians in the sense of having papers, and a dignity of life. I mean by that a normal and acceptable house because there are Senegalese here that live with ten persons in a single room and this is a lack of hygiene. Of course there is some prejudice with the colored people but I feel integrated 3- AS A PERSON WHO IS BORN IN ITALY HOW DO YOU FEEL YOURSELF? LIKE AN ITALIAN OR A SENEGALESE? - I feel myself as a Senegalese first because I am black. But my parents give me that identity to understand where they came from. For sure I am not totally integrated. 4- WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO IN YOUR FUTURE CAREER? - I want to be a cultural mediatory. 5- IN WHICH COUNTRY IWOULD YOU MAKE YOUR PROFESSION? WHY? - In Italy. Because this country needs a long way to better understand the different cultures that exist in other parts of the world. Many Italians are ignorant of the outside. For example wearing the VAIL is part of Arabic culture and it is not appreciate it here. Italian must be open- minded and this is part of my mission.

52

6- YOUR FRIENDS ARE MOSTLY ITALIAN OR SENEGALESE? - They are mostly Senegalese I cannot explain it but I am more close to Africans than Italians. 7- DO YOU KNOW THE HISTORY OF YOUR PARENTS COUNTRY AND CULTURE? - Yes I know about Senegal and its geographical position and even the culture of my parents thats the reason why I am so close to Africans in general. 8- WOULD YOU LIKE TO MARRY A SENEGALESE OR AN ITALIAN? WHY? - Culturally I want to marry a Senegalese. But if I find someone who shares my opinion even he is an Italian, Japanese, etcI can marry him. - In my dreams my husband is a Senegalese. 9- IN WHICH LANGUAGE DO YOU SPEAK AT HOME WITH YOUR PARENTS? - Most of the time we speak Italian. It happened that we speak Jola but I always answer in Italian even if I understand the Jola languages 10- IN WHICH LANGUAGE DO YOU WATCH T.V AND USE INTERNET? - I watch TV and use internet in Italian. But I always have information on what is happening in Senegal through internet. 11- WHAT KIND OF FOOD DO YOU EAT AT HOME? - Italian food since it is very easy to prepare 12- DO YOU LIKE GOING AT SCHOOL HERE? - Yes. But I dont know the realities in others countries concerning the education system 13- WHAT DONT YOU LIKE ABOUT YOUR SCHOOL? - Nothing special 14- WHAT DO YOU THING ABOUT THE IMMIGRATION IN ITALY? - Immigration is always a good advantage to the host country because they gain in term of cultural exchange and that is positive. - In Italy it is growing very fast. But it is a natural aspect because since the beginning of the world people always migrated. But our politicians do not see it like a fact that can make you strong. 15- WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT CLANDESTINE IMMIGRATION? - If Africa were more developed than Europe, as far as I am concerned I could not accept all the Europeans coming to Africa. People migrate to better their condition of living and help their parents who live in extreme poverty.

53

Africans must become aware and conscious to understand that Europe is not the paradise. People risk their lives to come here and after they see that things are not easy like they thought they would be. Europe is not the solution of their problems. Several interviews should be made to show those who are back home and the conditions which people are suffering here. To avoid these situations, European countries must open their frontiers to facilitate legal immigration.

16- DO YOU EVER FEEL DISCRIMINATED IN ITALY? - Yes. I keep in mind the days I wanted to apply for a job in one agency. - First the interview was by phone and it was successful and they told me that the place was available. When I went to do the formalities, they informed me that the job was no longer available. I went back home and called again the women who told me about the job in the first place and she said that I could pass to the office because the position was still available. What to say about that? Its because I am black that they did not want to take me and this its not fair - People use to ask me: why youre Italian is so perfect? Italian people must know that the nationality is not a problem of color.

54

Life Story
My name is Mr XXXX, I was born in 1970. I am here since 2000 and I live in Pigneto. Before migrating in Italy I had a good job that could help me to support my family and my wife. In fact I was walking in logistic and transports, and I loved my work. I hesitated a long time before coming in Italy .It was not my ambition as far as my life condition was not so bad. I can say that my coming here depended of the pressings I received from my friend who is an immigrant and my father who judged that I am selfish and did not want anything in my life in the sense that when migrating I could better the condition of the family. Let me explain you in detail. When my friend arrived in Senegal he proposes me if I wanted to come in Italy to work and ameliorate my situation? Of course I answer that I am not interesting in going to another country to make my life, I have my job in Senegal and I am happy of it. He insisted for nothing. To be honest with you I did not even go to the embassy to apply for a visa. One day he came with my passport and told me that everything is ready, and that when he will go back in Italy I will follow him. He used the familial pressing to convince me to change my mind. I finally decided to come one week before the end of the visa. The first days I arrived here they explain me the job and I realized that, that job he was talking about back Senegal is selling bags in the street. I was disappointed and for me there is no way to do it. If I flash back to see how was my job and I was convinced that this kind of job is not for me. A job in which you are always looking around if the finanza are coming to arrest you or not because of the selling bags in the street is illegal here its not like in Senegal. A week after I faced the situation. I left my job in Senegal to come here and I found a situation that is out of my expectation, what to do now? Nothing just to abide by the rules set by unaware immigration, which consists to face all the situations that appear as there is no way to change the reality. So I decide selling bags like all of them. One month later I felt myself in it. I started to earn more money that I could not imagine in my first days. Its not that I am lucky but because in the years 2000 up to 2005 I could make at least 500 euro a day, and this amount is when the day was not so good. I stayed for year without papers because my visa expired after one week of my entrance in Italy. I travelled a lot around Europe to always found the better place for an immigrant. My first experience in 55

Swiss I did not know anybody living there I was sleeping out on the pavements and one day one kind person took me in his house at least to give me a roof. I went also to Iran, Iraq in turkey Argentina, Belgium and Portugal. In 2004 I have papers from Portugal you cannot know the feeling I had that day its a kind of rebirth for me. Now the immigration is very difficult it is not like the years 2000 the situation is becoming harder and harder you cannot pretend to earn as much money as in the past. You can work all the week without selling on bag this is very hard. And the situation now is difficult with the relation with the finanza now they are running after us to prevent us to do our occupation. This is the law of the country but it is the only solution for us to earn money. Immigration is now very hard, for us we taste the rest of the good moment as we arrive by the end of selling fake marks of Louis Vuitton, Dolce Gabanna the copy of C.D etc In the past we put those label that we made by ourselves on the bags. And we made the tourists believe that the bags are original and they bought it expensively. That was our deal. Its consisted to fix the prices lower than in the shops where you can find the original.

For me I can say that I am a little bit lucky because I introduced my documents to have the Portuguese nationality and normally by the end of February I will receive it god willing

56

Bibliography
CARTER, Donald Martin. 1997. States of grace: Senegalese in Italy and the New European Immigration. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. CENSIS. 1990, Migrare ed accogliere. I percorsi differenziati dellimmigrazione. Roma, Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, Conferenza nazionale sullimmigrazione. GOLDSTEIN (Sydney), GOLDSTEIN (Alice), 1996. Jews on the Move. Implications for Jewish Identity Albany (N.Y.), State University of New York Press, 398 p. KOURITZIN, S. (2000). Immigrant women redefine access to ESL classes: Contradiction and ambivalence. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 21(1), 14-32. PAPADEMETRIOU, Demetrios. 2003. Policy Considerations for Immigrant Integration. Migration Information Source. PAVLENKO, A, AJ Blackledge (Guest Editors). 2003. Multilingua Special Issue: Language Ideologies in Multilingual Contexts. vol. 20, no. 3, Berlin and New York, Mouton de Gruyter. PERRONE, L. (a cura di), Tra due mondi. Forme e grado di adattamento della comunit senegalese. Milano: Franco Angeli [Sociologia urbana e rurale 64-65]. PERRONE, L. 1993, Cultura e tradizioni nellesperienza migratoria della comunit senegalese in Italia (:287-307), in. Delle Donne RICCIO, Bruno, 2000, Spazi transnazionali: esperienze senegalesi, Afriche e Orienti 3-4. SCHMIDT DI FRIEDBERG O. 1993, Limmigration africaine en Italie : le cas Sngalais, tudes internationales, (XXIX, I) : 125-140. SCHMIDT DI FRIEDBERG, O. Islam, solidariet e lavoro. muridi senegalesi in Italia. Turin Edizioni della Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli 1994 XXIV ... Spazi e tempi dlie nuove migrazioni : l'Italia, l'Europa, i paesi extraeuropei , in G. MOTTURA (d.), 1992, pp. 43-69. CAMPUS (A.), PERRONE (G.)

Web pages visited

http://gcir.org/publications/toolkit http://www.cespi.it/AFRICA-4FON/WP10%20Mezzetti.pdf http://www.cespi.it/coopi-cespi/6-senegal.pdf www.persee.fr/.../assr_0335-5985_1996_num_96_1_1049_t1_0128_0000_2

57

58