During these days we need to subvert our daily habits, but not give up our deepest beliefs. Never, until a few days ago, would we have chosen for ourselves and asked others to stay at home, to avoid opportunities to meet and exchange. Yet, now this very thing we must do to responsibly protect the health of our community.
For us at Migrantour, however, this time of closure is also, and above all, a time of waiting and perseverance: waiting that soon we will once again be able to walk serenely through our neighborhoods as if we were making a small, grand journey into the worlds that inhabit our cities.
Perseverance in the idea that once the fear has passed, it will be essential to RETURN TO CROSS GLANCES, SHAKING HANDS, HUGGING BEYOND THE DIFFERENCES!
The spread of Covid-19 hit the Migrantour network right at the end of two wonderful years of the project that had enabled the training of new intercultural escorts and the creation of new itineraries in many Italian and European cities.
Now that all the planned walks have been cancelled, the discouragement at the waste of the work done and the effort put in is likely to bring us down. As the creators and organizers of the project, we also regret that the cancellation of the Migrantour walks means a real loss of economic support for our intercultural escorts.
If you have come to know and appreciate the Migrantour project over the years, you can now give us a great gift: get ready for the next meeting, too! Although all our attention is focused now on the spread of Covid-19, let us not forget about the rest of the world and the challenges that remain open beyond the epidemic. Let us continue to take an interest in others, let us fight for the rights of migrants who are trying to reach Europe in these hours, let us read books that help us to image and build a plural and intercultural society.
These will be the challenges that Migrantour will continue to face as soon as it is possible to leave home, as soon as traveling and meeting others will be again the most beautiful and right things to do for us and others.
We are ready to meet you again! You be ready, too!