CamiNantes: more than just kids on a walk
“From the outskirts of the world to that of a city, life is not a walk in the park, and the black man knows this”, Francesco De Gregori sang way back in 1987. Someone who knows well, for example, is Valentino Achak Deng, a young Sudanese refugee who escaped from the civil war in his country and ended up in the United States.
In his book, “What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng”, once he is ‘saved’, Valentino describes with crude realism a flight which has an almost biblical flavour: “A young and defenceless human, I survived crossing many inhospitable lands on foot, while we were all being bombarded by government forces, climbing over mines, becoming the prey of ferocious animals and bloodthirsty men. I ate unknown fruits, herbs, leaves, animal carcasses, and often nothing for days on end. (…) I came to hate myself and wanted to take my own life. Many of my friends and thousands upon thousands of my countrymen and women did not make it through these hardships”.
These brief and dramatic snapshots, more so than any possible proclamation we can make, can be useful to interpret the many and profound meanings that the CamiNantes project can take on for the boys and girls from the shelters of Rome who decide to take part in it.
Our project was born to give to those immigrants requesting asylum and to political refugees (but not only!) a chance to explore the part of the world they have found themselves in, to get to know Rome and the Lazio region, its story, its parks and its natural heritage.
The ludic aspect, here, becomes absolutely central: to move around Rome for enjoyment, beyond the usual routes from the shelters to the police station or the Italian school, implies a decisive overturning of perspective and – we hope – one which is constructive in the heads of the youngsters, who can learn to freely commune wth the environment and the people around them.
The 2016/17 hiking project of CamiNantes – recently inaugurated – foresees excursions in the countryside and urban trekking, as well as cultural visits to cities on the first Sunday of the month. The first step has already been consigned to the archive, but will remain impressed in the hearts and minds of all those who took part: from Cinecittà to the Caffarella valley, passing through the Park of the Aqueducts, with a picnic (and lots of fun) thrown in.
No, they are not just kids going for a walk…
(Stefano D’Alessio)
