Mentoring stories: meet Issiaga and Leticia

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Issiaga and Leticia laughingly explain that they would have never met in their lives. That it was totally impossible for their paths to cross. This is the magic of the Referents project. That two people who would never coincide naturally end up establishing a bond of trust, a unique relationship that simmers, with time and dedication. They are one of the pairs of the Referents project.

In just 5 months, since they met, Issiaga has visited more museums than any youngster his age, and probably many of us. “We have gone to the Music Museum, the Picasso Museum, the Design Museum and the Ethnological and World Cultures (MUEC). Oh! and to the Torre Balldovina Museum in Santa Coloma de Gramenet. Leticia is a great museum seeker”, he explains laughing. “She proposes the visits, and we decide together.”

They have also walked. A lot. Kilometres and kilometres through Barcelona and the river park of Santa Coloma de Gramenet. Time to share. “Walking you get to know people rather well and we take the opportunity to talk,” says Leticia. “At first, I thought: we’ll see how it works… But now everything is easy. We have told one another many experiences, good and bad. And we have connected”.

 

The transformative energy of social mentoring

Leticia comments that, after the outbreak of the Ukrainian War, she thought about volunteering. The odds were that she would end up accompanying refugees from that country. But searching the Internet, she found Punt de Referència’s website and it seemed an interesting proposal. “I must admit – she argues – that I had never heard of social mentoring. But, since I have young kids, I have accompanied them in the transition from adolescence to youth, and you realize the role you can play”. She asked people from the sector if Punt de Referència was a serious organisation: “And they all gave me very good references,” she explains. And it really is so because you are great professionals. You do a great job, and in a very professional way”.

The power of smile

Together they relive the day they met. “I went to Punt de Referència’s office, because Marina, the educator of Referents project, called and asked me to come and meet my mentor”, recalls Issiaga. “They left us alone in a room. The way I communicate with people is important to me and I always believe that with a smile I do rather well. I met her and I thought she was a good person and that I could continue with her. It is also true that many thoughts came to my mind: what will I do with her? For her part, Leticia, became “excited, but also with the uncertainty of how everything would go. I don’t know what I can contribute, I thought. If I will know what to do… I called Marina to explain it to her”.

The figure of Marina Montoya is the third piece of this affective puzzle, the third vertex of the triangle that allows social mentoring to work. A triangle drawn between the mentor person, the youngster, and the person from the educational team. Marina acts as a hinge between Issiaga’s concerns and needs and Leticia’s. “The relationship established between the two is proof that the bond, trust, and the fact of recognizing the other has much power to transform realities. Affection, recognition, and trust are forceful tools for empowerment in the path towards the emancipation of all boys and girls”, explains Marina.

After more than 150 days supporting Issiaga, Leticia 100% recommends living the experience: “It’s worth it. It is rewarding and, at the same time, it enriches you as a person. You learn to look with different eyes and understand the migratory processes, getting closer to other realities. And I must also admit that emotionally it is very intense. Much more than I ever thought.”

A life of improvement

According to data from the General Directorate for Child and Adolescent Care, in Catalonia there are more than 7,700 children and young people in care. The dream of turning 18 and being of legal age means, for them, not being able to receive that support anymore and facing emancipation suddenly and, often, without having family close by, particularly, for young migrants like Issiaga.

He had a weak social network and no knowledge of the environment when he arrived here two years ago at the age of 17 from his home country, French Guinea. The life paths and origins of young people who migrate alone are diverse and complex. Issiaga’s is a story of self-improvement that is triggered by the death of his mother. “Before I studied, but now I am working. When I can, my goal is to obtain a Higher-Grade Cycle. Leticia encourages me to continue working and studying”, he says without losing his eternal smile.

“Issiaga’s life has been very complicated if I compare it with that of my children,” Leticia reflects, “who have plenty amenities, and everything is easier for them. That has made me think that, sometimes, we do not value what we have. Fortunately, I see that, faced with a difficult situation, Issiaga knows how to get ahead. He’s brave, if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be here. He is a strong person, eager to learn and with clear priorities, because he asks me questions, but he is always clear about the priorities”.

Issiaga listens attentively without losing his smile. “I have started to change, and I will continue to do so. I want to live here because this is where I will study”. He is very clear about it: “I will only leave the country to do tourism and see new places like the day I walked through the River Park with Leticia and saw the limits of Barcelona, ​​the sea, and the green color of the forest. I loved it!”.

Mentoring stories: meet Ahmed and Teresa

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Ahmed and Teresa have known each other for barely over three months, but no one would tell. They are one of the mentor couples of the Atenea project, which is part of the international project Road to Adulthood. During this time, they have already visited La Pedrera, the Miró Foundation, they have gone to public libraries, museums and cultural centres and they have walked around the Eixample and Gràcia neighbourhoods. “In the short time that we have known each other, what has grown between us is trust. At the beginning it was like an avalanche of questions, but now it’s as if we’ve known each other for years”, explains Teresa.

She wanted to be a mentor because “accompanying people motivates me and, above all, young people in their growth towards adulthood. I think that newcomers, like Ahmed, lack a social environment. We have had a family and an accompaniment from people that we have met as we grew up, but in their case, they are quite alone. When they arrive, they are completely alone and then move from flat to flat making short-lived contacts that they soon lose after. And they also lack the cultural, social, and religious references of the country. All the elements that are usual to us are different to them. Accompanying him offers him the chance to learn everything in a natural way and allows us to enjoy leisure and have a good time together.”

A time well shared with Ahmed, who arrived here from Guinea Conakry, his country of origin, two years ago aged 17, and is now studying an intermediate cycle in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Systems. A year ago, he “wasn’t focused” and a friend told him about Punt de Referència. “He told me that they helped him with his studies and taught him things he didn’t know”, he recalls. And seeing how the project had improved his friend’s life, he didn’t hesitate and asked for a mentor. And that’s how he met Teresa. “She is a very important person for me. She helps me to have good ideas, gives me advice with my studies and with life in general. It’s not that she helps me do my homework, but she does give me tips to pass the courses”, says Ahmed. He says he wants to tell his story to encourage any young person who needs it to be part of a mentoring project. For him, he says, having a mentor has changed his life: “Now I have clearer idea of what to do and what not to do.”

 

A well-drawn triangle

It is also clear to Punt de Referència, that “for mentoring to work, it must be a triangle between the mentor, the young person and the educational team”, explains Laura Terradas, Mentoring Coordinator at Punt of Referència. “As the months go by, the technical team withdraws gradually so that the relationship builds its autonomy, but it always requires support so that this relationship may be of growth and mutual enrichment, a matter that, sometimes, is not usual. And, since it starts from a very different structural framework, if we don’t set these limits, the relationship could be tinged and it wouldn’t become emancipatory, but just the opposite”.

What is indisputable is that Punt de Referència was born with mentorship. For 25 years with Referents project. “We’ve been calling it mentoring since 2010 – explains Laura Terradas – when we saw that other European initiatives were calling it like that. We, who are the pioneer organization in Catalonia in mentoring, until then we called it voluntary accompaniment or effective link”. Later, together with three other entities, the Social Mentoring Coordinator was born. “Now it seems that mentoring is very new, but it has been built little by little”, says Laura, who claims the importance of the social network: “it is as essential as work, housing, training… But since it is invisible, it’s not a title nor money at the end of the month, sometimes we do not pay enough attention to it. But it is just as vital, both to promote opportunities and the “Pygmalion effect”. Because, she explains, “when someone looks at you, recognizes you, takes an interest in you, talks to you… it allows you to face day-to-day challenges and increase your self-confidence. In Punt we say that having someone to count on means that someone cares for you”.

Ahmed has Teresa. And she explains that there are feelings that unite them: “our father died when we were both 16 years old. These are deep life events and shared experiences.”

 

The transformative capacity of mentoring

Does it make sense for mentoring to continue to expand? According to Laura Terradas, “in a utopian world, mentoring projects would eventually run out. It would mean that everyone has a network and loneliness does not exist. This is very far from reality. What is true is that mentoring is a very powerful methodology, and it makes sense that it continues to grow.” For her part, Teresa emphasizes that “when you collaborate as a volunteer, you really appreciate the great professionalism of Punt de Referència. There is no improvisation. You will be positively surprised, both at the time of selection, the training, and the support of the whole team. Everything is thought out and established.”

Laura Terradas, mentoring coordinator, stresses that “for us, each relationship is unique. It is important. We spend time on it, let it simmer. There is a methodological framework, but the application of this framework is unique. And this creates the magic that each person has the possibility to make its journey according to their starting point and knowing where they want to go”.

The Atenea project in which Ahmed and Teresa participate has a duration of 9 months. “If after this time, we want to continue seeing each other, it will be our decision”, explains Ahmed and assures that “I would like to because I like good people like Teresa. I need good people in my life who don’t buy me or give me anything, just to be by my side accompanying me. Spending time together, talking and advising me. I need people like her”.

Culture that transforms

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No one doubts that culture is one of the best tools for sparking an emotional connection. Who doesn’t remember a book, an exhibition, or a play that changed their perspective?

Art itself constitutes a space for expression, meeting, social participation… And at the same time it is also the ideal environment for transcending all kinds of barriers (relational, physical, communicative…). For all these reasons, we do our utmost so that the young people of Punt de Referència see and experience culture first hand.

We present you with a small sample of activities in which our young people and volunteers are participating, thanks to the collaboration of the Els Pirates Company of the Maldà theater and the Community Mediation team of the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB):

 

THEATER SUNDAYS

The Maldà theater is one of the entities collaborating in bringing to young people the thrill of acting. It offers tickets to different shows completely free of charge for mentoring pairs from the Referents project. The musicals There must be a life away from here [Hi ha d’haver una vida fora d’aquí] and Broadway in Maldà and the comedy The Good Policeman [El bon policia] (which now will be scheduled again) are two of the recent plays that the young people have enjoyed with their mentors.

The mentors tell us about the experience:

 

           

 

Broadway al Maldà

“The show was a delight. Highly recommended. The plot was about the relationship between Broadway lyricists and composers, which prompted the singer to perform emblematic songs from the history of the musical while accompanying himself on the piano. I loved it and I think that [my mentee] did too, although it was difficult for him to sit still: it seemed like he had St. Vito’s disease!” (Olga)

“The work is dynamic and fun with a series of songs. The actresses know how to convey the background of the common thread of the songs. Despite being in Catalan, [my mentee] commented that he understood the message about the role of women. Highly recommended!” (Anna)

 

There must be a life away from here

“We really liked the theater, they were very punctual and the play’s focus on the evolution of women from the 50s up till now –almost all with songs accompanied by small dialogues– was very enjoyable and easy to understand. Both Aissatou and I really enjoyed it. The theater is small but fascinating and transports you to another era.” (Rosa)

 

EXHIBITIONS TO SEE AND EXPERIENCE

The Contemporary Culture Center of Barcelona (CCCB) is another of the organizations committed to bringing culture closer to everyone including, of course, the young people that we accompany. From the World Press Photo exhibit to others, these exhibitions have opened minds and at the same time allowed the public to enjoy the creativity and feeling emanating from them.

The relationship between Punt de Referència and the CCCB has been intense and productive. On February 9th, the CCCB theater hosted the final event of the 25th anniversary of Punt de Referència. and in 2022 young people from Punt de Referència participated in the presentation of the book, Journey to Mars. This is a collective story exploring another possible world, gathering experiences including those of tutored and ex-tutored young people, about displacement and the journey they undertook to arrive in our country.

Another project, ‘Som Llavor’ [We are Seeds], promotes get-togethers and practical training on audiovisual creation for young migrants. It regularly organizes cultural outings in different places, such as Casa Golferichs and the Catalan-Roca photography space in Barcelona.

We will continue our commitment to disseminate culture because we know that it changes the way we see things, transforming us in the process: because we know that cultural participation is a right for all to enjoy; because the experiential and playful dimension of arts-related activities are useful in creating a sense of community. Also, does anyone doubt that many of the artistic creations we’ve seen and experienced have helped us become the people we are today?

Thanks to all the collaborating entities for making it possible! The cultural outings are part of the international project, Road to Adulthood, committed to innovation in mentoring models based on shared learning.

14 ideas that invite you to reflect on the concepte of welcome

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In a society full of emergencies, organizing an event about what it means to take in has a tinge of rebelliousness. But you already know that in Punt de Referència we like to challenge society and challenge ourselves. Not from the delusion that everything is going well but believing that we are capable of rethinking and imagining a new perspective and, above all, diagnosing what needs to be claimed so that we can welcome more and better the young people we accompany.

Have you ever asked yourself?

And you, what do you think about taking in? Are you clear about it? Do you think there is a better way to welcome people who come to our country fleeing poverty, wars, and lack of opportunities? Do you think we are behaving well as a society? Do you dodge the subject depending on the person you’re talking to? What goes through your mind when a migrant sits next to you on public transport? Would you take in a young migrant in your home for nine months?

Based on these questions, and knowing that many more could arise, we share with you 14 thoughts heard last February 9 at the event ‘Do we want to welcome?’, which, as you know, we organized at the CCCB as the closing ceremony of the 25th years celebration of Punt de Referència.

1.

“Welcoming is not helping, it is holding hands to walk together, which means, individually, learning from each other and, socially, it has to do with changing together without leaving anyone behind”. Blanca Garcés (PhD Political Science)

2.

“The system condemns us for being aliens. Coming from the south means we are condemned to not be able to work for 3 years. People cannot be condemned. We have the right to move”. Abdoulaye Seck (Spokesperson of ‘blanket vendors’ Union)

3.

“It doesn’t matter if after arriving from Afghanistan I want to wear a veil, a cap or leave my hair exposed. My Catalan mother simply accompanied me without judging or coercing. She let me choose. My personal growth has come from within myself, but I had a family by my side that helped me in my decisions. They have accompanied me until I have become a Catalan as I should be”. Nadia Ghulam (Writer and Afghan refugee)

4.

“There are other welcoming mechanisms that can be called “informal”. Schools and academies, primary care centres, churches and, above all, shops run by migrants, which often become places of refuge for those people who have just arrived in Catalonia. There are many neighbours who are welcoming in very complicated environments”. Montse Santolino (Journalist)

5.

“Community spaces, such as playgrounds or social and sports organizations, entities that organize popular parties are very important for building a future together as a society and it is from these spaces that we can begin to break stigmatization”. Maria Bouabdellah Shaimi (YouTuber and presenter of SomSX3)

6.

“We have naturalized criminalization, which is done prior to arrival, and we have assumed it because we have assumed the war narrative that makes the population normalize the deaths at the borders and the persecution of those people who try to defend their human rights”.  Sònia Ros (Spokesperson of STOP Mare Mortum)

7.

“On the borders of Europe, necro politics has settled in; they are death policies that attack people in motion because the suffering and death of these victims generate benefits for the war and migration control companies”. Helena Maleno (Director of the group Caminando Fronteras)

8.

“For me welcoming with the heart is the most important thing”. Victòria Molins (Activist for Human Rights)

9.

“Not even in the Sahara Desert did I feel as lonely as in the city of Barcelona. No one looks you in the face. I was a problem for the citizens and an even bigger problem for the system”. Ousman Umar (Writer and founder of NASCO Feeding Minds)

10.

“European societies should accept that they are part of the problem and should fight social inequality instead of poverty, to seek justice instead of generosity”.  Francesc Mateu (Activist for Human Rights)

11.

“We often ask about the wound, but behind these migrants there are stories of love and bonds with families. And this is the human factor that we need to explain from the media. What moves them to migrate is the deep love for their family and the wish to improve the lives of their kin”. Xavier Aldekoa (Journalist)

12.

“I didn’t think it was moral or ethical to have such a big house just for myself. You don’t need that much space to live”. Josep Riera (Testimony from a person that welcomes migrants in his home)

13.

“We are a welcoming family for young people coming out of care. We hosted because we had space in our hearts and at home”. Cris Ruano (Welcoming family for young migrants)

14.

“In 1997, a girl coming out of care appeared in the media declaring that she felt alone. With her basic needs covered, the source of her discomfort and a large part of her problems was loneliness. So, 25 years ago, in response to this young woman’s call, the association Punt de Referència was born. Since then, hundreds of volunteers have welcomed and accompanied hundreds of young people coming out of care, offering them the most basic: their company”. Mònica Arús (President of Punt de Referència)

 

The answer is not here

Without losing sight of the fact that it is necessary to report situations to the relevant institutions and, at the same time, it is necessary to maintain and strengthen the support through the bonds between people – the real DNA of Punt of Referència -, the closing of the debate stressed that the answer will not come from Europe, but “from the global north, from the south, from the migrant communities that fight for their rights” (Helena Maleno). A reflection shared by Ousman Umar who emphasized that “the true solution is there. It’s a matter of democratizing opportunities.”

The heart of the matter, however, was exposed by Blanca Garcés when she claimed that the first thing that should be done is to recognize that “migration is not an exception” and that it is the job of the European States to “give rights from day one”. While this does not happen, it seems clear that, “there are many of us who believe that a welcoming society is a better society”, stated Mònica Arús, president of Punt of Referència. The over 300 people who accompanied us at the CCCB are the most reliable proof of this.

We leave you the videosummary of the event, whether you could not come or want to relive it!

RoAD to Adulthood: sharing international social mentoring learning

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Punt de Referència is one of the four entities that are part of the RoAD to Adulthood international project. Mentorship Helping Migrant and Refugee Unaccompanied Minors Navigate Adulthood which aims to support unaccompanied youth (former UAM) in their transition to adulthood, while promoting their social integration.

The RoAD project, which started in February 2022 and is financed by the European Union, is carried out in different European countries through different entities that implement social mentoring inspired by Punt de Referència’s model: ARSIS in Greece, Defence for Children International in Italy, and Mentoring Europe in the Netherlands (an association more specialized in the training of mentoring professionals).

Working in a network and with a European vision

Sharing professional experience allows the exchange of mentoring training models for unaccompanied minors and youth, with a global and European vision, but with a clear willingness to act locally and deliver personalized care to migrant minors and unaccompanied refugees. Recently, Punt de Referència has led the international meeting with all RoAD participants in Barcelona. It was hours of intense and shared work; additionally, two guest participants, Eunice Romero, Director General of Migrations, Refuge and Anti-Racism of the Generalitat de Catalunya, and of Lorena Gaona, responsible for projects in Catalonia of the Federation of Entities with Assisted Flats’ projects (FEPA) shared their views with the group.

During the meeting in Barcelona, ​​we took advantage to discuss with representatives of the three entities on what mentoring entails and the benefits of sharing joint experiences:

 

 ARSIS. GREECE

“Mentoring helps youth who migrate to discover their abilities, to gain a broader view of the new place where they live.” 

  • “In ARSIS, we believe that mentoring allows young people to connect with local citizens – a mentor – which helps them to better understand the system of the country they live in, to understand their obligations as citizens and, of course, their rights.”
  • “The accompaniment and bond with a mentor facilitate the young person’s connection with the place and we observe that the most important benefit that is generated through this mentoring relationship, is the feeling of belonging. We perceive social mentoring as a support for unaccompanied minors and refugee youth on their way to adulthood; we seek to be a complementary tool to support the existing institutional frameworks and means of protection of youth and children.”
  • “Our idea is that the better use is made of all available means for the protection of children and youth, such as foster flats and homes, semi-independent flats, educational institutions, the greater the support that will be offered to young people. For this reason, good cooperation between the parties involved who work to protect and care for children and young people is essential.”
  • “We admire the boys and girls who participate in our programs. One of the things we value most is the energy and goodwill they bring to our meetings and to meetings with their mentors. Despite the adversities they have faced in the past and which, unfortunately, they continue to suffer due to the lack of support from the State, they have the wish to believe and to discover the world! We admire and respect them immensely.”

https://arsis.gr/en/

 

 DEFENCE FOR CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL. ITALY

“Working with other EU organizations allows us to think about different solutions, raise awareness in the community and share experiences and ways to face challenges.”

  •  “Mentoring helps youth who migrate to become independent in the new context and to have a person that cares for them. Meaningful relationships with a mentor act as a guide for the young person towards integration in the local host community and in the mentor’s network, and at the same time makes it easier for the youngster to achieve autonomy in different aspects of life such as housing, jobs and studies.”
  • “Working with young migrants helps us to better understand the difficulties they face on a social scale and in their daily lives, especially in terms of access to services and, therefore, rights such as health, documentation, housing, etc.”

https://www.defenceforchildren.it/

 

MENTORING EUROPE. THE NETHERLANDS

”Working with other European organizations gives us new tools, energy and perspective!”

 

  •  “Mentoring helps youth who migrate to gain perspective, to see that there is a place in this world for them and to feel valued.”
  •  “We think that every young person has different needs and requires a personalized approach. We learn a lot from the young migrants, they open up new points of view and enrich our minds with their backgrounds.”
  • “Working with other European organizations gives us new tools, energy and perspective.”

https://www.mentoringeurope.eu/                                                                               

Building a future from everday life

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12 young people live in the Trampolí, Fent Camí and Horitzó flats, which make up the assisted flats project. They are in the neighbourhoods of Sants and Esquerra de l’Eixample, in Barcelona, ​​and in the neighbourhood of Sant Josep in l’Hospitalet de Llobregat. The accompaniment of an educator and the daily work with the youngsters creates a bond that allows them to improve their personal resources and their future opportunities. Building from the bond is the starting point for a more autonomous life before their emancipation.

We present four daily images of the flats, to show you how we work the emotional support, the fostering of autonomy, the empowerment and strengthening of the personal and community relationships of the young people out of care.

  1. EMOTIONAL ACCOMPANIMENT

Having an assisted flat does not only mean living in a stable and welcoming space, above all it means being and feeling accompanied. It equates to having time for active listening and sharing. It means having an intimate and trusted space that an office does not offer. In a home it is easier to establish bonds. Additionally, emotional support promotes the development of emotional skills and good self-esteem, aspects that contribute to good mental health in young people.

 

 

 

 

 

  1. FOSTERING AUTONOMY 

No one is born autonomous, especially if you have lived part of your childhood and adolescence without the daily accompaniment of the family; autonomy is gradually learned and developed over time. In the assisted flats young people learn to cook, organize home shopping, manage money, take care of the flat, plan and distribute cleaning tasks, tidy up spaces, learn to recycle… and many other domestic tasks that are part of day-to-day life and the path to autonomy.

 

  1. EMPOWERMENT 

Gaining confidence and security means having the character and determination to solve tasks that we normally perform. It involves overcoming the difficulties that may arise and accept and tolerate the frustrations that may come. In assisted flats, we work this competence through the Individual Work Plan (PTI) that we design with each youngster and, above all, by promoting the responsibility to carry out the decisions they make, despite the difficulties that often arise along the way.

A

 

4. STRENGTHENING PERSONAL AND COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS

Having social skills is essential to people’s lives. In the assisted flats, group and individual dynamics are carried out (assemblies and 1 to 1 meetings) that teach to live with other young people, make decisions based on consensus, agree on the rules of living together and, ultimately, promote personal growth and foster relationships within the community. At the same time, we promote the integration of young people in educational, work, and communal spaces. Lastly, we encourage creative leisure.

Volunteers, the strength of Punt de Referència

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Volunteers and young people, together with the educational team, are the three pillars on which the accompaniment of boys and girls under and out of guardianship is built. Volunteering is a personal and collective growth experience, that leaves a mark on whoever does it.

At Punt de Referència, until October 31, 2022, we had 106 volunteers and, currently, we have three new volunteer groups in training: two in Barcelona city and one in Maresme county. We are also opening two more new groups, one in Vallés county and another in Barcelona. And, at the beginning of 2023, we plan to open one more group in Maresme. So, it is a good time to gather the meaning of becoming a volunteer and thus share the experience with people who may be interested in volunteering. Many of Punt de Referència volunteers have previously considered the life experience potential of accompanying boys and girls out of guardianship, while others value it once they have experienced it. But for all of them, being part of Punt de Referència means:

1.        To know and put social mentoring into practice. This is much more than establishing a relationship between people who voluntarily offer themselves to provide support and promote the autonomy of youth in and out of care. Being a mentor means accompanying a formerly guarded boy or girl during their daily life, building trusting bonds, watching their growth, helping them make decisions and, most importantly, becoming a person who feels that a different and better future it’s possible.

2.       To be accompanied and advised. All social mentoring processes are carried out through accompaniment and receive the professional advice and support of Punt de Referència educational team. 

What do I get for accompanying youth out of guardianship? Roser summarizes the essence of social mentoring in this way: “For me, working in a three-way partnership (project, youth and volunteers) is essential for a comprehensive adaptation of in and out of care youth in society”. Now that new mentoring groups are opening, it is time to share the experiences lived by others:

Mireia: “It has allowed me to discover other realities and other ways of relating to them, from respect and listening”.

Carme: “Accompanying this young man has given me knowledge, satisfaction, empathy and flexibility”.

Anna: “It has offered me the opportunity to accompany a young boy out of guardianship during a short period of his life and help him to get ahead with his degree. At the same time, I have been able to explore the side of offering support from empathy. It has made me reflect and experience the difficulties and the value of being there, respecting the decisions and the space of the other, without carrying their responsibilities”.

Jordi: “I have been able to establish a relationship with young people who really need to have reference relationships. And I have received support to understand what this relationship can be like, and guidance how to act to make it easier for the relationship to be good”.

Mentors consider that learning has been mutual and bidirectional. This is what Eva declares: “I take many lessons from mentoring. I have discovered another reality”, or Lluís who says that accompanying young people to continue post-mandatory studies has allowed him “a change of perspective regarding the situation of young immigrants”. His opinion is shared by Anna when she says that being a mentor “has allowed me to be aware of the reality that a group of people who live with me in the same city has had to endure” and, at the same time, “to feel proud to be part of a project, that is very beautiful and has great social impact, from an association with a structure and very well organized such as Punt de Referència”.

“Receiving help with the regularization process is very important, because on my own I feel completely lost”

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J. sees in the change of the immigration regulations a way to obtain the documents, being able to opt for settlement trough training if he enrolls in a medium grade.

 In 2021, a reform of the immigration regulations opened the door for nearly 10,000 young people and minors to regularize their situation in Spain. Although the requirements still excluded thousands of people, this small reform was fought for and celebrated by various social entities that provide support and accompaniment to youth out of guardianship.

This year, a new reform of the Immigration Law regulations intends to facilitate regularization again, with some features. In mid-September, SOS Racismo assessed this reform, remarking that the regulation reforms “serve to develop practical questions for the application of laws”, but in no case “can we expect major substantial changes from a reform”. The processes that will benefit from the changes are specific to the granting of visas and settlement by social, work and family reasons. Despite everything, civil society and communities of migrants and racialized persons have organized themselves again, to demand the Government a massive regularization of people, through the campaign Regularization NOW! The action aims to collect 500,000 signatures to be able to file a Popular Legislative Initiative (ILP). To date, 450,000 signatures have been gathered. Despite the various governmental, legislative or the people’s organization proposals, social entities continue to find dozens of cases with administrative irregularities, institutional racism and bad practices that make regularization of people difficult or impossible.

 According to Punt de Referència, 18% of the youth with whom they work have not yet managed to regularize their situation; there are several reasons, including the fact that some young people have not been under guardianship by the Generalitat of Catalonia.

Work 14 hours a day for €300/month

This is the case of J., a 22-year-old man who arrived in Spain in October 2020 from Oujda, Morocco. Without knowing anyone, he spent eight months in Almería working in the fields and in a restaurant, with very low wages and poor conditions. “I worked 14 hours a day for €300 a month”, he recalls, “I then wondered if that was Europe”. Finally, he decided to leave Andalusia with the intention of crossing the border into France. Upon arriving in Barcelona, ​​J. slept on the street until he met a Moroccan colleague who explained how Social Services worked. From then on, he was able to start building a network that made him decide to stay in Catalonia. J. arrived in Spain when he was legally an adult, and therefore could not be taken under guardianship. Although it is not a 100% guarantee, being out of the guardianship process excluded him from receiving certain support for regularization, training, or accompaniment. “I had a friend who went to Punt de Referència”, that’s how I met them, says J. “Now I have a mentor and I like him a lot because he lives here and shows me around and we do many activities together; I really like that Kike accompanies me”. Because he was not under guardianship, J. will need to have three years of registration of residency to regularize his administrative situation and be able to apply for settlement. This is why Punt de Referència offers him support in his regularization process, “to receive their help with that is very important to me, because on my own I am very lost” he says.

This young Moroccan sees in the change of regulations a way to obtain the papers; with the support received, he has been able to enroll with his passport and the A levels certificate from his country of origin in a medium degree of care for people in dependency. With the possibility of settlement through training, J. could obtain the papers before completing the three years of registration of residence. “Now we are waiting for the appointment with the lawyer to find out what I must do and what documentation I must submit”.

Managing uncertainty due to not having papers

The irregular administrative situation has a very negative effect on people who experience it, says J., who has had a very hard time because of (lacking) papers. In addition, not having documents in order means that you cannot return home to visit the family, “when I’ll have papers, it will be the first thing I’ll do”, nor do you have a minimum income to support yourself. Aixa Dulcey, educator from Punt de Referència who accompanies and knows J., explains what he is like: “I have been accompanying him since April. I remember the first day, when I made an appointment to meet him. He arrived sharp on time and ever so during all these months of accompaniment. He is a responsible, educated, sensitive and very grateful young man. He receives training in ‘L’Ortiga’ agricultural project, and, during the harvest months, he came to Punt de Referència with vegetables from the garden to share with us; I thought it was a very endearing gesture that defines him. He is emotionally reserved, always remains optimistic, and with a smile he tells some of the phrases that Kike, his mentor, tells him when they meet and from which he always learns something”. However, the other side of the coin that I would like to point out -says Aixa- is the deep emotional impact that this situation causes him: “Finding himself in an irregular administrative situation has caused him a lot of anguish, because he is not sure when he will be able to work and meet his family again. But what I would highlight most about this brave young man is his resilience and his compassionate look, despite having lived through unfair and inhuman situations, which no one should have to suffer”. Because, despite everything, J. assures that now he is happy, “when I arrived here, the fact of not knowing anyone affected me a lot, I felt very lonely. Now, not anymore, now I have an environment, I am happy and in high spirits, I meet people and they accompany me”.

 

 

Social mentoring, an antidote against school dropout

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Social mentoring is one of the most effective tools so that youth under and out of guardianship, who have suffered a break in their educational and life path, can recover their post-mandatory studies. This is the main conclusion of the study “Benefits of educational accompaniment for youth under and out of guardianship”, which Punt de Referència has carried out with the collaboration of DEP Institute.

The joint work of volunteers, young people, and the professionals of the Atenea project adds up, and as a result 85% of young people under and out guardianship who participate in it and receive help from a volunteer in their studies, consider continuing studying. Or that 95% declare that this 1to1 support has motivated them in their studies, in addition to learning to obtain better results.

Accompanying in learning, listening, and empathizing emotionally with young people are the objectives to achieve results. One of the youngsters who attends Atenea project explains it very well: “My social part with people has improved. I learn to speak. I do it with them (mentors). Also, to be trustworthy. I lacked all that before entering Atenea; I had a hard time trusting people. I closed into myself but didn’t say it. I didn’t trust anyone. Now, yes, I am more open. More open to meet people or to explain myself, to learn, more open to everything. I have also learned to respect and deal with people”.

Another participant of Atenea values ​​it this way: “Yes, I have improved a lot. If I don’t come to Punt de Referència I won’t get an 8. I do my homework and practice; I get good grades and that makes me happy. No telling, no copying, no cheating… just me at the table, with my pen and getting out everything I have in my head. I have obtained good grades”.

In a context in which school failure is considered a major problem, especially in Catalonia and Spain (where the rates are above the European and OECD countries averages), accompaniment is one of the keys to promote educational success among youth from families with low resources. The urgency of addressing the issue globally as a society becomes even more evident for youth in care and out of care, since statistics indicate that dropout rates are three times higher than in the non-care population. Educational success is very important because the social opportunities of people, particularly of youth, increasingly depend on their qualifications, their human capital, and their ability to obtain and interpret information, as well as to acquire and use knowledge.

 

 

 

We are participating in the exchange of social mentoring experiences at congresses in the Netherlands and Pamplona

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This May, mentoring has led us to participate in two conferences: the Spanish Congress of Social Mentoring (Pamplona) and the European Mentoring Summit (Leeuwarden, the Netherlands), in which we shared our vision and we established ties for improvement and innovation in social mentoring. Since this year we have been able to return to in-person meetings, we have gone to Pamplona and the Netherlands.

 

Social Mentoring State Congress

What have we contributed and what do we take away?

Our participation in the congress has touched on several points. To begin with, Rita Grané, director of the organization, gave the inaugural presentation “Mentoring for inclusion: from idea to the present”, with Marina Claverías, director of the association Quilòmetre Zero. Together they explained the first steps of the Coordinadora de Mentoria Social and contextualized the usefulness of mentoring to provide people at risk of exclusion with more opportunities. They also presented the challenges that the Coordinadora will face in the coming years.

Secondly, Bet Termes and Alícia Garcia, technicians of the Referents project, led the workshop “How the participation of volunteers in the Referents project modifies their beliefs and relational practices”. They explained and discussed with the audience the main impacts of being a mentor on people’s skills, abilities and attitudes. We have this evidence in the case of the Referents Project from the study commissioned by DEP institute, which you can consult in this article. Finally, we also contributed our expertise to the round table “Social mentoring with young people and adolescents”.

The three days of the conference included a series of presentations and workshops in which the Punt mentoring team was able to attend. Some of these spaces served to give ideas on how to improve our projects, either by applying useful technological tools and platforms or by incorporating interesting approaches in the various moments that a mentoring relationship goes through. The team has returned from Pamplona with notebooks full of reflections thanks to this exchange of experiences and thanks to the time spent thinking about social mentoring, the tool that all the entities present have in common.

The Congress ended with a closing ceremony, in which we were given the +MC award, the highest rating on the quality of social mentoring.

 

European Mentoring Summit

 

From the 18th to the 20th of May, Mariona Sementé, International Area Technician and Head of the Athenaeum Project, attended the European Mentoring Congress in the Netherlands. At Punt de Referència we were able to contribute our expertise in mentoring by participating in the scheduled workshops. The conference brought together a wide range of projects from around the world that work not only with social mentoring, but also mentoring applied to university students, among other groups that are not at risk of exclusion.

One of the highlights was the presentation of the Re-Generations project in which we have been working for three years in collaboration with ARSIS of Greece and Defense for Children of Italy. Participating in the congress has helped us to acquire tools to systematize and support volunteers and strengthen the network of organizations that work with social mentoring.

Young people and volunteers make their voices heard at the closing of the Re-Generations

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As we explained to you a month ago, from May 10 to 13 we traveled to Greece to close the Re-Generations project. The collaboration with the Italian (Defence for Children) and Greek (ARSIS) entities has lasted three years and, in that time, we have managed to get both entities to start up social mentoring for young migrants in Genoa and Thessaloniki. To assess the experience with a broad vision, we had the presence of young people and volunteers from Punt de Referència, who made their voices heard, accompanied by technicians from the international area, Mariona Sementé and Xavi Florido.

 

 

The trip offered a wide variety of activities, such as a guided visit to the resources of the host entity ARSIS, an experiential workshop to collect the mentoring experiences of young people and volunteers from the three countries, and a very fun improvisational theater workshop. The final closing ceremony of the project was held on the last day, during which the young people of Punt de Referència read a manifesto that they had prepared especially for the occasion:

 

MANIFEST

These days we have been able to reflect on what it means to be young. Being young implies dreaming, dreaming of everything you want to achieve: being able to study what you like, enjoying yourself quietly with your friends, meeting new people, working on what makes you vibrate, and thinking that everything you set out to do is possible. We, like many other young people in the world, decided to leave our homes to be able to achieve all this in another country and, ultimately, to be able to have a better future. They had told us about Europe as a place where we could dream, a place full of facilities to study, work, be able to have a good life, build a good future and be able to live in peace. In short, we had been told that Europe was easy. Nothing in that dream called Europe was easy; neither the trip to arrive nor the first days. We arrive at a hostile place where we find more doors closed than open. Obtaining the documents to be able to have a legal residence has been our greatest concern, which even leads people to live on the street. Without documents or a house, it is impossible to be able to work, earn a living and, ultimately, dream of a better future.

When we arrived, we were children, with very clear ideas and eager to work on our future. We just needed Europe to really have its arms open, but we found that the institutions did not embrace us. One day we arrived at Punt de Referència and found a place where they listened to us, valued us, and we received guidance on education, social and work issues. Having a mentor has helped us to have a person to trust and who is by your side, to believe in ourselves and to believe again that a better future is possible. We have discovered new places in Barcelona, ​​learned the language, met new people, and have received all the necessary support to continue. We can only thank the mentorship.

We want other young people to have the same luck that we have had, so: ONE MENTOR FOR EVERY YOUTH. If we want a better world, all of us here have some duties: change our way of thinking, put an end to discrimination, learn to love the other and learn to live together, as in a true community.

To all the boys who lost their lives trying to get there: we will make a better world!

 

After the experience, we wanted to collect the testimonies of two of the participantss: Estefanía, a volunteer, and Dana, a young woman.

“It was very interesting for me to know the casuistry of each country and what determines the way of working with mentoring. For example, I was struck by the fact that most young people who come to Greece intend to go to other countries and not settle there. I think it must be very difficult to set up the link with the mentor with this background reality.

The trip with the young people and other volunteers enriched me a lot. I think we made a very cool team and shared beautiful conversations”.

Estefanía

“I would go back again! I really liked getting on a plane and seeing how an airport works. Later, in Greece, I learned a lot about how Europe receives young immigrants. Everyone asked me a lot of questions about my experience with my mentor, Bernat. I spoke a lot in those days!” Dana

 

 

The collaboration with the Greek and Italian entities will continue within the framework of the new international project Road to Adulthood, which we will tell you about soon.

The social and solidarity economy is committed to offering job opportunities to youth previously under guardianship

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Houssaine and Abdelaziz are two young people who have one thing in common: they have been living in Catalonia for more than three years and are in an irregular administrative situation. They have been given training and looking for a job that will allow them to settle here. The good news is that they will soon be able to do it:

 

The Cooperativa A Granel and the l‘Economat Social (Queviure) will hire these two young people for at least one year. The two organisations wanted to coordinate with Punt de Referència to contribute their grain of sand towards the problem of which they were already aware: the difficulty of many young people to regularize their administrative situation and, therefore, to continue on their way. towards full emancipation. In addition to allowing them to regularize their situation, the working environment of the two cooperatives means, for Abdelaziz and Houssaine, being part of a friendly and inclusive work environment.

 

Several organisations applied to ACOL’s grant call, from the Generalitat’s Work and Training program. This program aims to regularize the situation of people who have been living in Catalonia for more than 3 years, through a one-year employment contract, which also includes training hours. The proposal presented was to hire a young person from Punt de Referència who is facing these bureaucratic difficulties. At the same time, we started looking for young people who matched the job profile that was requested and the relevant interviews were conducted.

Maresme Fundation, a third sector entity, has also had the opportunity to generate a job offer for a young person from Punt de Referència, applying to the same call. Today, we celebrate that all three companies have received a favorable decision and that the three young people will soon start working and training in these companies linked to the social economy.

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