Refugees and migrants are people with dreams that have been put on hold. We aim to re-awaken those dreams and help them come true by matching migrants with local people who are professionals in the fields they want to pursue their dreams in. We want to foster integration by providing access to employment and/or to education and training through a mentoring programme that brings together people who, even though they might not speak the same language, understand each other through common passions.
Populist discourse surrounding migration threatens European democracies. We are convinced that, through human interaction, migrants will no-longer be perceived as ‘strangers’ or migration as something to be fearful of, but as an opportunity to enrich our societies.
The best outcome of our project would be to be able to match as many locals and refugees as we can and follow up with them until they achieve their ‘dream’ of finding a job or enrolling in studies. Our goal is to create meaningful relationships through the programme and expand it all over Europe.
We would contact local migrant NGOs migrants in Barcelona and we would ask them to refer cases to us. Then we would have exploratory sessions with the 'dreamer' where we would ask them about their dreams/ambitions. Then we would find a volunteer mentor who is an experienced professional on that particular field and we would ask them to meet on a regular basis to help the dreamer fulfilling their ambitions. We want to replicate this model in various European cities.
We have both worked with migrants and refugees in Europe and are determined to give them a warm welcome. We strongly believe as well that there cannot be democracy without real integration.
We are doing it for the refugees - for them to find a purpose and rebuild their lives in their host country. But we are equally doing it for European host societies. We believe integration is a two-way process that, if successful, benefits both actors.
We would appreciate constructive feedback to make our idea as feasible and effective as possible. We want to maximise our impact and we would be grateful to benefit from Advocate Europe’s expertise.