Alongside those who want to “buscar la vida”: the story of Gabriela
If I were to introduce myself based on my nationality, I would say I am Colombian. If I were to do it based on to my background, I would say that I am an anthropologist, with a master’s degree in sociology and currently a doctoral candidate in Pedagogy. If I were speaking from my current condition, I would be a foreign person or a migrant person. But what most represents me, what best expresses who I am, is simply defining myself as a person who seeks experiences with deep meaning, who has realized that serving is a way to honor life and Who firmly believes in the meeting of possible worlds.
Ceuta and the reception
My first contact with ASCS was in Lampedusa and Agrigento, where, together with the missionaries, I experienced a deeply meaningful form of encounter here in Italy. That experience inspired me and prompted me to leave for Ceuta in February 2025.
My intent was to contribute in whatever was necessary, to explore the possibilities of accompanying collective processes of transformation with young ex-prisoner migrants, to offer tools for participation, to generate spaces for dialogue and, perhaps, to imagine together with them new forms of action from a critical look at the present.
There I realized that talking about “reception” is not limited to responding to daily material needs. It also means offering listening, guidance and accompaniment toward the autonomy and emancipation of bodies on the move, resisting the logic of marginalization in the contexts of arrival and claiming their dignity.
The city of Ceuta is much more than a Spanish enclave in Africa. It is a living frontier with its own internal borders, aterritory marked by colonial vestiges, a laboratory for managing bodies and lives traversed by racialization, mobility, faith and many other dimensions.
In this context, many young migrants, mostly former Unaccompanied Minor Aliens, face a complex transition to adulthood. They are housed in institutional centers until they come of age, but these spaces, while offering formal protection, rarely accompany their paths to autonomy in a real and committed way.
The experience at the San Antonio Center
This is why I consider my experience at the San Antonio Center to be so profound: because it offers support at precisely that crucial time of transition, and because behind every action one can sense an authentic inspiration: to always act from humanity.
During that time, I lived daily with a group of former foster youth: we shared training moments, recreational activities, breaks, discussions and even silences. I also witnessed and took an active part in the processes of entering the Center, closely observing the internal dynamics and bureaucratic practices related to reception and migration.
I believe that volunteering, beyond being an experience with personal goals, is a fertile space for collective construction. It can offer valuable keys for thinking about future projects of social transformation. In this case, for example, it allows us to imagine other forms of reception, with priorities and pillars committed to justice, dignity and real listening to those who inhabit the margins and, from there, build other possible worlds.
