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Migration and relationship with the “other,” at the heart of a world yet to be created

Ever since the 7th World Social Forum that took place from January 20-25th in Nairobi, Kenya, we have felt more strongly than ever that a new world is being created. The culmination of which, during this meeting in Nairobi, was the seminar organized by Frères des Hommes entitled: Migration, Development, and the Relationship with the Other. Migration has appeared as a fundamental characteristic of this new period called globalization. It is also at the heart of the development and democracy of the future. It is revealed, in both positive and negative ways, in the causes and effects of everything that transpires. It is described by men and women who express, with both force and simplicity, their struggles and convictions. Migration provokes and reveals the world. This no longer concerns exclusively north-south migrations, but others equally as much, and moreover, the relations between countries in the global south. Africa in particular will witness this transformation in migration.

With present day migrations, nothing will be the same as before. The relationship to the other has the potential to become profoundly altered. The trend of migration is creating a new kind of border: added to the geographical approach is the cultural approach, and, more recently, the family-based approach. Before, foreigners were far away. The other was elsewhere. Now, the melding goes much further and is growing more and more each day. We must invent new ways of understanding ourselves. The fact of migration can reveal the best and the worst, especially when one sees how it can be taken advantage of, using xenophobic and racist actions for the purpose of stirring things up. The trick is to make our voice heard; the voice of citizens from the North and South united in action. In the famous words of Rimbaud, “I is another…”

Michel Brugvin, FDH activist

PARTICIPATING [citizen involvement]

THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
A Kick-off for Athletes’ Rights
This July, Montechio, a town in northern Italy, will host a new Anti-Racist World Cup. The Sports League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights (LISPED) will be the guest of the Italian Sport Union for the 11th annual gathering around the ball. It’s a good opportunity for LISPED, a Congolese organization, to not only leave its borders, but also to show that its action can be a solution to resolving the problem of the mistreatment of black athletes.

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DEMONSTRATING [public activism]

UGANDA
African “Homo Sapiens” Reclaim their Right to be “Homos”
“Homosexuality is not only about sex, it is also about love.” Inside the Moi Sports Complex in Nairobi, dozens of activists from organizations that defend homosexual rights protest with banners and shout slogans. For five days, the African lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, often harassed, tortured, and even sentenced to death, had the chance to speak out for the right to live in dignity.

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TRAINING [knowledge for action]

MALI
Homeward bound, through arts and craftsmanship
Dambele Mambi survived thanks to his business. But he dreamt of immigrating to Europe, so one day, he sold all his merchandise to pay for a trip to seek a better life. Having left Mali, he crossed Algeria and, from the Moroccan coast, tried to reach Europe by sea. After four attempted crossings on unsafe boats, two years passed during which he had to live in the desert. His only hope left was to one day cross into the Spanish enclave of Melilla, in Morocco.

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COOPERATING [sharing resources]

KENYA
Kenyan Women Want to be Landowners
Women are responsible for 80% of the food production and 70% of agricultural work in Kenya. However, they rarely own their own land and never participate in decision-making. Faced with this injustice, the struggles of gender equality and land access have been taken up by organizations like Kenya Land Alliance (KLA) and FIDA-Kenya, both of which give voice to several hundred organizations and individuals.

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COMMUNICATING [confronting ideas]

THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Reading, a Great Alternative to Violence
The theater troop “Atelier Théâtr’Action” (ATA, or Theater Action Workshop,) has a lot to be proud of. The campaign for the promotion of literacy that they started in the community library in Ndjili, in the middle of Kinshasa in December and January, was a great success. “Many students were obliged to wait their turn to enter the reading room,” explained Mr. Diyabanza, coordinator of ATA. Some 2600 readers came during the month and a half campaign; more than ATA would have ever thought possible.

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TESTIMONY [culture and solidarity]

SOUTH AFRICA
Words to Say it, Poems to Make it Heard
Moving People, an Asia-Africa network created for the occasion of the World Social Forum (WSF) in Nairobi, sponsored an area to facilitate cultural activities. Migration, refugees, exile, and population diasporas were at the center of their agenda. Through the Center for Creative Arts, Moving People, along with Poésie Afrique : Perspectives poétiques sur la migration (African Poetry: Poets’ Perspectives on Migration), offered a series of various styles of poems, from the traditional to the more caustic and political.

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PORTRAIT [a meeting with ...]

SENEGAL
For Mame Diarra, Misfortune Doesn’t Exist
Founder of the Marième Bousso Association for the Education of Blind Children, Mrs. Mbacké has started a school for the blind in Dakar. Thanks to her, 14 children who live in the suburbs of Dakar can go to school.

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