When I think of this course I think of a puzzle, a coloured puzzle with faces, accents, ‎smiles, sometimes tears – a puzzle formed of people and feelings.‎
Scattered pieces, which, through dialogue, debate and respect have come together ‎because “the whole is more than the sum of all its parts”.‎
A “job”, that of integration in the classroom that demanded the synergy of all ‎involved. Where different cultures, traditions and religions met. ‎
A “test bench” that everyone tried out to recognise inside themselves their fears, ‎prejudices and doubts about others, but, above all, a place to discover and put one’s ‎resources to use, to experiment empathy, sensibility and listening as fundamental ‎qualities for the professional figure of Cultural Mediator. ‎
From their essays I have formed a collage of their thoughts:‎

‎ Elisabetta Selvazzo‎
‎ (Course Coordinator)‎
‎ ‎
‎“…History teaches us that there has always been and will always be immigration.‎
Man’s movement internally and externally has always had the aim of changing and ‎improving his life… ‎
Local and global “external” migration brings cultural differences, exchange of ideas, ‎goods, religion, customs, etc., cultural differences therefore.‎
The reasons why a person leaves everything and goes away vary for each one, but we ‎are all joined by the fact we are in a new place that geographically is not ours but ‎which, luckily or not, belongs to us, numerous populations have turned a new leaf and ‎gone elsewhere… ‎
Initially they see an image in you, then perhaps a face, after a person (immigrant) ‎seeking survival with thousands of problems, sometimes to be avoided and others to be ‎helped.‎
This “push and pull”, “yes and no” towards someone different is due to various ‎factors, mainly the lack of effective integration and other policies.‎
Now things are changing, and the people too…”‎
‎ Fatima D.‎

‎“…For more than two decades Italy has been a land of exile, and risks staying that ‎way if the world conflicts continue. Throughout the world there are more than 200 ‎million people uprooted from their homeland, in the forefront the tens of millions of ‎refugees who are escaping from wars and various social and political disorders. Italy ‎and the rest of Europe will continue to receive a considerable migratory flow. In other ‎words, Italy must open its doors and its heart to welcome and organise these guests …‎
To gain recognition of the different cultures, assisting mutual understanding is a good ‎thing, even though the meeting of different cultures can be a shock; it is above all a ‎moment of mutual enrichment. We must accept and consider as a wealth those non-‎European citizens, show them what is good in our culture and civil cohabitation, bring ‎out their social and religious opinions, etc. This way culture becomes a positive ‎exchange which each one carries with them, and when cultures meet we find tolerance ‎and completion.‎
The professional figure of the mediator should be recognised inside the family, by the ‎individual, in the social structures and in the relative foreign communities.‎
I have tried to make the figure of the cultural mediator visible and present in all ‎possible ways. This is my will to gently help the introduction of the non-European ‎citizens into their new society…”‎
‎ Sini N.B.‎

‎“…It’s true, anything strange or unknown upsets us and as long as there are no drastic ‎social, economic, political or cultural changes life goes on quietly and calmly. This is ‎the same for all populations and each individual. Each one of us has his beliefs, ‎ideology and behaves in a certain manner, and often changes can cause discomfort, ‎fear and upset.‎
Everything we have perceived in the past completes our identity, and often even time ‎cannot help us to forget our first experience, which makes it difficult to change our ‎way of thinking. But life is not routine, it is constant change. A proverb says “you ‎can’t go into the same river twice” and this is the same for many populations who are ‎present in Italy today. The migratory flow from various countries with different ‎culture, language and religion creates a new social-cultural situation. These changes ‎are drastic for both sides – both the people who immigrate and the population they ‎immigrate to.”‎
‎ Lesya S.‎

‎“…The first problem the foreigner comes across is being able to make himself ‎understood. Communicate, not only with language, but also with the body and ‎attitudes, the way of life. Understand and be understood in a context of different ‎customs to one’s origins can cause misunderstanding, incoherence and could be the ‎origin of various problems.‎
Besides giving purely legal information and case study analyses, mediator training also ‎offers a considerable amount of real “sessions” where the trainers invite future ‎mediators to identify themselves in the conflicting situations, to imagine the different ‎feelings and the possible forms to solve the problem, incentivating “creative thinking”, ‎which will be a fundamental ability to be able to carry out their work in the future.‎
In particular, mediator training involves developing an attitude for negotiation and ‎ability for listening, with a more open attitude as free as possible from prejudice, or at ‎least intimately aware of its cultural and secondary nature.‎
The mediator must have resolved his or her internal conflicts, to avoid becoming a ‎victim while carrying out the job of professional operator aimed at solving other ‎people’s disputes”.‎
‎ Maria Elizabeth G.M. ‎

‎“Mediation is a relatively new and little codified professional field. Therefore, the ‎mediator must define mediation on the basis of his or her experience and that of other ‎colleagues. These are the only consistent and immediately available references.‎
After the training stage, I feel that in creating a concept of mediation, the meanings ‎that Italian institutions assign to it contribute, which are passed onto to the mediator if ‎the institutions consider the foreigner as someone handicapped or disabled, and ‎therefore only considered in welfare terms. In these cases, institution tends to delegate ‎the job of accepting the foreigner to the mediator, almost as if they wanted nothing to ‎do with them personally.”‎
‎ Aziza A.C.‎

‎“…A cultural mediator can be considered a bridge figure, creating bonds between ‎different persons, but the mediator can also be the one who finds remedies, releasing ‎tension and rounding off sharp edges and disagreements.‎
There are lots of definitions for cultural mediation and cultural mediators. The training ‎course and previous experience has given me the opportunity to be one of these ‎bridges.‎
‎ Azra H.‎

‎“…We have talked about the figure of the cultural mediator for a long time. The ‎debate arose from the fact that at the moment there is not a standard recognition of the ‎professional figure of cultural mediator, and this creates certain confusion. For ‎example, there are no fixed criteria regarding training courses for mediators; the ‎training we have undergone has confirmed this fact, we have found different ways of ‎interpreting cultural mediation, professional persons with different training and ‎working methods, even though the enthusiasm that they put into their work was ‎constant…‎
I hope this experience will help us to carry on with the work to have the professional ‎figure of cultural mediator recognised to enable us to establish precise and certain ‎parameters which will permit us to work in the best possible manner …”‎
‎ María José S.R.‎

‎“… During my training period, I had the pleasure of meeting lots of mediators and, ‎through the mediation activities, I had the real pleasure of seeing the inside nature of ‎the persons. I lived my experience with enthusiasm and I have met and got to know ‎other people who I felt had my same desire to help others, give a smile, support and ‎the right indications, in the way we did when we arrived many years ago. For me it is a ‎mission, to give what I have always sought, a friendly, welcoming face who gives me ‎a hand to find my way…‎
So many stories accompanied me during my training, I gave myself up to their ‎problems and forgot my own, which became unimportant, I went home thanking God ‎for having giving me the essentials to lead a dignified life…”‎
‎ Birikti T.T.‎

‎“…At the end of training I realised that the figure of cultural mediator is very ‎important, and requires numerous qualities and abilities. Sometimes, human life ‎depends on the cultural mediator. We cultural mediators must be very attentive, ‎responsible and aware of this. The words of our Professor Enzo A. Becchetti ‎impressed me, that the only the only thing that counts before God is mercy. We must ‎remember this always…”‎
‎ Olena K.‎

‎“…Experience of an “imperfect” cultural mediator. This choice of title is not ‎accidental, because I really do feel I am an imperfect mediator with regards certain ‎paths and matters concerning intercultural factors, and I feel that I, like many other ‎colleagues, have not extended and developed my famous “toolbox” sufficiently…‎
We must not just settle for gratification and thanks from the people who need our help, ‎we must try to perfect our role further given that the cultural mediator is increasingly ‎important and complex if we consider our modern society which is increasingly multi-‎cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religion…”‎
‎ Fatima N.‎

‎“This essay is not just an epilogue of a training course to become a good professional ‎cultural mediator, but also a step towards realising a personal project that I have had in ‎my heart for a long time, a mission to take part in creating a common social myth with ‎the objective of harmonious co-existence between people who are different in ‎ideology, culture and other artificial barriers that the human race has continued to ‎build right since the beginning of time…”‎
‎ Joseph M.W.‎