18 Comments
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Ángel Alda's avatar

Una de las mejores ONG's de Madrid. Insustituibles.

Andrea Eschen's avatar

De acuerdo, Ángel. Quizás un día gris o lluvioso allá en Galicia podríais ver la película. Vale la pena. Llevéis un pañuelo.

Jayne Marshall's avatar

What a great organisation and the film sounds like essential viewing too ❤️

Andrea Eschen's avatar

ESSENTIAL!! It's such a good film and does a lot more good than just get you out of the heat. It gets you out of the day-to-day to ponder other things.

M. Antonia González's avatar

Soy voluntaria desde hace años en Karibu, en el programa de integracios de mujeres y otras actividades. Animaros somos 170 voluntarios. Dando clases labores administrativas y voluntariado de toda indole. El trabajo tiene sus frtos en la integracion, dignificacion y ayuda

Andrea Eschen's avatar

En serio??!! Me alegro mucho. Cuando estaba esta semana, hable con un señor del programa de voluntarios. Me gustaría ser una. Me sugirió que volviera en el otoño porque ya en el verano el ritmo es mas lento. Voy a hablar con el coordinador en septiembre.

Te felicito por tu trabajo muy importante allá. Gracias por contarme.

Sandra Eliason's avatar

Great story. Also, I heard on NPR yesterday that a lot of the arrivals are from Latin America.

Andrea Eschen's avatar

Yes, that's true. Spain is undergoing a "regularization" process which means that the government has quickened the procedure for immigrants to get visas and documentation, as it wants those here to be legal. My husband, who's Colombian, said most of those in this process are from his home country.

Thank you for reading and commenting.

Fabio's avatar

The “regularización” process here in Spain is an interesting experience from which other countries can learn about dealing with immigration: from data-driven analysis to comprehensive and compassionate approaches. Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s Prime Minister, said last week that without immigration, Spain would have 19% less GDP by 2050. 90,000 bars would close, 220,000 farms would disappear, and 50,000 classrooms would shut down. Half of Spain’s GDP growth in recent years is due to the arrival of immigrants. Nearly seven out of ten applicants (787,235) come from Central and South America, followed by 269,070 from Africa. Colombia tops the list of nationalities with 26% (304,000) of applications, ahead of Morocco with 13.3% and Venezuela with 11.8%.

Sabrina Simpson's avatar

What an inspiring organisation embedded in a refreshing government attitude towards immigration. Thanks for sharing their stories with us!

Andrea Eschen's avatar

The whole darn thing is remarkable. Life remains very difficult for these migrants but at least there's some help.

Food and Fiesta's avatar

A beautifully inspiring story, Andrea. Thank you. 🤗

Betsey Drake's avatar

Fabulous story to challenge our ‘first world’ problems… you really have a knack for bringing these pieces of history, current events and personal experiences together. Brava! Xxx

Andrea Eschen's avatar

Thank you, dearest, for your nice comments. Just what I'm trying to do :)

Salwa Bitar's avatar

The story is so real and emotional. It’s a reflection of what millions of refugees suffer before and after landing in destination countries as well as the global human inequity which is impossible to resolve during our lifetime. However with people like you (Andrea and Fabio) being role models in contributing material support and more importantly eye opening stories like this one, we hope the world is becoming a better place. Keep the good work and the stories flowing, I truly enjoy your writing and topics

Andrea Eschen's avatar

Salwa, thank you so much for your thoughtful and kind comment. The experience of seeing the movie at the same time I was making decisions about which clothes to get rid of became a powerful combination to eliminate even more possessions as well as to confront the difficulty of some people's lives. Unfortunately, it's easy to forget or let it slip from memory as we we go through the day-to-day. It's good to have these reminders.

Tim Little's avatar

You are a big-hearted soul! Similarly, I am impressed by the large intake of immigrants and refugees into Spain.

Andrea Eschen's avatar

And that there's actually a strong government program to manage the situation and help the immigrants. That's impressive to me.