Afghanistan Refugee Reception in Italy

The beneficiaries of the first reception intervention were 8 Afghan families.
joined over the weeks by other families, for a total of 56 people and 23 minors.
minors:
- 0 to 1 year old: 5
- 2 to 4 years old: 4
- 6 to 9 years old: 8
- 10 to 12 years: 2
- from 14 to 17 years: 4

The first beneficiaries were all welcomed on the southern outskirts of Milan.
Milan, in a protected and cosy space, where it is possible to guarantee family unity and where the first
and where the first refugees have chosen to stay together, to be close to their colleagues. The idea of staying alone in
The idea of being alone in flats in different parts of Milan frightened them.
Accommodation in the flats and co-housing in a place on the outskirts of a big city like Milan, on the other hand, first of all guarantees "protection", because there is a 24-hour care service at the facility; moreover, the presence of a large internal courtyard with a garden encourages the creation of dynamics of mutual help and cooperation in managing children and small daily tasks.

Workshops and socialisation activities were carried out for adults and children, as well as listening, emotional and psychological support activities with the aim of affecting the overall wellbeing of the persons and children welcomed, taking into account their specific conditions and needs. The intervention is therefore multidisciplinary in nature, since the well-being of the people welcomed is connected both to the trauma of the situation faced and to the resolution of bureaucratic and/or very concrete problems. For the children's activities, besides relying on its own network of volunteers, Progetto Arca also collaborated with the Associazione ProXXIma APS in the realisation of a theatrical performance that took place on 18 December. 

The performance was accompanied by a harpist whose music transported all the participants to an enchanted place, giving peace and serenity.

In order to involve all the children there were three performances divided by age group:

a) Age group 0-5 years: 13 children
b) 6-10 years old: 7 children
c) Age group 6-11 years: 7 children

Mainly the activities were of a recreational nature, with a focus on the acquisition of everyday vocabulary/expressions in Italian (which were then obviously reinforced during the lessons with the teacher).
Especially in the early days (September-October) we were often outdoors, so the games were also more lively (e.g. hide-and-seek, to learn to count from 1 to 100 while the others were hiding; flag, again to learn numbers...).
Then with the cold, having to stay indoors, there was more focus on drawing, writing, dialogue and less dynamic games (e.g. wireless telephone, puzzles of expressions/words to put together, image-word associations...).