Self-enrichment
A story by Carlo
Country of origin: Italy
Country of destination: Spain
My name is Carlo, I am a 38 years old guy living in Grossetto, in the heart of the Maremma Toscana in Italy.
In 2010, once I was finished with my first cycle of university studies, I found by chance an announcement from the Follonica municipality concerning an international mobility project with the Programme Leonardo. They assigned me Barcelona as a destination and I left with enthusiasm thinking that this experience would positively change my perception of the future. I was unemployed and still living with my family. I tried different experiences in the working field but they finally seem all to be chanceless and I really needed to get away from this routine in order to experience something new and different and get some original ideas.
From my stay in Barcelona I can’t think about anything negative, everything was incredibly perfect, from the welcome to the language course until the accommodation (the woman who hosted me for 3 months was an excellent cook!) Moreover, in Barcelona there is a Buddhist cultural centre from SGI where I take part and I could do different activities with Spanish members. Furthermore, this summer the Spanish national football team won for the first time the World Cup.
I have done a professional Internship as educational assistant at the Fundaciò Social del Raval, an extraordinary practice thanks to which I gain significant work experience in field such as relationships, organisation, and to deal with different situations. But above all, I established wonderful friendships with other educator and youths.
I was really close to find a job in a game room in an educational centre, but unfortunately my level of Catalan and Castellan was not enough high in order to do this kind of job.
Therefore a little bit unwillingly I went back to Italy, but I went back enriched by this experience which taught me to express my skills and to find new opportunities for my job. Actually I am still unemployed but I won’t stop to look at the future with hope.
