Hawa’s story

Hawa is a 22-year-old Sierra Leonean girl who arrived in Italy one year ago. When she arrived in Italy, she had the opportunity to take part in a project organized by the Italian government, so she was helped to start her path toward social inclusion. She lived in a facility together with other women third-country nationals and she was able to resume her studies at school and attend an Italian language course.

One day, during a school lecture about civic education the teacher spoke about a campaign related to environmental protection that will take place the next weekend. This campaign was run by an organization called “Clean-Up the City” and specifically, it provided the creation of teams that would meet in different strategic locations in the city to clean up the streets and the neighbourhoods. The activities also included wearing a t-shirt with the campaign logo and raising awareness among other citizens.

At the beginning, Hawa was very surprised by this initiative because in her home village no one had ever dealt with the issue of collecting the waste and she had never thought about the environmental consequences that this behaviour can have in the short and long term. In fact, in her village, all the families once a week (specifically on Sunday), are used to collect the rubbish and burnt it.

Moreover, she has never taken part in an awareness-raising initiative and she has never thought about the possibility of taking concrete action to report a problem and so try to create change.

Therefore, Hawa decided to take part in the activity, together with some of her schoolmates, and they spent a day cleaning the city where they lived and also explaining to other people the aims and objectives of the campaign.

Hawa learned the importance to fight for changing and trying to tackle local and global issues. She said that her first experience in an environmental awareness campaign plays a strong role in her personal growth and allows her to understand the importance of being an active citizen to build a more just, peaceful, inclusive and environmentally sustainable world. She also realised that the identity that unites human beings is not cultural, social, national or political, but rather ethical. In fact, this notion emphasises the social responsibility each of us has towards his/her community and the world. She understands the importance of being a global citizen and especially the implication that everyone's behaviour has for themselves and for others. Now she is ready to translate this understanding into actions for collective well-being and sustainable development.