That was the inspiration for my journey here. On 14 October 2023, in the city where I currently live, we organised the first Living Library (human library format) event under the theme “My name is human”. (Mein Name ist Mensch).
In October 2022, we delivered a petition to improve the services of the Immigration Department. As challenging as this journey was, there were some positive outcomes from this difficult experience. One of them was that I found allies: a group of people, mainly social workers, with years of experience in the field of migration and politics. When I first proposed this project, I came from a place of frustration because people here do not talk to people like me, we are not seen as equals because of the stigma, bias and prejudice that is our identity, our origin and our social status. In the same breath, and please note that this is my personal opinion, people here share a certain apathy towards the whole migration phenomenon and, I repeat what many keep saying, also suffer from a terrible lack of intercultural competence.
So, on that Saturday, the rain blessed us with its presence. At 4pm the doors of the town library opened. I sat in a back corner and waited, anxious but excited about the people who would come to read to me. Ignoring the voice of doubt: Would people actually turn up? I was on the organising committee a steh initiator and I was a book at this event. This event took months of planning and volunteering is not easy, especially when you have a full time demanding job. A total of 6 books, all with the title “Immigrant”, were placed in niches scattered throughout the library. There were 115 conversations that day. About where we come from, how we got here, why we are here and, most importantly for me, what can happen in this society I want to live in so that we can finally overcome this ‘us and them’ mentality or polarisation.
We had a two-hour conversation in 4 rounds of 30 minutes each in different groups, asking questions, but most of all we had the opportunity to meet each other as human beings. Experts in our own lives and the wealth of experience that has brought us to where we are today.
This project was very close to my heart because in all these experiences one thing remains true for me and I quote Carolin Emcke ~ “Not to be seen, not to be recognised, to be invisible to others is really the most existential form of disregard”. This was important to me because I want to live in a world where we understand and address this “us versus them” mentality. This is an important step in promoting social cohesion and harmony in diverse societies.
Good news: Last week I found out that the City Council has given permission for the City Library to adopt the Human Library format and continue to offer it in our city library. My heart is full for now, but the fight goes on.
Sweeva 