From August 31st to September 4th, up on a small hill of the surroundings of Porto, 40 migration practitioners, human rights defenders, activists and researchers, coming from 13 countries and connected to many more in Europe and beyond, gathered for A World of Neighbours’ 5th Annual Summit. They bonded, reflected, exchanged on their practices, projects, challenges and needs. They met with Portuguese organisations, cooked with refugee chefs, discovered local dishes and dances. They caught their breath and organized. Here is what they left with.
Parwana Amiri, author, activist and community organizer, Germany, Poland, Afghanistan
‘This summit was essential to hear about challenges our practitioners face in the other corners of the world and learn from them, their techniques and strategies on how to face the inequalities but also stay optimistic.
It was also important to have deeper conversations with younger practitioners, who are not only fighting for equal participation for youths in Europe, but are highly motivated and ambitious. I felt proud of my identity as an Afghan among them.
I had tears of joy to see Shahd (practitioner of MEERU celebrating her dad’s birthday). This teamwork has high respect from my side. I am truly inspired to see that MEERU is like a family for each of those practitioners. Their dedication is truly inspiring. 🙌🏽❤️
We also celebrated the nomination of our new Directors and I congratulate them all, wish them all strength ❤️ . I myself was honoured to be nominated at AWoN’s Board with the amazing team of Javeria Rizvi Kabani, Rouddy Kimpioka, Tuija Samila, Mousumi Saikia, Zuzana Weberova and Pedro Santos.’
Testimony by Parwana Amiri, picture by Antonia Nascimento