May 20, 2011
This is why I’m here, ‘Luoghi Comuni’: kids have their say
Look at the faces of these kids, listen to their stories, which are sad and amusing at the same time, both profound and light-hearted. 'This is why I’m here' is the title of their video, produced during the most recent phase of 'Luoghi Comuni/ little migrating stories', in the primary-secondary school Istituto Comprensivo Statale in Vimodrone (Milan), during the academic years 2009-2011.

The stories collected and the video produced are the result of the work done by both teachers and students. The teachers interviewed the students who also sent a postcard to invite a friend to visit their home country. ‘Luoghi Comuni’: Kids have their say’ immediately proved to be a good educational practice, developing close collaboration among teachers, and between teachers and students. The project opened up new perspectives by bringing together students and teachers, Italians and migrants, kids - who express themselves in their new language - and their families (proud to have children like this!).

With open and honest words the main characters of the stories express their nostalgia, “I saw my country moving far away from me”; others refer to the difficulty of getting to know their classmates, “I would like to invite my Romanian schoolmate, but our mums don’t know each other”; they ask themselves about their identity, “I was born here and want to live here, but when I look at my dad I think that I’m Chinese”; they write about relationships using a new language, “my first word was ciao, and I will do many things with this word”.

The first film screening was another special moment of coming together and sharing stories, and parents were moved, as they recognised themselves in their children’s stories, their relationships and experiences.

This new phase of the migrating anthology of ‘Luoghi Comuni’ started off and developed in the school – it was a real ‘common place’ for meeting, living together and citizenship, involving students, teachers and families.  We now aim to extend the project to other classrooms and schools in Milan and other cities, so that more students can share and produce new “This is why I’m here…” stories.



Contact the school Istituto Comprensivo Statale di Vimodrone

Write to Luoghi Comuni for new projects and suggestions