video1.0<iframe src="https://www.loom.com/embed/5a74e9493e0242f08d882762d6595429" frameborder="0" width="1920" height="1440" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>14401920Loomhttps://www.loom.com14401920https://cdn.loom.com/sessions/thumbnails/5a74e9493e0242f08d882762d6595429-94f17d0c4dbf7ead.gif10305.016The meeting reviewed the Rimani project goals and timeline, presenting the association's long-term experience with migrant minors and recent moves toward family foster care (affido). Attendees received the planned training schedule, described multidisciplinary modules and upcoming expert speakers, and discussed practical challenges from past informal foster placements. Key topics covered included the difference between multiculturality and interculturality, typical backgrounds and needs of unaccompanied minors, and the essential role of mediators and coordinated institutional support. ### Meeting timing and structure 6:19 - Meeting start was planned with a short delay; recordings and technical setup were confirmed. - Proposed timeline: begin around 3:20 (noted as "per meno venti"), two short breaks (about ten minutes each) with a pause near 4:45–5:00, and resumption for later sessions. - Antonio La Torre offered to lead the initial phases and outlined that two linguistic-cultural mediators will intervene later in the session. - Attendance counting and partner inclusion were discussed (25 participants listed plus external partners from Matera and Potenza). ### Association introduction and mission 9:26 - Presenter introduced as Riana Zitomarino, Vice President of Atacama Routes and project operational partner. - Association active since 2011 in immigration, defending rights of vulnerable people and promoting intercultural dialogue and social inclusion. - Work includes projects with municipalities, prefectures, schools, third-sector organizations, and international activities in Gambia and Senegal. ### Current reception activities and past projects 14:00 - The association manages hybrid small communities for unaccompanied foreign minors (not strictly CAS or SAI) and currently hosts a small community in Marsico Nuovo of seven minors. - Past management included a CAS for minors in Potenza and participation as partner in a FAMI project (Project 31) providing first reception for 50 youths across Potenza and Matera. - Experience has varied; some structures offer multidisciplinary teams but may lack intimate, stable family-like reference figures for minors. ### Rationale for foster care (affido) and initial experiments 15:25 - Affido was pursued to provide minors with deeper, stable trust relationships and more natural integration than institutional settings can offer. - Initial foster placements arose from minors' own requests and communities/families wanting to help; placements were undertaken with limited formal training. - Results were mixed: some fosterings succeeded, others failed, highlighting the need for structured, better-studied procedures and formal training. - This led to co-designing the Rimani project with Regione Basilicata and municipal partners to create a structured training pathway and better procedures for affido. ### Training program design and upcoming modules 30:21 - The training is a unitary, multidisciplinary pathway spanning multiple days and professional contributions. - Today's session is an introductory unit led by the presenter and two mediators; subsequent sessions will include a psychologist (emotional and relational aspects), a long-standing social worker (case management), an educator (daily educational pathway), and legal consultants (normative and procedural aspects of foster care). - Target audience includes public and private social operators, municipal staff, and others working with minors; emphasis on consistent participation across sessions. - Training aims to combine cultural, psychological, educational, social, and legal dimensions for working with unaccompanied minors. ### Multiculturality versus interculturality 36:43 - Multiculturality defined as co-presence of diverse cultures in the same space, often leading to separate groups and limited interaction (typical in initial reception centers). - Interculturality defined as a process of relationship, exchange, and gradual integration that involves mutual adaptation rather than unilateral assimilation. - Practical implication: operators should investigate underlying reasons for behaviors (e.g., school refusal tied to family mandate or economic pressures) and work to build consensus rather than imposing rules. - Example: cultural behaviors (like greeting practices) can be misread; mediators and reflective practice help avoid erroneous judgments and foster effective engagement. ### Profiles and backgrounds of unaccompanied minors 56:00 - Unaccompanied minors typically display stratified identities combining migrant, adolescent, child, family member roles; origins include North Africa (Egypt, Tunisia), West Africa (Gambia, Guinea, Mali), Bangladesh, Pakistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia. - Many arrive with limited or no formal schooling (especially from sub-Saharan Africa and Bangladesh), sometimes having attended only informal religious schooling (dara). - Common characteristics across contexts: strong family centrality, large extended-family networks, economic inequalities, and expectations to contribute financially to families (family mandate). - These factors drive behaviors such as sending pocket money home and prioritizing work over schooling; understanding them is essential to avoid reductive interpretations. ### Operational implications and the role of mediators 01:17:13 - Operators need intercultural competencies and must work in multidisciplinary teams including social services, judicial authorities, educators, and linguistic-cultural mediators. - Mediators play a unique role beyond language translation: they support identity, belonging, trust, and cultural bridging, which helps in individualized planning and conflict avoidance. - Effective foster placements require coordinated institutional support, clear procedures, legal understanding, tailored approaches, patience, and continuous team collaboration. - The meeting emphasized training for operators to provide guidelines and support to families or individuals interested in participating in the foster program. ### Opening remarks and request for camera use 01:34:23 - Host requested participants turn on cameras to attest presence for online meeting. - Host (Antonio La Torre) outlined plan to resume with the last part of the presentation and open for observations/questions. - Host introduced focus of the remainder of the meeting: the figure and function of the linguistic-cultural mediator within the Rimani project. ### Definition and centrality of the linguistic-cultural mediator 01:36:15 - Mediator defined as more than interpreter/translator: a bridge addressing visible and invisible needs of migrants (adults and minors). - Mediator roles include building trust, explaining rules, de-escalating conflict, and facilitating relationships between operators and minors. - Antonio positioned the mediator as a structural pillar for reception, foster-care processes and long-term follow-up within Rimani. ### Risks, practical tasks and continuity of mediation 01:44:02 - Antonio warned about poor mediation practices causing identity/document errors (example: incorrect spelling of names) that become major problems for minors. - Mediator involvement recommended from arrival (hotspot/NGO recovery) through full case management, legal briefings, individual psychological and social-care interviews. - Mediators perform interpretation during intake and play a deeper role during ongoing individual sessions with psychologists, social workers and legal consultants. ### Mediator testimonies: iancuba (gambia) 01:52:50 - Minte Iancuba presented personal migration experience arriving by sea and challenges during integration (language, rules, cultural differences). - Iancuba detailed mediator tasks: accompany minors to appointments, explain rules and daily customs, encourage school attendance and social integration, and provide informal support (outings, home visits) to model Italian norms. - Iancuba stressed need for mediators to deeply understand both origin and host cultures and to help minors adapt pace and expectations. ### Mediator testimonies: rakib (bangladesh) and challenges for bengali minors 02:01:42 - Rachid Hassan (Rakib) described arrival as an unaccompanied minor, schooling and language learning leading to mediator work. - Rakib highlighted that many Bangladeshi minors cannot read/write or speak English, making cultural-linguistic mediation critical for legal/documentary processes. - Rakib and Antonio discussed debt pressure on families that pushes minors to work early, causing school refusal and complicating integration; mediators help explain the need to learn language and systems before work. ### Trust dynamics, double mediation and ethical concerns 02:12:26 - Participants discussed delicate dynamics when mediators come from the same community as minors, including perceived betrayal or exploitation risks. - Antonio, mediators and others agreed on the occasional use of dual mediation (local and external mediator) in highly sensitive situations to balance trust and neutrality. - Risks of mistranslation or selective translation were acknowledged; long-term experience and professional training were recommended to manage empathy and boundary issues. ### Empathy, professional boundaries and practice advice 02:25:01 - Speakers emphasized empathy as essential but potentially harmful if unmanaged; practitioners must find the right distance to avoid over-identification. - Advice included focusing on the individual rather than nationality, recognizing internal diversity within national groups, and tailoring approaches (examples: Bengalis often follow rules; Africans may need explanation of reasons). - Working in multidisciplinary teams and learning from mediators were recommended to improve behavior and decision-making toward minors. ### Training schedule, logistics and participation rules 02:33:05 - Organizers will send a calendar of upcoming training sessions and aim to finish operator training soon to start identifying families and meeting minors in centers (SAI, CAST, communities). - Flexibility noted: participants can join alternate sessions if unable to attend assigned ones; recordings will be available. - Plan to hold some sessions in person in Potenza and Matera; organizers aim to reduce total time by possibly combining sessions. ### System-level recommendations and project goals 02:36:39 - Bruno and others highlighted the need to view project actions across micro and macro levels and connect daily practice to broader theory (identity stratification, collectivities). - Proposal: develop on each territory a dedicated foster-care center to systematize interventions, host multidisciplinary teams, codify best practices and reduce fragmentation among institutions, third-sector actors and informal networks. - Organizers committed to horizontal responsibility: partners should recruit local actors beyond partner municipalities and build governance networks to scale Rimani's work across Materano and Potenza areas. ### Closing and next steps 02:50:53 - No further contributions; meeting closed with thanks and intent to reconvene soon. - Next steps: distribute session calendar, continue training, identify families and minors for foster-care pathways, and maintain collaboration among multidisciplinary teams. - Organizers expressed cautious optimism about achieving results in complex local realities with partner support.