Moving from a country where everyone knows their neighbours, where newcomers are welcomed and invited into homes, to a country where no one even pays attention to who lives around them, and at times even ignores requests to meet each other, can feel like a harsh, difficult introduction to a new home.
Ameena (a pseudonym chosen for her safety) began her journey to Utrecht from her home in Afghanistan three years ago with her family, in search of a traineeship to enhance her skills and knowledge. This is when she came across an opportunity for a traineeship at Utrecht University through Inclusion. After successfully being chosen, she subsequently discovered another opportunity working in the context of the MILAGRO project. This consisted of various activities, under the supervision of MILAGRO’s local coordinator, Dr.Tatiana Bruni.
Ameena recollects her first few days and months in the Netherlands. She arrived through another university, and spent her first four months as a guest researcher for them. She and her family unfortunately had to go through a long, difficult asylum-seeking procedure. This was hard on all of them, as they were left with little food, shelter, and proper living resources. After a long year of enduring these harsh circumstances, they fortunately managed to find a house in Utrecht. During this time, she enrolled in Dutch courses in order to develop her proficiency in the language. In addition, she was finding ways to enhance her skills and learn how the working system operates in the Netherlands; therefore, the traineeship was a great escape from her stressful living conditions.
Despite getting off to a rough start in a new country with minimal knowledge of the local language, one moment stood out as the time Ameena truly felt welcome. This was during her time at MILAGRO. After organising various workshops, she received excellent feedback from her team and supervisor, Tatiana Bruni, which resulted in a great recommendation letter. It was at this moment that she felt very welcomed into her new environment.
Although moving to Utrecht has been a long, life-changing journey, her values and sense of self remain the same as they were back in Afghanistan. However, one aspect that has changed is her approach to teamwork. A challenge she overcame, and learned a lot from, was collaborating in a team with differing ideas, and learning how to encourage people with different attitudes and values to work together effectively.
Moving to a different country across the globe comes with various expectations. One of them, for Ameena, was the assumption that anyone with a degree who can speak English and/or Dutch can easily find a job. After experiencing the harsh reality, she found this to be untrue; it is, in fact, incredibly difficult to find employment in the Netherlands.
Ameena currently remains hopeful, and is trying to pursue a master’s degree in the Netherlands, in order to enrich her skills and find a job.
One of the main obstacles is not yet being fluent in the Dutch language. It is a major difficulty trying to navigate a new country, and make the most out of her skills whilst simultaneously trying to learn a new language. The piece of advice she gives to anyone in her situation is that it is better to learn to live independently, and more importantly, to learn Dutch as early as possible. Being able to speak the native language of a country allows one to feel connected and a part of the community; otherwise, it is easy to forever feel isolated.
