From Morocco to Spain for love. The importance of social and family networks
Seville. Spain
Institutions involved
NGOs, Informal Communities
Initiative Typology
Work opportunities
Problem addressed
This particular case has not had notable problems for insertion in Spain, and her husband is Spanish, and he has helped her and has integrated her into all her social circles. However, she does indicate that on occasions she has detected a certain discrimination between the indigenous society for being Muslim, for being of another religion and of a very different culture. She has also pointed out that at the beginning her language was a barrier and that she was unaware that there were resources that could help her, she only received the help of her husband.
In general, she establishes that for women who come from Morocco, the language is a problem when it comes to integration, since most do not know the language, and are unaware of the available resources. Many women who come from Morocco alone fall into networks or men who take advantage of them because they do not know the language, have no training or know the resources, making them very vulnerable.
Resilience strategies addressed by women
The resilience strategies used in this case have been her husband's family network, relying on her, as well as her son. She indicates that all the feelings of loneliness in being separated from her family are overcome with love for her son and her family.
On the other hand, the education that she has had throughout her life has been an essential element in developing integration strategies.
Another of the elements that she highlights has been the job opportunity given to her by the Sevilla Acoge entity, since she acted as an intercultural mediator with unaccompanied migrant minors, which has opened up a job perspective that she did not contemplate.
Description of the integration initiative implemented
The most important topics for its integration have been:
- Her husband who is Spanish and his social and family network.
- Her education of her, since she studied until the University with a very good academic record, this has helped her to establish strategies for integration and socio-labor insertion.
- Her language is fundamental for her, knowing the Spanish language.
- The job opportunities that the Sevilla Acoge entity has offered her.
- Maintaining her culture and her religion, to which she integrates cultural guidelines (food, music…) of Spanish culture. But keeping her religion.
Personal story
The woman interviewed comes from Morocco, from a family with very few resources, sadly recalling how her family of 3 sisters, a brother and her father and mother lived. They lived in a shared house and her parents had to fight very hard to give their daughters and son the best education. Both she and her sisters and her brother were very aware of this so they studied a lot and all obtained very good results. Secondary education she attended at an internal educational institution, and from there she went on to the University where she studied tourism.
At the University she met her husband with whom she began a relationship. In 2014, she married her husband, who had to convert to the Muslim religion in order to marry her. Once married they moved to Spain where they have lived since 2015.
In her social life she interacts only with Spanish people, since her circle is made up of friends and family members of her husband. At first it was difficult because she did not know her language, she and her husband spoke in English, but being surrounded by people who only spoke Spanish helped her learn it faster. She feels socially integrated but sometimes she notices a certain suspicion and mistrust when they find out that she is from Morocco and that she is Muslim.
In her family life they maintain and practice the Muslim religion, she does not wear the veil, she has never used it only when she visited her grandparents in the village, and out of respect she wore it, but since she was little she decided not to wear it and her family has respected it. . Both she, her husband and her son are Muslim and they try to maintain their Muslim culture but integrating elements of Spanish culture (food, music, etc.) which is not a problem for her.
In her professional career, she has worked in some restaurants, but what has most influenced her person has been her work as an intercultural mediator in a center for unaccompanied migrant minors, an opportunity given to her by Sevilla Acoge. This work has helped her to empower herself as a woman since at first the minors did not recognize any authority, the majority were Muslims and it indicates that in that culture women are considered inferior to men, so it was very difficult for them to recognize she, who was a Muslim woman, and on top of that, some authority was young. But little by little she was gaining the respect of the minors and in the end she felt very loved and highly respected. She hopes that she can go out a similar project and be able to work in this line.
Regarding gender issues, she indicates that Spain has made greater progress in women's rights, and that in that sense she feels much better since here she can dress differently than in Morocco without being judged (she can show her arms, shoulders, the legs ...) in addition to the treatment given to women, who in Morocco are still treated with much more inferiority.
Analysis of the initiative and individual story
The main initiatives to improve integration have been:
FAMILY NETWORK: For her it is very important to have a network, in her family case, that helps and supports you in the needs that arise at first: housing, resources, company ...
LANGUAGE: Language is the main barrier to integration and is one of the elements in which she worked. Knowing the language very well to be able to communicate, and for this the linguistic immersion was important, being surrounded only by Spanish people since learning was faster.
EDUCATION: her training process has helped her to establish strategies and cope with situations, in addition, she has been able to help her family, specifically her parents, who she has been able to help them find their own home and that they are well cared for.
LABOR INSERTION: The work experience developed in Spain has helped her to open new fields of labor insertion and to empower herself as a woman.
CULTURAL IDENTITY: They maintain their cultural identity and religion, although they incorporate elements of Spanish culture, since their social circle is made up of Spanish people.
Results and Impact
This migratory process has had an impact on her life, she has created a family of her own in Spain, a social network of Spanish people, new work experiences and a development of her personal identity as a woman that she would not have had in her country.
