Description of the integration initiative implemented
The interviewee emigrated to Italy in order to pursue her professional ambitions. After years, she could finally achieve her goals thanks to a work placement programme for the unemployed, funded by the European Union. She devoted all of her time to studying, which meant economic difficulties and working illegally on Sundays: nevertheless, she made every effort to participate in this programme, which had proved to be the only resource, the only way to make her dreams come true.

Personal story
“Elona” is a 47-year-old woman, who has been in Italy since almost 20 years now. Upon her arrival in Italy, she had two sisters with their families here, plus some other relatives; after some time, her third sister arrived too.
She reached Italy as a student, which was the only legal way to enter the country and get a residence permit. She obtained a diploma in unisex hairdressing in Albania, but her qualification was not recognised in Italy nor in the EU: once here, she began to look for a job as a hairdresser, anyway. During her work search, Elona had to face a number of rejections as she was “too old”: Italian labour law forces employers to hire people in apprenticeship age, i.e. under 29 years old, so as to pay them less. Accordingly, she was compelled to work as waitress, ice cream maker, and other jobs. Since she was working in the hairdressing business in Albania, her desire was to start her own business in Italy. So, despite having a work, she decided to leave the country: such a choice depended basically on personal motivations as she wanted more freedom, and it was difficult for a woman to be totally free in Albania in those years: "I wanted to have a motorcycle, a scooter, and it was something that I could not have over there." What's more, some essential conditions, such as lack of electricity on some days, made her work difficult, and it was a problem for her to work under those conditions. To enter Italy, Elona needed to prove that she had money in the account as required at the time by migration policies: thereby, she had to borrow some cash from a relative. This circumstance influenced the lack of support from relatives in her coming to Italy as they were unable to afford the requested amount of money. Once here, the road to freedom opened up before her: with all working difficulties, that had constrained her to set aside for a moment her dream of working as a unisex hairdresser, she felt free. According to Elona’s story, she has never experienced episodes of racism, nor conflict situations that would be due to potential differences between her cultural background and the Italian one. By way of example, she refers to the supposed “coldness of the Florentines”: the interviewee took it for granted, maintaining that “immigrants should get used to the locals and to their behaviours”; actually, she interpreted it as a shared feature, as an element she had in common with the people of Florence. Likewise, she realised that their sense of humour, sometimes pungent, had no racist aims since they themselves use it with each other. Regarding gender discrimination, the one linked to being a woman, she observes that immigrant women who want to grow personally and/or professionally on their own face much more difficulties than women who rely on a man and his support, instead. For a woman who wants to make her way honestly, all the more so if she is not beautiful, both conditions together may represent an obstacle to a successful outcome. The path that led her to open her own men’s hairdressing salon had begun with one of those vocational training courses for unemployed people funded by the European Union. She learnt about, and decided to embark on one such programme. She stopped working for the duration of the courses as she had no time to do the both. Thus, after a long line of obstacles, and following the EU vocational training programme, she finally managed to open a hairdressing shop for men. Currently, our interlocutress feels fulfilled on both professional and personal levels. She adds that her work and family are irreconcilable. In case a woman chooses to have children, she must leave her job so as to dedicate herself, at least in the first years, to them. The rest of her family (sisters, their families, etc.) lives in Florence too, and no one of them does not plan any return to Albania: this especially applies to Elona as she considers Italy, despite limitations and difficulties in reaching a satisfactory working condition, a country that offers many possibilities, including a personal freedom that she was actually hoped for in emigration.

Analysis of the initiative and individual story
Elona represents many of those women who, in order to reach their autonomy, decide to leave their country without looking back. In fact, what emerges from her story is her detachment from an oppressive and not very stimulating context she left behind, along with a need to find her personal independence no matter how many economic or else challenges it takes. The protagonist of the story shows the ability to adapt to various, even adverse situations, in order to arrive at the right moment allowing you to fulfil your dreams: in her case, this moment coincided with the possibility to start her own business. In her interview, Elona stated that “her best years will never come back as her best years”: that is to depict the long period that she spent in emigration by doing unsatisfactory jobs, which was due to the fact that her degree was not recognisable in Italy nor in the EU. To boot, she stressed many times that for a woman, especially an immigrant woman, making her way alone constitutes a huge challenge. At the same time, she feels grateful to Italy for the freedom she has found here. All things considered, she observes her migration experience as if she has travelled along two tracks: on the one hand, she recognises the economic sacrifices imposed by the Italian system, and almost a kind of anger against it; on the other, she feels a gratitude for the freedom that this country and her experience have given her. Observed from the current point of view, she has finally reached a balance between her professional and personal life, which makes her feel as being successful today.

Results and Impact
The peak that has been touched by her professional dreams coming true is viewed by Elona as a set of pieces, each one of which represents choices and actions dictated by the need to be fulfilled as a woman, and as a professional. The difficulties one go through allow her/him to accumulate experience and fortify her/himself: finally, it is thanks to this personal past that you live a life full of satisfaction today.