My name is Anastasija, I am 26 years old and I come from Skopje, Macedonia.
After I graduated, I spent 7 months doing a translation internship in Skopje. However, there was no possibility for employment afterwards. I tried to find a job for a few months, but to no avail.
In Search of a Normal Life: Personal Story of a Macedonian Migrant Woman
My name is Anastasija, I am 26 years old and I come from Skopje, Macedonia.
After I graduated, I spent 7 months doing a translation internship in Skopje. However, there was no possibility for employment afterwards. I tried to find a job for a few months, but to no avail.
That is when I found out about the EVS program (European Voluntary Service). It is a program that provides a multitude of volunteering opportunities for young people to become active and improve their society and skills by volunteering in another country. I read many volunteering stories of youngsters who volunteered through this program and gained invaluable experience, so I was inspired to apply. I got accepted into a 1-year volunteering project at an organization in France. My tasks comprised helping children and youth who have a high school dropout, so I was mostly helping them with writing homework, school activities etc.
In addition to finding this volunteering opportunity as a great way of giving back to society, this was an exciting opportunity for me to go somewhere and meet people from other cultures, as well as learn French. As most volunteers were coming from diverse countries, I had the opportunity to meet and befriend young people from Armenia, Cyprus, Germany etc. This is how I got to learnt that there are many common things shared between Macedonians and people from different countries, the most interesting thing was maybe learning that sarma (grape leaves rolled around a filling of minced meat and rice) was a common dish in Armenia, as well! Aside from these migrant young people, I met many African migrants also. It was interesting to learn about their cultural practices, such as the wonderful kizomba dance.
In comparison to Skopje, the community I was placed in was a small-scale one, so I got to experience a real sense of community life, I even got involved in organizing local festivities with the locals so as to strengthen the community lifestyle. It was however not easy initially to get around in a completely new society, but since I learnt the language quite quickly, I was well-integrated and accepted by the locals.
The ngo where I was volunteering even offered me a job after the end of my volunteering, to continue doing the same and helping youngsters. But obtaining the work-related documents (work visa and similar) was a very difficult process. Even though everything was in accordance with the official procedures, I had to wait for 7 months to obtain the required documents. I constantly lived in fear, as I didn’t have the documents – this is how I experienced something similar to what refugees and migrants experience when they are “paperless”. In the end, I did get the work permit and was overjoyed.
When the project ended, I went back to Macedonia, but re-integration was not so easy at first. Having acquired experience in the youth ngo sector abroad, I knew I wanted to continue working in the ngo sector in Macedonia as well. After 3 months, I started working at a local youth ngo and honestly, I am happy to have found a fulfilling job in Macedonia, as well.
Many refugees and migrants have transited through Macedonia in recent years fleeing wars, conflict and searching for a normal life. I think all people who leave their countries to migrate are doing so because of a search for a safer and fulfilling life, life with dignity. Macedonians are not an exception. People who migrate from one EU country to another EU country are not an exception either, to cite one example, Spanish people who migrate to Sweden – they are also migrants. I believe Macedonians have shown solidarity with refugees who were going through Macedonia and I believe we can do even more. In Macedonia, we have had many instances with Macedonians being uprooted from their homes, during the Skopje earthquake, the recent Skopje floods, and of course, the many cases of young Macedonians especially leaving their homes in search of job security…We can and should certainly find the empathy within us to relate to the harsh experience refugees and migrants are going though.
This project was implemented by Legis with the support of the Capacity development for Selected actors working with asylum seekers in Serbia and Macedonia. The Capacity development for Selected actors working with asylum seekers in Serbia and Macedonia was established by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is managed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammmenarbeit (GIZ) GMBH.
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