A group of men and women of Punjabi origin living in Italy for several years from both India & Pakistan developed a desire to build some organisation together with two main goals to set:How to hold together this desire without forgetting their roots,without forgetting place where they grew up /and how to build this organisation to work with/for the community with whom they have strong links ?
They realised that it is important for their growing children to know /see contribution of their family elders in the construction of community in which they live. Even though it is impossible to forget where they came from but at the same time it is also worth to make an effort to renew this relationship and open a platform for interfaith dialogue !
To fulfill their dream ,they all joined hands together and constituted a SEVA Association of Punjabi migrants .It provided them a concrete way in opening a dialogue between Italians & Punjabi. They presented a project together with ACRA ( A lay foundation of Milan which works with groups and immigrant organisations active in Lombardy in order to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and in order to develop strong ties between Italy and other countries of origin) and with the FEM ( An organisation which works to promote self-development of communities of developing countries and recognise the full rights of citizenship to its non-Italian clients through activities of cultural mediation).
Aims of SEVA Association in Lombardy :Realise cultural activities
Offer services to its associates.
Choose and realize -development activities
Aiming at improving life conditions of the poorest in Punjab.
Various Activities of SEVA Association: Exchange meetings with ACRA's team
Form Constitution of the Cultural Association of Punjabi migrants
Free Italian Language Courses
Free Training courses on administrative management of association activities
Free Training courses on communication and intercultural education to plan and implement activities of local promotion
Involvement of Local Authorities and peoples
Raising awareness through activities and events on the issues of migration
Organise Social Activities to support migrants
Construction of a network between migrants and other bodies to achieve co-development activities in Punjab
With thanks to SEVA Association Team Members :
Swarn Singh(President),Sukhwinder Kaur( Vice-President),Kuldip Singh( Secretary),Munir Choudary( Consultant ),Laura Molinai( Founder ACRA) & Prof.Barbara Bertolani ( University of Molise ).
Dr. Gurdeep Kaur
University of Milan
ItalyAssociate Professor
University of Delhi
INDIA
