Ep 76 / Chatting with Verónica Cheble from CEAR about being a refugee and starting a new life in another country
It's funny how preconceived ideas about topics as high in the media as immigration make us think that we know a lot about a topic, when in reality we have made a bag full of things that we hear and that we take as correct. In the case of refugees I have realized that despite thinking I understood it, in reality I did not. A refugee does not want to leave his country looking for a better life, a refugee has to leave his country so as not to die, and the life that comes after does not matter, since it starts with the premise that the important thing is to be alive. This difference between wanting and having is the difference that escapes us, and that makes everything different.
Becoming a refugee is a huge shame, they want to live in their countries but are persecuted for political, religious or gender reasons, which means that they have previously gone through an ordeal in their countries, which in many cases ends in an attempt on their life. They are committed people, in many cases with high-level responsibilities and careers, who overnight embark on a journey full of suffering that in some cases lasts years until they reach a country that welcomes them and allows them to live, and In many cases they fight from afar for that freedom and justice that does not exist in their countries.
The problem is that they arrive and need a lot of help, and CEAR is there to give them that hand and help them navigate the procedures to obtain refugee status, a place to live and a job. For all this they have to learn the language, learn our culture and customs without losing their own and all this requires a large number of people with a very high level of empathy and who are used to facing very extreme situations.
What we liked most about this podcast was the joy with which Verónica Cheble told everything, the projects they set up to show us all that no culture is above another, and that knowing the way of eating and cooking in other countries makes us feel closer to them. We are talking about Welcome a plate, the initiative that feeds all the CEAR shelters, and which has the support of Michelin stars and many companies and markets and which is now resuming after the pandemic.
We leave you some links that you cannot miss and a video to watch.
Interview with Isabel, refugee from Colombia
We hope you like it.
