Hanna is Polish, and has been living in Switzerland for more than 25 years. Since we are professionally in the same field, we have become close and meet regularly to chat about our work and our lives in Switzerland. When we last met, Hanna shared an experience that made me think of our topic of the month, Identity and Belonging.
When Hanna moved to Switzerland for study, and then decided to remain for love, she first lived in Geneva. After several years, though, she and her husband moved to a nearby village. Despite frequent trips between Geneva and her new home, Hanna felt lonely in her new surroundings, at least at the beginning. I think I understand it. The villages around Geneva, while pretty and peaceful, can be a bit suffocating in all of their perfection, which can sometimes make them appear a bit artificial. Relationships with the Swiss take a while to develop, and Geneva and Lausanne are the main cultural hubs, while the smaller places between them can often give you a sense of isolation.
As expats, we all know how important it is to meet new people, loads of them, to be able to quickly recreate a circle of social relations and a support network. In some places, this can take a long time, and that certainly was the case for Hanna.
Recently, though, things have changed. The war in Ukraine has brought many refugees to Switzerland, especially women and children, many of them war orphans. Switzerland has indeed been very welcoming, and in the usual Swiss tradition of precision and organization, programmes have been promptly set up to help these people find their bearings in their temporary surroundings.
Drawing of children in Lausanne to welcome Ukrainian kids
One such initiative has been to give refugees courses in French, which is the language spoken in this area. Hanna is originally a trained language teacher, and certainly versatile in languages: she speaks Polish, English, French and Russian. Occasionally, besides her work as intercultural trainer and coach, she teaches languages, and it was through a school where she is replacing a teacher, that she got in touch with the people who help migrants in several ways. With her good Russian, Hanna started assisting some Ukrainian women by translating for them in everyday life situations – at the supermarket, at the doctor’s, etc.
Soon word spread, and Hanna was called on more and more to help out in many cases, and this brought her close to these migrant women and to their stories. It is indeed through the sharing of life stories that the relationship between Hanna and the women developed and intensified.
She tells me that it was almost natural for her to start helping these women in many ways, and to open the door of her house to them. So, one woman would come and collect some kitchen utensils that Hanna had gathered for her, and then sit down with a cup of tea and tell her story. Most of the time what these women went through is hard to imagine, and even harder to listen to, but there are also heart-warming stories. Hanna welcomes all of them as a gift to discover other life situations, while reflecting on how fortunate she is to live in a safe and peaceful country.
I can see how this experience is having an impact on her. She is so happy and involved, that she talks at length and enthusiastically about how her life has changed since she met these women. While before she felt somewhat lonely in the village, she now knows that when she goes out, she might bump into people she knows, and stop to chat a bit. She has women who drop in at her place, and women to go out and assist others in the most diverse situations.
And she concludes: “I had a hard time when I arrived, but now I feel part of the village. I live in a place where people know me, and where I do things for and with them. This is what I call belonging”.
Article written by Claudia Landini (Claudiaexpat)
February 2023
Main pic: ©ClaudiaLandini, the others ©HannaS
Articoli correlati:
Since you are here...
...may we ask you to buy us a
? We are joking of course, but there is something we would like to tell you.
You might have noticed that Expatclic has no ads or paywall. For 19 years we have been working voluntarily to provide quality contents and support to expat women all over the world. However, keeping such a big website going has some costs, which we partially cover with team member’s fees and donations of those who appreciate us and wants our work to continue. If you could give even a tiny contribution to cover the rest, we would be immensely grateful ♥
You can support us with a small donation, even a small one.
Thank you so very much.
