One thing to understand about the Baret year is that we are in some ways in a constant state of anticipation. Everywhere there are reminders that we have so much to be grateful for, and nowhere was it clearer than when a small group of us went on Fellowship to Palermo, Sicily.

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Led by Fellows Claudia Kahindi and Olivia Williamson, we learned about the “migrant crisis,” as it is called, and the challenges that need to be overcome to address it. We spoke to a doctor who had made a life running a free clinic for migrants. He enumerated the difficulties he faces: from a lack of funding and supplies, to patients who are wary because of the mistreatment they have received elsewhere, to people who would seek to destroy his clinic. We spoke to a migrant who had traveled from Eritrea to Sudan, fleeing a life as a soldier, and onto Libya before making the perilous trip across the Mediterranean to Sicily. He detailed calmly but vividly the many challenges of his trip: the fear, the challenges, and how he finally reached safety. We also spoke to volunteers at a free legal aid clinic in Palermo, Sans-Papiers, about the challenges they face giving immigrants the knowledge of their human rights, especially in a country that is increasingly inhospitable to newcomers. We learned that even the term “migrants” has come to carry a negative connotation in this modern world, and that volunteers on the front lines have come to call them “people on the move” to emphasize their humanity. 

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What emerged was a human tapestry of helping and struggle, of human beings committed to doing the right thing for no reason other than they believed it was right, and of others struggling to survive in a world that has come to regard them as dangerous. We wondered how it could be that anyone could be afraid of these brave people who had crossed deserts, mountains, and seas in order to make a better life for themselves, and came to understand fear can be as powerful as compassion. 

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What struck us was just how much people must sacrifice when they move. They leave their homes, their families, their culture, and everything they know behind–and often what they find is that many in the countries where they arrive do not want them, or that the loudest voices are of those who would denigrate them or make them out to be criminals. But that is not all they find: they also find compassionate workers, like the doctor we met and the legal aid volunteers we talked to, they find communities of other migrants eager to help, people who have devoted themselves to helping others because they believe it is the right thing to do. We learned that it is not just their time they are sacrificing, but often their safety, because what they believe is right–helping others find a home in a new country–is so radical.

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What we came away with was a profound appreciation of the work of the people who are helping immigrants and the bravery of those fleeing their homes in hopes of a better life. We are, as Baret Scholars, lucky to be on the move in the way that we are. To experience the world as a young person and see it with fresh eyes, to have the opportunity to do so without wondering where our next meal will come from or if we will have somewhere to sleep at night: we must make the most of what we have been given, and do so in a way that betters the world for those who are less fortunate.

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