DATE:
Summer 2019
PHOTO:
Residenziale, Rome

“The ‘ghetto’ means when people have nowhere, this is where they go. If you go to the part of the city where the industry is, you find the ghetto. We were living inside the industry, maybe one thousand people in 2 or 3 buildings. We built there for ourselves rooms with small pieces of wood. We call it the ghetto because there is no water and no toilets. For some time, we had electricity that we took from the city, but then the city found out, and they stopped the electricity. Then we had the generator.”

AUTHOR: AGE 31, FROM THE GAMBIA

DATE:
Summer 2019
PHOTO:
Palatino, Rome

“People need their own place. You do not feel good when you do not get to decide. You need independence. You need to have the choice in what to eat and when to take the shower and when to decide to sleep. My own space will make me feel strong.”

AUTHOR: AGE 26, FROM THE GAMBIA

DATE:
Winter 2020
PHOTO:
Sant’Andrea della Valle, Rome

“Italy is easier for me because now I speak the Italian language so I can go to school. But here the problem is you cannot find a house without the right document. Even when you have work you cannot find a house without the document. Except for when there is a cold or hot weather emergency - then they give you a bed in the camp. But then the camp is finished when there is no more emergency. And then where do you go?”

AUTHOR: AGE 22, FROM SENEGAL

DATE:
Summer 2019
PHOTO:
Residenziale, Rome

“If I had paper, I could draw you a city plan. I’m always just thinking of it in my head. There would be a house for all of the people. In the city plan, the streets have traffic circles so that the car cannot drive too fast. And for all the people there are parks with soccer fields so that the people can share. Drawing the city plan, it is something I am enjoying. But the problem is the foundation. That opportunity, it is not for me. I don’t have the foundation. So no, that opportunity, it is not for me.”

AUTHOR: AGE 24, FROM SENEGAL