The Casa Vedruna Project in Tangier assists migrant women, victims of the extreme hardship of the migratory routes to the north.
The “Casa Vedruna” Project in Tangier welcomed 25 women in 2023, four of them mothers with children between one and four years old, according to the annual report that this project for the reception and temporary protection of migrant women in vulnerable situations has just presented.
Most came from West Africa, mainly Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. There were also women arriving from other regions of the continent, such as Eritrea, in the Horn of Africa, or Cameroon, in Central Africa.
All of them arrived dragging the heavy burden generated by the violence suffered by migrant women. Ten were pregnant, some with physical damage caused by rape and other consequences of abuse. Most also had psychosocial health problems, such as anxiety disorders, guilt, unresolved grief or depression. One of the girls was suffering from dehydration and a thrombosis in her leg as a result of being abandoned in the desert.
These are the profiles served by the “Casa Vedruna” Project in Tangier, which is located in the Vedruna Mission of the Province of Europe, the SEL network (Health, Social Education and Liberation) and in the Diocese of Tangier. This is a first reception, with stays of a maximum of three months, which provides a safe space for these women, covers their basic and health needs, and offers psychological care and counseling. Simultaneously, training activities are carried out, such as Spanish classes, health awareness, and workshops on various trades, artistic or leisure activities, which seek to empower these women on their way to autonomy, both from an individual and community perspective.
In addition to the 25 women who resided in the house, the project served others for whom, at the time, there was not enough space, and who were assisted in paying rents in Tangier.
Personal accompaniment is essential. “This process is only possible with hope, love, trust and therapeutic pact in personal reconstruction through the network of mutual support,” he stresses in the memoir.
“I have never found a home that changed my life like this one. Thank you for the way you treated my baby and me, thank you for what you taught me,” reads one of the testimonies in the document.
“I have learned many things: to live with other women with respect, helping each other, cleaning and cooking together…. Thank you because I came here very desperate and you gave me joy,” says another.
The Project is financed with funds from the Vedruna Europa Province and its Social Fund, the Vic-Solive Foundation, the Vedruna Volunteers and the parish of Reus, as well as individual collaborators.
The “Casa Vedruna” also welcomes various groups of young people who come from Europe as part of their advocacy and awareness-raising work.
