It is 10:30 in the morning and about fifteen women meet at the facilities of bibi house from Madrid. They are from Cameroon, Nigeria, Mali, Gabon, the Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea, among others. All of them migrated to reunite with their families or to seek refuge in the face of state neglect in their countries. “We face loneliness, social and economic isolation, institutional helplessness. That is why it seems that we do not exist, but we are there and there are many of us”, explains Alphonsine Kitumua Bangizila, a 63-year-old Congolese woman, who is a psychologist and volunteer for this project promoted by the Karibu Association and intended to provide support and accompaniment to elderly African migrants.
The atmosphere is filled with joy because that morning, like every Thursday, they have a yoga class. “We want to break the stigma that being an older person is synonymous with not being good for anything. We come to accompany each other, to learn Spanish, to do yoga, but also to share what we know”, says Mónica Olufunlayo (Nigeria, 64 years old), who since her children and grandchildren grew up prefers to go out and meet her friends instead of staying locked up at home
In mid-2020, the United Nations estimated that some 34 million people in the world were older migrants. Of this global figure, about 26,000 foreigners over the age of 55 reside in Spain, a number that, according to Kitumua, continues to increase, although there are no recent official data.
“Coming here gives me joy. When my granddaughter goes to school or with her friends, I stay home alone and I am filled with sadness. It’s like she can’t get out of those thoughts,” says Antonina, 70, a native of Equatorial Guinea, who she prefers not to share her last name. For this woman, “the years are only numbers.” Now, her main project is to support her granddaughter and her disabled son. Antonina has lived and worked in Spain for 23 years, but only five have been recorded in official documents. “I have not been able to contribute enough to have a decent life, because despite working as an intern she did not have papers, so I did not receive Social Security,” she laments. “After so many years, I can’t rest because I have to keep fighting to meet my needs and support my family,” she laments.
Being an elderly migrant woman, emphasizes Kitumua, implies suffering a double discrimination. First, because they are migrants and have to adapt to the language and culture and face administrative obstacles and racism —like all newcomers, regardless of their age and sex. And second, for being older women and seeing how their health deteriorates and the doors of the labor market close.
“They lock them up in residences”
For Oumo T. (Mali, 74 years old) gone are the years in which he shared life with his son in Sikasso, his city of origin, located in the south of the country. The aggravated economic instability since 2012, insecurity and lack of medical attention forced her to leave there four years ago. In Madrid, she was received by a couple from the same town, who helped her find medical assistance and a translator. “I felt good because I was accompanied, but shortly after the man died and my countrywoman returned to the country. I was left alone, without having the agility to communicate in Spanish, because before I only spoke Bámbara [un idioma utilizado por cerca de 10 millones de personas en Malí]”, Explain. Now, Oumo resides in a foster home run by the Karibu Association. “Although I live with other women, each one makes her own life, some work, others speak a different language than mine. I don’t have a family here, I don’t have a work permit and sometimes I feel very isolated”, she laments.
We became aware of the great challenges and situations of vulnerability that women, the elderly, migrants and Africans go through in Spain
Belén Espiniella, anthropologist and coordinator of Casa Bibi
But Oumo’s restless spirit prevails. She is a volunteer in various projects to raise awareness against female genital mutilation and also collaborates in a campaign to prevent loneliness in nursing homes in Spain. “I have seen many elderly people who are left very alone, despite having children and grandchildren. They lock them up in residences. In Africa it is different, the elderly are always surrounded by our family and the community never abandons us, because our opinion is important”, she affirms. Ella oumo says that her desire is to learn to speak Spanish very well “to meet more people” and to be more independent when moving around the city.
Lucrecia Montero (Guinea-Bissau, 67 years old) counts the days since she arrived in Spain. “In October she turns one year old. On the 12th ″, she stresses herself. “My family cares about me, about how I am living. I tell them that I am fine, that I have food and a place to sleep. I miss them a lot, but I don’t tell them because I don’t want them to worry, ”she assures while a thick cry runs down her face. Montero is referring to the three children and five grandchildren she left behind in Bissau, her hometown. “Here I am alone, since my nephew’s wife kicked me out of her house. He brought me to Madrid to help me find a treatment for my liver problem, but in less than two months they left me on the street, ”she recalls, as she lifts her blouse and shows two large scars that cross her stomach in the shape of of cross. She realized that she was alone in an unknown country, with a different language and culture and, what is worse, “without the same energy” as when she was young.
Montero also lives in the Karibu Association shelter. She and Oumo were a kind of trigger that gave birth to Casa Bibi, which in Swahili means grandmother. “We realized the great challenges and situations of vulnerability that women, the elderly, migrants and Africans go through in Spain. It is unfortunate, because these qualifiers, in reality, should be synonymous with strength and wisdom, but in a society that does not contemplate them within the system, they run the risk of being excluded”, explains Belén Espiniella, anthropologist and coordinator of the project.
The loss of the social and family position they had in their country of origin, the lack of protection and the lack of command of the language can be a cocktail that triggers a emotional instability in these women. “They see themselves without their support network, without documents or economic stability. It’s not that they feel loneliness just because, it’s because their realities are troubled. The only way to prevent this from escalating is to give people the opportunity to regularize their legal situation upon arrival, guaranteeing their right to migrate, as well as access to services that ensure their well-being and dignity”, she concludes.
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