Where do I feel like a local? That’s a good question. In the past few years, my journey has led me through the countries Senegal, Mauritania, Morocco and Spain. It wasn’t a journey like you would imagine. I didn’t travel for fun – I travelled out of despair, to find a new home. To get to a place where I feel safe. Four years after I left Guinea, I now feel at home in Zürich, Switzerland. In all of the countries mentioned, I was only legal in Guinea. Yet, I didn’t feel like a local there, I didn’t feel at home. The most important thing for me to feel local belonging is to experience freedom. Freedom of fear and freedom of want. It’s where I live without pressure and without problems. Of course, I do have problems here too. I am not allowed to travel outside of Switzerland. They even denied me to conduct an apprenticeship. Yet, I have more freedoms in Zürich than I could imagine having elsewhere – I have enough money to buy food and I have a place to sleep. I don’t have to be scared to be shot during the day or at night. Every morning I get up and look outside the window: I see a tram station with lots of people passing through. It’s a ritual I do everyday. It reminds me – this is my home now.

– Amine