Last December we visited a refugee camp, one of those places that we hear from the daily news but it is hard to give them an identity: what is shown leads us to consider those places as anonymous.

But those sites are called “home” by many people (even though it is hard to define them as such). Sure, associating the word “home” to such places is a paradox, their real home is different! We thought it before visiting the camp and now we believe it even more: seeing with our own eyes can surely contribute to shaping our ideas and thoughts.

Unfortunately, we are constantly bombarded with definitions, names, numbers and information. We perceive a substitute for information that is passive and words like migrants, refugees or refugee camps slide down into our stomachs in between bites, just before the football championship news.

Sure, we are convinced that it is neither easy nor possible for everyone to visit those sites to form a personal idea about the matter. But what we are sure about is that such experiences could at least serve as a deterrent in order not to launch completely unfounded reasoning or debates and to remind us that “refugee camp” are not two words, we are referring to people who, like us, open their eyes every morning and are looking for, if not happiness, at least that wellness from which we all should draw.

Choosing to reject passivity is good both for us and for the others