Over the past week, our beneficiaries and volunteers took part in several initiatives organised by the City of Zagreb, spread across the city and involving a large number of residents and visitors.

They were primarily engaged in Zagreb’s European Mobility Week, which took place from 16 to 22 September and featured as many as 162 different activities at 82 locations. As part of one of these events, entitled Our Stories and Steps, a guided tour of the city’s historic centre was led by Nawar Ghanim Murad, who holds a Master’s degree in English from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb and is a licensed tourist guide for the City of Zagreb. Nawar arrived in Croatia from his native Iraq in 2011. In addition to speaking Croatian fluently and knowing, as he puts it, “his Zagreb” in great detail, his personal story of finding a new and stable life in the city offered a sign of hope to many migrants who attended the tour.

At another event of the same name, held just a few hours later, Abdoulie Jobe shared his own experience of life and integration in Zagreb. Now a well-known local resident of the Podsused neighbourhood, Abdoulie arrived in the Croatian capital 12 years ago and has since graduated in English and Sociology, also from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The event took place at the Susedgrad Cultural Centre, where the conversation with Abdoulie was moderated by our cultural mediator, Natalija Lumezi.

Immediately afterwards, the same venue hosted a screening of the documentary film Behind One Smile, a project by director and actress Ena-Sanan Hdagha and her team. The film follows the story of Khaled, a Syrian refugee, over a period of four years. These initiatives attracted a considerable number of local residents and introduced them to unique stories and lives that they may not have realised existed in their immediate surroundings. In addition, a group of our beneficiaries attended an information session at the One Stop Shop Welcome Centre on how to use and access the services of ZET, Zagreb’s public transport provider, and Bajs, the city’s public bicycle system.

Another major initiative involving our beneficiaries and volunteers was Project Ilica: Q’ART. This long-standing movement seeks to revitalise Zagreb’s Ilica Street on selected days throughout the year by providing a platform for people to present their work and personal stories through art, culture, design, gastronomy, and other creative activities. In this way, one of Zagreb’s main thoroughfares becomes a lively and colourful place of encounter. On this occasion, our beneficiaries prepared traditional Arabic bread with spices and spreads at one stand and shared it with passers-by, while at another stand women with a migrant background exhibited jewellery, clothing, footwear, paintings, drawings, portraits, and other handicrafts they had created themselves.

Last week, the streets, cultural centres, and historic sites of Zagreb came alive, becoming focal points of encounter and exchange for all those who call this city home.