

The Project
Background In October 2002 I came to Madrid with a car load of luggage to live here for an uncertain time. I had saved money for about six month if I would be able to live somewhat economical. After those six month I wanted to decide if stay and look for a job or go back to Germany. In January Ahmed, a friend of mine, told me about a Spanish language school, which only costs EUR 10,- a year. But he also said that there would only be Africans, Arabs and Eastern Europeans. Who


(Zaza)
no story #illegal #immigrant #blackandwhite #portrait #Madrid #Hasselblad500CM


I had a goal (Victor)
From early childhood on I dreamed about practicing in the sports section - being a fighter. I entered the construction school with the sports section of my dreams of when I was fifteen. My physical condition was insufficient. I was not in good shape and weighed only 46 kilos. This section was also visited by the boys of my study group, who were much stronger and taller than me, who were15 or 20 kilos heavier than me. But they did not have enough willpower to quit smoking and


Friends and Halloween (Vicky)
La verdad es que no sabia que contar, solo el decir la palabra y se me vienen a la mente mil y un recuerdos los mejores y peores momentos de mi vida, claro como no extrañar todo eso. Y mira que cuando planeaba mi viaje a acqui, siempre estaba pensando en estar acá y recuerdo que decía claro que no voy a extrañar esto Yo para nada soy patriota; ¡oh! Pero que equivocada estaba, bien dice el dicho nadie sabe lo que tiene hasta que lo ve perdido. Y no es que vea perdida la po


Be carefull with donkeys (Rashid)
I did not know that humans can be attractive for donkeys. One day my mother sent me to bring grass to the lambs and the cows. I climbed on my donkey and took the road. It was a beautiful day; It was sunny but not very hot. I was very happy and sang my favorite songs, but my affectionate burrito changed all this in an unexpected way. As I cut the grass, I noticed that my donkey followed me with his eyes in a strange way. Still I was very much surprised when I bent down and he


What if ... (Orlando)
En mi vida he tenido varios pasos importantes que tomar y uno de ellos fue este decidir si me quedo o me voy es dificil, mas si donde estas, estas bien y si te vas lo puedes perder todo, hasta al afecto de tus padres...
Planifique mi viaje con un rumbo ditinto al que estoy ahora, fue el primer tropiezo ya que a mis padres les había dicho que me iba a ese sitio para estudiar, ya de por si mis padres no les parecia bien mi viaje, y con lo que me enfrantaba era que habia cambi


Four streets away from the sea (Natali)
The summers of my childhood I spent in my grandparents' house, in a city on the coast. I remember with great affection several details. Especially, what it meant to go to the beach with my brothers and cousins. We lived four streets away from the sea, it went downhill all way. Most interesting was the last part, which separated the city from the coast: 198 unmanageable steps! A long gray stone staircase on a slope of intense green lawn. Getting down was fine. But climbing up,


(Nancy)
no story #inmigrants #illegal #portrait #blackandwhite #Madrid #Hasselblad500CM


A miracle done for a sinner (Ludmilla)
Like any child i wanted to be loved by my family and my friends but many times was scared to death. My father was an alcoholic. One day when he was drunk again he wanted to hit my grandmother with an emty bottle but I covered her with my small body as good as I could to protect her. Some other day my father had hidden a cow half at my grandmother ́s and I brought it away (it was so heavy) because I was afraid my grandmother would be arrested if it would be found in her house.


I do not believe in Santa Claus anymore (Juri)
I was born in the capital. My city is very pretty, very green and old. I really like my city. I am a construction engineer, just like my parents and my grandparents. I would like to visit the whole world and learn many languages. As the saying goes: "You know many languages, you have many lives." I want to tell a story from my childhood. All the children around the world are waiting for the new year, they are waiting for the Christmas party. Santa comes with gifts. In the sam