The Longest Way Home
General information
Project name: El camí més llarg per tornar a casa
Country: Catalonia/Spain
Timeline: From 2 January 2026 to 31 March 2027
Organisations:
Associació Revista Yemayá (Yemayá Revista),
SOS Racisme Catalunya (SOS Racisme),
Kaddu Yaraax
Summary of Action
Return after migration is not a well-known phenomenon, yet it powerfully exposes the injustices faced by migrant communities. In Catalonia, many people who decide to return to their countries of origin—often after risking their lives on migration—describe experiences marked by racial discrimination, bureaucratic obstacles, and precarious working conditions. Returning home, far from being a “free choice,” reflects the harsh structural inequalities endured by migrants.
Shedding light on return after migration serves two main objectives in this project: to denounce these injustices in a way that is closer to personal stories; to raise awareness by sparking empathy and meaningful debate.
The project is led by three organizations with complementary strengths:
- Yemayá Revista, an independent collective of journalists founded to tell stories of human rights violations and migration through a gender lens. With five years of experience producing feminist, decolonial journalism, they bring expertise in audiovisual storytelling and outreach to diverse audiences.
- SOS Racisme Catalunya, with more than 30 years of work denouncing structural racism and supporting migrants, contributes expert knowledge and a decolonial perspective essential to ensuring a respectful and transformative narrative.
- Kaddu Yaraax, a Dakar-based theater collective with international recognition for its use of forum theatre as a tool for community awareness, contributes artistic and pedagogical experience, as well as the perspective of the Global South.
The project is structured around two main activities:
Activity 1. Documentary (30–40 minutes): Filmed in Dakar and Barcelona, it will follow the stories of two migrant women.
- One, in Catalonia, resists structural violence while considering the possibility of returning home.
- The other, in Senegal, returned years ago after fleeing similar hardships in France, now lives in Yarakh, a Dakar neighborhood known as a departure point for boats heading to the Canary Islands. She is also an actress and performs in a forum theatre play to raise awareness in her community about the challenges of migration and return.
The documentary will integrate theatrical language as a narrative resource: scenes created with Kaddu Yaraax will bring depth, humanity, and empathy, breaking away from classical journalistic formats. Distribution will be broad: social film festivals, digital platforms such as Filmin, screenings in civic centers and libraries, and a public premiere aimed at connecting with diverse audiences.
Activity 2. Educational forum theatre activity: Aimed primarily at young people, this will take place in Barcelona and be led by Kaddu Yaraax. The team will travel from Dakar to hold three forum theatre sessions with youth, staging a play on return migration. Rather than speaking about migration in abstract terms, young people will engage in a lived, emotional experience where empathy becomes a catalyst for critical reflection. Using theatre as an innovative pedagogical tool makes it possible to reach audiences who may not already be sensitized, creating a transformative impact.
The project deliberately places the Global South in a leadership role within educational work in the North, inverting usual dynamics and generating a genuinely horizontal dialogue.
Sustainable Development Goals
This project supports the following SDGs:
| SDG Number | SDG Title |
|---|---|
| 5 | Gender equality |
| 10 | Reduced inequalities |
Budget of project
€30,000.00