This is the testimony of Faith, a woman from Nigeria, who has been welcomed and supported by JRS Italy/Centro Astalli. She recently received financial assistance to attend a bakery training course, representing the final piece of a longer-term, structured support journey that has been ongoing.

Do you know the scent of freshly baked sweets? That warm aroma of sugar, milk and cocoa that fills the house and makes it feel like home? As a child, I spent hours baking cakes and pastries in the kitchen. I loved the idea of welcoming my family home in the evening with that smell, after a long and tiring day. With just one slice of my cake, I wanted to help my family forget their troubles – even if only for a minute – and when I succeeded, my heart would overflow with joy. Yes, that’s what I wanted to do when I grew up: spread joy through my desserts.

Then one day – that dreadful day – the interreligious war in Nigeria took everything away from me. Alone, with no family and no home, I found myself fleeing my country in search of safety. In an instant, I had become one of the many people on the run. First in the desert, then in the sea.

Forgetting was hard. Starting all over again was even harder – a new land, a new language, a new version of myself. I felt like a child again, having to learn everything from scratch, with the world around me feeling too big. Only this time, I didn’t have my kitchen to make me feel at home. In Italy, every step I took pushed me a little further ahead; I owed it to my family, and I owed it to myself. Though, I wasn’t happy. I missed baking, making sweets, and breathing in that familiar scent.

So, I started searching online for pastry courses. There were plenty, but every time I saw the price, my hope crumbled and I would say to myself, “I’ll never make it.” 

I reached out to JRS Italy/Centro Astalli, and together we looked for a solution. A few weeks later, I got a phone call that changed my life: there was a chance to cover the pastry course fees through a funded project. I would be starting in just a few days. I couldn’t believe it – it felt like I was dreaming. 

The training course lasted for three months. Every afternoon I would step into that kitchen and breathe in that familiar scent of home – a smell that filled my heart and gave me hope again. I learned many techniques, discovered new recipes, and gained the skills for a job I had dreamed of since I was a little girl. 

Now, I work in a pastry shop in Rome. Every day I tie on my apron, switch on the oven, plunge my hands into the dough, and as I bake, I feel something rekindled inside me – a feeling I thought I had lost. Here, in this pastry shop, I’m finally happy again. 

JRS Italy/Centro Astalli accompanies many forced migrants as they shape new lives within their communities. Through the project ‘Stand Together – Tools and Actions to Dream, Plan and Build a New Framework for Working and Training Inclusion of Forced Migrants’, funded by Fondazione BNL – Gruppo BNP Paribas, JRS Italy/Centro Astalli has provided training opportunities, that strengthened both professional and personal skills, opening pathways towards sustainable employment.