The title of this article, which cites Albert Einstein, refers to how difficult it is to fight against prejudices rooted in our consciousness. Most migration stories in this text start in a small boat, but the reality shows that cars and roads are much more frequent. We will provide two examples: the first begins on a road in North Africa; the second, in Eastern Europe; two cardinal points, two girls, two cultures, two different routes and a single destiny. Telling these two stories involves describing a journey and the acceptance of uprooting and nostalgia because, as the writer Margaryta Yakovenko states: “Leaving means being torn apart, leaving means dying a little. For exiles, migrants and pilgrims, motherhood will always be the road.”

None of Us Chose It: Migration through the Eyes of Childhood

One day, someone decided to make the decision for the “good” of two girls in search of a “better future”, which, for reasons of geographical or historical chance, they lacked in their countries of origin. They both suffered the consequences of decisions they did not made, because, as if by magic, that better future, which so clearly crystallised in the eyes of their parents, would finally become tainted because, as is well known, reality is always fraught with problems.

One of them started the journey under her aunt’s legs in a car, thinking that she was going for a ride, and so she did not even consider the idea of saying farewell to her dad, mum, brother or nanny, the woman who brought her up. By then, her nanny was very excited looking for a school, and she would lose her mind when she discovered she had left.

The other girl, who also left, did so held close by her dad in a coach after having said goodbye to her family and her aunt, her legal guardian during that year, after her parents had left to arrange their new life. She only thought of reuniting with her mum, because through the eyes of a child there are no doubts, only hopeful certainties.

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