Name: Joana Esteves

Age: 15

 

On Tuesday, February 26, a young girl sat on the ground in a train station in Aveiro, Portugal, hunching over a wallet held in her hands. She was small with dark skin and  brown hair. She wore a grey and white graphic tee-shirt and dark washed jeans. Although it was 60 degrees, she must have been cold because she wore a pink scarf and green puffy jacket.

 

Upon being approached by a group of strangers, there was a noticeable a sense of confusion and fear in her eyes. However, once the reason for this was explained to be a school project, she agreed to speak with them.

 

Joana Esteves is a fifteen-year-old girl who enjoys reading science books and drawing. She does not dread going to school like many other students her age and her favorite subject is history. Although she lives with dogs, rabbits, chickens, and cats, she insists that she does not live on a farm.

 

Esteves may have been too young to know about the history of Portugal and its rapid rate of emigration that has been increasing in the country each year. According to eurofund.com, Portugal has the highest emigration rate, 20% since 2016, of all of the countries in the E.U.. However, she explained to us that in 5 years time, she sees herself living in Portugal and perhaps staying in her native territory forever.

 

As she spoke, it was hard to miss Esteves’ discomfort. She held a purple wallet, fiddling with it the entire time in her hands. The long pauses she took before answering a question and her intense stares betrayed her obvious level of uneasiness that could be due to the fact that she was young and travelling alone.