"Help Catalonia is open to anyone feeling uneasiness and motivation to report what is happening to us around here”

Hi, I’m Laura. I’m nineteen years old, though about to turn twenty. I’m a student of Journalism and Political Science at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, where I live. And I happen to be the youngest of all the voluntary contributors at Help Catalonia. I joined less than one year ago. It is my job to write short articles, do some small translations into Spanish and send tweets from @AyudaCat, which is Help Catalonia’s Spanish Twitter handle. Despite all these contributions, I think the most memorable one was my participation in the Catalan Way on 11 September last year. Covering that gigantic human chain really was a whole new fascinating experience and whenever I recall it I still get gooseflesh.

The reasons for me to become an active member of Help Catalonia are to be found in chats with friends about Catalonia, national independence, the role of the media and journalism and participation in digital newspapers. I was told about Help Catalonia’s existence in one of these conversations. Just a few days later got through to them and soon I was welcomed by all the other members in the team.


I’m still young and I have not had yet the chance to look beyond the students’ world, but I do think that being part of such a strong team will not only help in my professional career but it is also enriching me as a person. Help Catalonia is open to anyone with concerns, motivation and is eager to report what is happening to us here, especially at this time of effervescence when Rajoy’s Spain is acting progressively harder against Catalonia.

It has been several years now since I became aware of what is happening around us, particularly concerning Spain. I must say that it is now much more necessary than ever for us Catalans to become fully conscious of this situation so we can decide on who we are and what we want to be. We don't really live in the democracy they want to make us believe in, no matter what our school books say or despite what the Constitution says about Spain being a social and democratic state under rule of law. Now more than ever we must show our disagreement, report all the injustice we have to bear and show the world what Catalonia is and who we are.

This is the moment for change and it is now that we are a large majority wanting to know where our faults lie and how we can improve our lot. This is the era of consciousness and maturity.

That is why coming across Help Catalonia opened opened the doors to me. Helping to spread the reality of Catalans is already a first step towards improvement. The best thing about it? Being more and more people every day. Because there are more of us, who like me are also ready to help and participate. Thanks once more to all the companions I have met. We are all Help Catalonia.





Laura Estrada

Catalan