Italy - The experience of giving oneself: stories from the Civil Service

21 February 2018

(ANS - Macerata) – Here are six girls actively trying to improve the world from their own neighborhood, convinced that in giving oneself there is nothing but gain: Federica, Mercy, Silvia, Cecilia, Anna and Elena. All have decided to participate in the Civil Service projects of the Salesians of Macerata.

Which projects do you dedicate yourself to?

Federica: Me, Silvia and Mercy are taking care of the project "The world in a courtyard", which offers support to students with their studies and organizes recreational-social activities with needy children, especially foreigners.

How are the activities of the project "The world in a courtyard" organized?

Silvia: We start the afternoon with the "Don Bosco School", where we help youngsters do their homework. Then we have a snack, receive a message from the Salesian "goodnight", and let the children play.

When and how did you start this project?

Mercy: The project started in September and has since kept growing: at the beginning there were very few children. Now there are 25-30. Not a small number: they are children who need help to integrate themselves socially with the others attending the Salesian house.

What motivated you to dedicate a year to the Civil Service?

Mercy: I come from Italy too, and I understand well the difficulties that these kids encounter and for this I wanted to give them the best of me. It is a very important project for me, considering that I have always been a Salesian and that I can also put my studies in Linguistic Mediation to good use.

What does the "Sharing" project consist of?

Cecilia: it is a project aimed at students of the last years of high school and offers them the opportunity of trying to live everyday life together with their classmates. It was born from the intuition of the diocese and other realities that realized how often it is difficult to create real relationships within the classroom.

Anna: On a practical level, the cohabitation between these young people begins on Sunday evening and lasts until Friday. The teens sleep in an oratory, go to school, then return to the Salesian house, have lunch together with the community and us volunteers, and in the afternoon they take part in the leisure time and the workshops available. The project is free and based on mutual giving, on being there for others.

Elena: Also collaborating on the project are the Salesians, educators and two families who share mealtimes with the young people every week and bring their testimonies.

Source: EmmeSera

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ANS - “Agenzia iNfo Salesiana” is a on-line almost daily publication, the communication agency of the Salesian Congregation enrolled in the Press Register of the Tibunal of Rome as n 153/2007.

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