You made a documentary entitled "Love". You presented it in many places ... Where does "Love" come from?
It is from a very particular story that Fr. Jorge Crisafulli, a Salesian missionary, told me in October 2016 when he came to Spain. He told me: "I'm working on something new. Listen to this beautiful story." And it's the story with which we always start our presentations. He told me how, once the Ebola crisis had ended, he went out to look for the street children in the markets, something that the Salesians have been doing for years. And in recent times he saw many girls practice prostitution. Underage girls. One day he had the courage to approach a group of them, there were seven of them, and asked them if they did not sleep ...
What did Fr Crisafulli create with these girls? What is the project?
The project is called "Girls OS +". "OS" means "shelter" in the local language, the Krio. The "+" is because there is already another program called "Girls OS" for girls physically and psychologically abused, especially by family members. And what he does with these girls is, literally, save them from the streets through education ... Everyone knows where the Salesian "Don Bosco Fambul" house is. "Fambul" means "family" in Krio and is a foster home. Fr Crisafulli gives them a sense of family, an environment of trust, where they can sleep, wash ... Then, the next step is education, with the aim of family reintegration.
Is it possible to give childhood back to someone from whom it has been stolen with so much violence?
It is very difficult to recover childhood, even if this expression is often used. What we want to do - and that we can do - is to recover life, this yes. It means that without forgetting the past and painful experiences of violence, or trauma, or the loss of relatives, or even diseases, we can have a new life, but, above all, in this case, be the protagonists of their own future. Let them build their lives through the good experiences they are starting to have.
Source: www.periodistadigital.com
