Here we are...

How many young people and adults have made the Arsenale della Pace a solid point of reference! In 1992, Sermig, driven by good, authoritative, clean people, met with many teachers to organize a training course for the world of volunteering. More than 400 people participate weekly in the path proposed by Sermig starting in October. Given the interest after the first cycle in '92 framed by the slogan "Enter volunteering! Defend the future" the second came to life in '93: "Volunteering, the beloved force". All of this will be reported in the issues of Progetto from January 1993 to December 1994. Therefore traceable. A great wealth, full of content and comparisons that do not lose validity. In the history of Sermig it can rightfully be considered an anticipation of the University of Dialogue! A prophecy that we want to highlight by repeating here and there phrases by Ernesto Olivero who in n. 1 of 1993 of Progetto had focused on the reason for the initiative.

«The aim of this course is to educate us on the global nature of problems, to prepare us to do good well, to reflect on the meaning of life. In preparing the course we identified some ideas.
Poverty has been here since yesterday, it is here today and will be here tomorrow. We will not be the ones to radically eradicate it, because it always takes on new faces and new forms; but in this slice of history, it is up to us to face it. How can we be salt and hope in this great widespread anguish?

To face poverty we have only one real active force, which is the force of conscience. It is the force of many men and women, believers and non-believers, who know how to truly love with the heart of God, who often take the bread out of their mouths to share it with others; people who also use money without keeping anything for themselves. This is the hope that does not give up; and it will always be so if religious or philosophical motivations are cultivated with prayer and study so that they never fail; the problem is precisely to support and increase motivations.

Unprepared volunteers cannot be used for today's dramas. Those who do not prepare and then do not continue the preparation every day, get tired, disappointed, or become a theoretician and lose contact with the dramatic reality of poverty. Everyone has their own skills and responsibilities, but I believe that only the strength of gratuitous love can stem the rampant anguish.
Personally, I do not like the word "volunteer". I would like to find a word that says: be there, take charge, that says supportive love, brotherhood. Beyond the words, the hope is that the strength of gratuitousness and solidarity gives meaning to one's life and extends to the entire social fabric.
We will not learn here how to put on a Band-Aid well or how to deal with a person in difficulty; This course aims to help us understand everyday life, broadening our mentality, because we are now in a large village. You can't win big battles if not with volunteers who gradually get involved 24 hours a day. And I hope with all my heart that this course will bring out new things and surprises that we can't imagine yet."


Edited by the editorial staff
NP August / September 2024