Rosella and the others

In this column I would like to tell the faces and stories of the people who are hosted at the Arsenale della Pace. But first I would like to introduce you to some of the volunteer friends who make our welcome possible.

They are women who knocked on our door offering their availability and the desire to share something of themselves: for some it was no longer enough to say "it's not fair!" in the face of so many situations of misery; for others there was a strong need to bring the words of the Gospel into the concreteness of life; for still others the awareness of belonging to a single human family and learning to live accordingly ...

The Arsenal offers the “magical” possibility of bringing distant worlds closer, making them meet and contaminate each other, not only among those who welcome and are welcomed, but also among the volunteers themselves.

There are many young girls, but also older women, friends who have very different skills: social workers, psychologists, educators, teachers, architects, nurses, office workers, housewives ... Among them, some are consecrated women, others married, others separated or single.

When I look at this diverse group and think about how much life has gone through our simple and constant being there, amazement takes me.

When I started my journey in 1999, some of them were already there: Rosella, Anna, Luciana. For over 21 years they have dedicated one afternoon and one night of their week to hospitality. The distance did not stop them (they all live outside Turin), nor the advancing age, nor the discomfort that it entails sleeping in a bed that is not yours. Not the habit and not even the thought that after so many years perhaps, now, it would be up to others.

Not even Covid has stopped them. Every week, implacable, with the lightness and humility of the little ones, of those who do not expect anything from others, but of those who feel the need to share what they have so much received. Rosella is 77 years old, and some time ago she signed up for an English course in order to better understand our African guests. Anna never comes empty-handed: the scent of a homemade cake always precedes her entering the reception.

And then Luciana who travels 50 km to get there. Her children have always known this: mum goes out on Saturday nights, she spends the night out, together with those who don't have a home. Even her grandchildren have now learned that on Saturday night grandmother she goes to dance ... or rather to dance with Life.

Simona Pagani

NP Gennaio 2022