A cake from distance

By now we have learned to blow out the candles without blowing but blowing air with our hands so that everyone can then eat the cake. Children play swabs, but this did not stop us from celebrating several birthdays, at a distance and in joy. Madina is very proud of her 6 years of age because she is now grown up: next year she will be at home and she will start school! In the meantime, she practices and already writes her name in two languages, in Italian and in Cyrillic, luckily her numbers are the same everywhere. She really likes to count and she counts the days until the next party because party means bingo and therefore many surprises! There is something for everyone, young and old. Islam built a tower with all the chocolates she won.

What hadn't happened to us yet was celebrating a distant birthday. One day a dear volunteer of ours arrives. “I'm having my birthday on Sunday and I'd like to have a cake. Can you do it to me?». It's Friday and the pastry shop is already closed but we just made an extra heart-shaped cake. "That's fine, but do you like it?" Because I would like to leave it to you». Mariella would have liked to invite us to her house with all the families to give us an afternoon of celebration but now it is impossible, so she decided to let us have the party at our house anyway. This simple gesture moved us, she made us feel that we are really building a little fraternity together. Many volunteers come to share what they know how to do but above all each one brings a piece of himself, they share the joys and the pains and we continue to do this. There are those who have become grandmothers and we rejoice together, those who have a sick brother and we pray together, those who are expecting a child and we wait together. Even in this time of physical distance, we try to stay close to our hearts, knowing that the best thing we are called to do is not so much and only doing, which is now a different and sometimes slowed down doing, but precisely this building a bit of fraternity. And even a simple cake eaten at a distance reminds us of this!

Maria Claudia Brunello

NP March 2021