The meeting of hope with peace

Every time someone in Brazil visits the Arsenale della Speranza they ask us: "But why is it called Arsenal?".
And we tell the story of Ernesto Olivero, of Sermig and of the Arsenale della Pace that is so far from Brazil.
After 5 years of knowing and frequenting the Arsenale della Speranza in São Paulo, I decided to come to the Arsenale della Pace for a month to learn the history of this house across the ocean that until now I had only heard about.
Arriving in Turin, already in the first few days, I perceived the first similarity: to get to know an Arsenal you have to physically cross its door, look at its walls, step on its floor rebuilt thanks to the hours of availability donated by so many people, learn about the different services created for the good of others who are like us.

Apparently, the Arsenal of Peace is very different from the Arsenal of Hope, not only because the words peace and hope have different meanings in the dictionary, but they are complementary and the heart of each home is ultimately the same: knowing how to live the Spirituality of Presence. The Arsenals may be different, but in Brazil, Italy and Jordan they protect us by teaching us what the word welcome means.

The principle of welcome, whether it is a man or a woman or a child, is the same: seeing the other in front of you, calling him by name and offering him what is possible that day (a bed, a shower, a meal, clothes). This is a way of loving him.
These days, the more I know people, the more I see how beautiful the encounter between the two Arsenals is through those who live in them. Everything that each of us does is important, but loving each other is even more urgent.
Every day I spent in the Arsenale della Pace I saw the amount of people who pass through its doors, different people with different needs and different availability, but who find in this place of peace a home to grow together. And with the meetings that are continually renewed, the Arsenale della Pace remains a place in constant movement.
Maybe it is not always prepared to face all situations, but in the end it manages to do many things, because it is full of availability.

Knowing the heart of Sermig teaches me to look at places and not see them as empty, rather it teaches me to understand how to inhabit them so that they are not just a place of passage, but of encounter. With an ocean separating us it is almost impossible to physically bring these two arsenals together, but it is possible when the relationship between men and women from the two sides of the ocean becomes an opportunity for listening, dialogue and acceptance, even if they speak different languages. After all, those who choose goodness all speak the same language.

Beatriz Pereira Ennes
NP November 2025