In a world where the only news is about wars, crises, closing borders and hardening hearts, I heard a quiet but insistent voice inside me saying: you have to do something. Even if it’s just a small gesture, a step, a presence. Because I believe, with all my heart, that starting with small gestures can really make a difference. That is how, thanks to the GRIOT project, promoted by the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, where I have been working for two years, I had the opportunity to live an experience that left a deep impression on my heart. I left for three weeks in Cameroon, in the village of Ngaoundal, a place located twelve hours by car from the capital, Yaoundé. The project focuses on awareness, research and active intervention to identify and combat tuberculosis in areas where medicine often struggles to reach.

An ambitious and complex project in itself, it faced many practical difficulties: from the language barrier, as not everyone speaks French, to the amount of data collected that needed to be digitised, as well as the small daily challenges of a context so different from our own. But nothing could have prepared me for the beauty I found there. The warmth of the people, their ability to welcome you with an embracing smile. Their disarming generosity, their total dedication to the common good, their sincere, natural, everyday sharing. It is a kind of wealth that, immersed in our hectic lives, we sometimes forget. I was welcomed like a sister by Sister Claudine Bolam and all the Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne Antide Thouret, who not only hosted me, but pampered, welcomed and loved me. Hearing myself called “ma sœur”, a simple and frequent expression there, filled my heart every time. It was as if they were saying to me: you are one of us, here with us, you are not a stranger. In Cameroon, I felt at home. A home made up of faces, outstretched hands, time given with joy. And I felt that my presence was truly appreciated. Not for what I did, but for who I was.

I hope they also realised how honoured I felt to be there. I don’t want to fall into the usual clichés, but it’s the truth: what I gave them will never be even a tenth of what they gave me. And when the three weeks were coming to an end, I realised that the experience was just beginning. Because the Lord had something even greater in store for us. Thanks to the President of the Foundation, Sister Maria Caruso, and a meeting with a group of girls from the village, I came into contact with the wonderful Fili di Speranza (Threads of Hope) project: an initiative that teaches young women in vulnerable situations the art of sewing and tailoring, offering them dignity, independence and a future. I returned to Italy with a suitcase full of their clothes, made from those wonderful African fabrics in bright, vibrant colours. And with emotions that were difficult to contain, I had the privilege of wearing two of them during the ‘Fili di Speranza’ charity event, together with the association’s seamstresses. We walked the runway together, side by side,

in the beautiful garden of the Sisters of Charity’s headquarters in Rome, surrounded by smiles, music, scents and an aperitif that tasted of celebration and gratitude. We cannot wait for change to come on its own. We are the change, and it begins with every gesture, every word, every encounter. This experience in Cameroon has restored my faith in humanity. It has taught me that hope is not an abstract concept, but something you can touch every day when you serve others with humility and love. This journey was just the beginning. The rest… we will write together.

Beatrice Fratocchi