Back in Italy for two weeks now, I try to reflect every day on: BEFORE – DURING – AFTER Thinking and rethinking carefully and scrupulously about this month spent in Chad, asking myself: ‘In what spirit did I live it?’ ‘Was I able to meet the expectations of those who welcomed me?’ ‘What did they imagine about me?’ ‘What did I leave in return for their kindness to the nuns, the children, and every person I met?’ I BELIEVE IN: TENDERNESS, COMPASSION, GENEROSITY, PATIENCE, CHARITY … but perhaps NOT ENOUGH, because when we enter another culture and examine ourselves, we ultimately analyse what would have been truly important to them … The Mission already existed, it is we who enrich ourselves by entering that culture, which allows us to examine ourselves and become aware of that reality. The return of the mind to re-examine and better understand what has already been thought and experienced, highlighting its complexities.

Volunteering is not only a means of making ourselves socially useful, it is also a place of learning and training that allows us to live a rich and formative human experience: ‘BEING MORE WITH AND FOR OTHERS’. I remember and will NEVER forget any of the Sisters in Chad who welcomed me fraternally and accompanied me in my missionary experience. They are examples of CONSTANCY – LOVE – ENERGY – PERSEVERANCE – PRAYER – RESILIENCE – always at the service of the most vulnerable: I think of Sister CHIKA who gathers street children in the markets and, as a lifeline, takes them to Balimba as part of a project that saves them from poverty by offering them a chance for a future through a safe haven, school, work… As volunteers, we spent only a few days with them, with a few hours of recreation, meeting, sharing… How can we forget those faces? Their vulnerable situations? Where to find answers and solutions? These are profound reflections and thoughts that I try to define every day without finding real answers and solutions, simply so that they understand that they can only create their future in the Balimba Centre and not on the streets. And then Sister Paola Nuzzi in Koumra reminds us of the first Mission in Chad, which was opened in 1962, followed by schools, dispensaries, assistance to the needy, the promotion of women, etc. She expressed concern about the situation in the country, where poverty and suffering are widespread and where the presence of the Sisters is essentialto bring help.

Sister Paola Nuzzi, whom we had met in N’Djamena during our first days of volunteering, wanted to welcome us to Koumra (as we were heading to Sarh and on our way back) to introduce us to her Mission, the new clinic that was about to open, and through her we were able to visit the prisons … a harsh experience, the destroyed faces, the mothers with their little ones in an unhealthy environment where it was raining… that vision lingers and returns… And then all the Sisters of N’Djamena with Sister Paola Nelemta who came to pick us up at the airport with her joyful transport, the children of the “COLONIA” who welcomed us with their songs… their smiles… and who immediately connected with us as if we were part of them…

I would like to thank all the Sisters of Charity, including Sister Alberta Gatta, who was my point of reference for this experience, and Lorenza Vallarino, who lives in my area and to whom I owe many answers and words of encouragement. I would also like to thank my travelling companions, my dear Sister Renata and the sweet Anna. I would like to conclude with a few words (not my own…) that reflect my thoughts very well. PILGRIM ON THE ROADS OF AFRICA I carry “MEMORY” in my backpack Ours is a unique pilgrimage on the roads of the poor: ‘THOSE WHO COMMIT THEMSELVES TO THE OPPRESSED SERVE PEACE’ Possible solutions require a comprehensive approach to combat poverty, to give dignity to the excluded, to preserve nature… A JUST STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE.

Simonetta Marin