Azione Famiglie Nuove (New Families’ Action) is an international non-profit organization of the Focolare Movement that works for the free and integral development of every person, community and nation, starting with the most fragile and disadvantaged in the world. Since 2005 it has also been officially authorised by the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers for International Adoptions. Two couples from Vicenza (Italy), Redi and Giacomo and Annalisa and Sergio, are part of this project. Recently they were able to fulfil a long held desire: to meet reunite with some Bolivian families they had met during an AFN Conference in Castel Gandolfo (Rome). From that meeting a simple and authentic bond was born, which no one imagined would continue until it transformed, years later, into a new meeting on the other side of the world.

While there, the two Italian couples were also able to visit the AFN project in Bolivia: the “Clara Luz“ children’s centre in Santa Cruz and the “Rincón de Luz“ social centre in Cochabamba. In Santa Cruz, in the La Guardia district, the “Clara Luz” centre welcomes young children and preschoolers every day. “The classrooms are simple, but well cared for and welcoming,” they explained. “Here children find a safe educational environment, while older siblings receive school support”. Around them, a wider programme involves families: home gardens, small livestock projects and training courses that help build autonomy and dignity. The “Clara Luz” centre also hosts young volunteers from the “Milonga Project“.

In Cochabamba, the “Rincón de Luz” centre is a point of reference for the community. “It is a place that welcomes and supports families in their daily lives,” said the two visiting couples. “Food parcels are distributed every week, while workshops and educational activities for children and parents take place throughout the year.”

During the visit, they were very touched by the meeting with Reina, who shared the origins of the project and how, having returned to Bolivia after a period of formation as a family in Loppiano (FI, Italy), she had felt a strong desire to put the ideal of Chiara Lubich, into concrete action. Involving her entire family, children, daughter-in-law, husband, she began to welcome by welcoming a dozen children into her own home. From there, step by step, the project has grown and developed to reach about 150 children, though there is a lot of need for support.

Many local families live in situations of great vulnerability: poverty, loneliness, bereavement and hardship. Particularly striking was the story of a grandmother who caring for her invalid husband and her orphaned granddaughter: “Every day she walks many kilometres searching for food and whenever she can, she comes to the centre for find help”.

Among the people met was Silvio, one of the first children welcomed by the project. Today he is an active part of the “Rincón de Luz” community: he accompanies families with such sensitivity, distributes aid and puts his time at the service of others. You can feel that this place has truly become his home.
The trip proved to be a very strong experience, allowing them to “touch” not only poverty, but also the dignity and reciprocity between the people of the community. “We thought we were bringing something – they said – but we received far more in return”.

From this experience came the desire to continue this friendship at a distance: “We have realized that what is really needed is a constant drop and we are already imagining new initiatives to involve others, a solidarity dinner, moments of sharing to make the project known, all ways to expand the family experience between families, where the geographical distance I lessened and gives way to a deep and authentic friendship”.

Compiled by the Editorial Staff

Photo © Mariachiara Bianco e Azione Famiglie Nuove