Paola Iaccarino Idelson is a nutritionist biologist and expert in nutrition. She lives in Naples, southern Italy. I learned from a friend that she went to Brazil during this summer 2024. Intrigued, I tried to find her on social networks. I was amazed by the beautiful photos she had taken during her trip and by the powerful stories, which revealed a profound experience. I therefore decided to contact her for an interview.
Paola, from Naples to Brazil: why did you choose to make this journey?
It is a very long story. I was in Brazil for the first time fourteen years ago in Florianópolis. I went there because I have a passion for the Brazilian language. But I didn’t want to go there as a tourist, so through a doctor friend, I went to help a colleague of hers as a volunteer. We supported a priest in his daily mission. He had opened a school to help children prevent delinquency, and started a surfboard repair shop to provide decent work for local youth. For three weeks I weighed and measured the height of the children in that school: it was such a strong, intense and beautiful experience that when I returned to Italy I had to remove it from my mind so that I could continue living my life as before.
And then? What happened?
Last year I broke up with my boyfriend who didn’t like Brazil. So I said to myself: the time has come to take up this dream once more. But again I wanted to experience it not as a tourist, but by helping the local community in some way. I talked about it with a focolarina friend and she put me in touch with the Focolare community in Amazonia.
I would have liked to volunteer as a nutritionist, my profession, but I was willing to do anything. One of the focolarine in Brazil, Leda, told me about the hospital ship ‘Papa Francisco’ where I could work. So I finally left in August 2024. Leda was an angel, she organised my whole itinerary, put me in touch with the Focolare community and took care of me for the whole time there in Brazil.
Paola in BrazilPapa Francisco Hospital ShipAmazon river
The hospital ship Papa Francisco: what did you do there?
There was no specific task for me, as an expert in nutrition. There were about ten doctors, each with their own consulting room. I helped where I could. The alarm clock was set for 6 am as by 6.30 people were already arriving from neighbouring villages to be treated. We had to do reception, register the arrivals and manage the influx. I also did nutritional counselling and realised that there was an overweight and obesity problem, especially in women. I wondered a lot about the reasons for such conditions as it was quite a common problem there. Talking to someone, I realised the problem was a lack of physical activity and widespread use of sugary drinks, sweets and meat.
You were also able to experience first hand a lot of poverty….
I saw really poor but very dignified people who manage to get their children to study. I was very impressed by one family. There are 10 children, you could see that they live in very poor conditions. The father also has some health problems. Despite that, the parents managed to get their children to study, and one of the daughters is about to become a photographer. Great dignity despite those living conditions.
You saw an abundance of diversity, from the natural environment to the colours of people’s skin, from food to smells to tastes…
It was one of the things that struck me most about this trip and that I carry with me. A huge diversity in the way of life, especially in the incredible variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, flowers, plants, the colours of the rivers, the animals, the people. When I registered the arrivals for the visits, in the computer you had to write the colour of the skin and I had four options related to the diversity of ethnicities, origins, skin colour… This diversity was a strong experience and I am convinced that it is a great richness.
Boat tripA village on the banks of the Amazon River
How did the Focolare community welcome you and help you in this experience?
It was fundamental. I felt welcomed in every place I went. Loving everyone was not a slogan, it was real. I felt loved, people were so open and selfless. It did me a lot of good, a very moving welcome.
You went there to give of your time and professionalism but you received so much more. Has this trip changed your life a bit?
Look, I am fifty years old, not twenty. But why am I saying this? Because in my twenties, or even perhaps in my thirties, I still had the idea of going somewhere to give. Now it is very, very clear to me that the possibility of giving of myself in fact gives me something back. I knew very well that the word ‘volunteering’ included so much. Giving one’s time to others is good. First of all for the giver. I certainly had a very strong experience of sharing with the Focolare community. Although I don’t know the Focolare as a spirituality, I greatly appreciate all its other forms of expression of concrete love. I think it was a very, very beautiful experience. This idea of being able to live together, pooling everything you have, is precisely the idea of community. Being able to do good to others and live with others is something I really like.
This trip has enriched me a lot. It has had and will have a big impact on my life. I have come across wonderful people, realities completely different from my own. I now know that sharing is really possible.
Paola at the reception‘Giving one’s time to others is good’Paola at work in the hospital ship
You then returned to Naples and had an unexpected welcome!
Yes, indeed many people I met on my return and who I still meet today, tell me they have read my travel diaries on social media, they thank me for sharing this experience. Many also thank me and some want to know more about this trip. So I got the idea to arrange photo prints and show them at an evening event, where I can also tell them more about the experience. This really struck me: we live in a society where there is never time for relationships. To be asked to spend time together to learn more about my experience is a beautiful thing.
In closing, let’s wind the tape back and look at both your first and second trip to Brazil: how do you live your life today?
My first Brazilian experience many years ago, as I said, had to be removed from my life. Now I am trying really hard not to remove this last trip, not to forget, to keep this experience in my life in Naples and Italy. I want to keep this memory alive. Why? Because it gives me a sense of purpose and strength and it is very gratifying.
The first thing I did, back in Naples, was to contact my Portuguese teacher, who is Brazilian, to learn the language better. But another thing I would like to achieve is a twinning between a Neapolitan kindergarten and a Brazilian one, which is under construction. It would be nice to help those children by sending backpacks and all the necessary school material. Above all, I would love to see Brazilian children and Neapolitan children share their experiences.
The President and Co-president of the Focolare Movement spent a month in Brazil to meet the local communities and live the experience of the Genfest, a worldwide event promoted by the young people of the Movement. Care, horizontal solidarity, believing in it: these are the 3 words that sum up the powerful experience lived during July 2024.
The “La Sorgente” Mariapolis Centre is located in Ain Aar, in a mountainous area, 20 kilometres north of Beirut. Just as it was in 2006, the year of the 34-day military conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, people fleeing the bombs that are devastating the South of the country are arriving here, in this predominantly Christian and asking for hospitality. “It is normal to knock on the door of the Mariapolis Centre and find it wide open,” says R. of the Lebanese community of Focolare. “How could we not welcome them? What would have become of the ideal of brotherhood that we cherish and which should be our hallmark?” A similar experience occurred in 2006. Then too, Lebanon experienced large-scale movements of families and the Focolare welcomed more than a hundred friends, entire extended families in its Mariapolis Centre. “We met in those conditions and became like brothers and sisters, sharing joys and sorrows, hopes and difficulties, needs and prayer. In a simple and sincere relationship, woven into everyday life, a true experience of brotherhood started and grew, without filters or prejudices”.
No one expected the situation to deteriorate so quickly. “The Lebanese were preparing to return to school, optimistic about this new year”, says R. “Yet an unexpected storm erupted, relentless, threatening and deadly”, with “terrible consequences for a population thirsting for peace, justice and paths of dialogue”. In a few days, or rather hours, military actions hit ordinary neighbourhoods and the people found themselves living “a real nightmare”. According to the Ministry of Public Health, as of 25th September, almost 600 people have been killed in Lebanon, including more than 50 children and 94 women, and about 1,700 others have been injured since 23rd September. Mass displacement continues, reaching around 201,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Since Sunday, the “La Sorgente” Mariapolis Centre has also been filled with guests “arrived with their fears, the trauma experienced in their targeted villages and neighbourhoods”. They drove 120 kilometres, taking between 5 to 8 hours. The roads are crowded with cars fleeing the South. They leave the villages before reaching the big cities of Tyre and Sidon. Around them, they see the destruction of the recent bombings. There are currently 128 guests at the Mariapolis Centre in Ain Aar. Some come from the South, others from the popular suburbs of Beirut hit by the latest attacks. It is not easy: “Their presence raises questions in the Christian community of the region”, say the focolarini. “One wonders: are there members of Hezbollah among them who could threaten peace in the region? But the sense of solidarity is stronger than suspicion. “R. adds: “Where could they seek shelter this time too? Where could they go and know that they would be welcomed without reservation?” For the community of the focolare, a new adventure begins. The welcome is coordinated with local, religious and civil authorities.
A “contest” of solidarity is taking place throughout the country. From the parish priest, to the faithful of the parish, to the volunteers. There are those who take care of the children by organising activities and football matches for them. Those who take care of the necessary help for the reception. “People arrive shocked, worried about their future, with the apocalyptic sight of destroyed houses, burned fields, but also news of acquaintances, relatives, neighbours, friends or students who were killed in the attacks and they will never see them again. Together we unite in living the present moment, with the faith that has allowed us to endure adversity for centuries”.
The “La Sorgente” Centre aims to be, along with many other places scattered throughout the country, true “oases of peace”. “The hope, the deepest wish is that we can soon return home. So much blood spilled must make the desert of hearts bloom. We hope that this ordeal we are experiencing will open a breach in the conscience of the powerful and of everyone, showing that war is a defeat for all, as Pope Francis repeats. But above all we believe and hope that from this crucible of pain a message of possible brotherhood for the entire Region can emerge from Lebanon “.
Maria Chiara Biagioni Source: AgenSir Photo: Focolare Lebanon
They arrived two by two by motorbike, the most common form of transport for getting to the town of Manono in Katanga province in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ninety-two priests from 8 dioceses of the ecclesiastical province of Lubumbashi met together in this town for one of the Focolare Movement’s periodical retreats. The Bishop of Manono, Mgr Vincent de Paul Kwanga Njubu invited the Focolare to hold the meeting there, as he had been struck by the testimony of his priests who had participated in a similar retreat in Lubumbashi in the past.
Mgr Oscar Ngoy wa Mpanga, the Bishop of Kongolo, a diocese which is 300 km from Manono, who had also been struck by young priests who had participated in similar retreats organised for seminarians, also asked all the priests in his diocese to join this retreat. Forty-three arrived. The local press described the retreat as ‘unforgettable’. At its conclusion, the bishop offered everyone a lunch which the participants subsequently shared with the city hospital bringing great joy to the patients.
Members of the Focolare community of Lubumbashi took care of the organisational part (even transporting all the pots and pans for cooking), and the programme was entrusted to members of the Focolare Movement’s International Centre.
The city of Manono which is about 800 km from Lubumbashi is the third largest city in Congo and represents a mining resource of global importance due to the presence of lithium and other minerals. Unfortunately, however, the population does not benefit from these resources. Entire families spend their days searching for minerals, and children leave school to devote themselves to this work. There is huge exploitation, and very low prices are paid for the minerals. There is even a village where houses are collapsing because minerals are being mined underneath them. The region is in a critical situation, having been devastated in the past by a conflict that destroyed the civil and religious infrastructure and left health facilities and schools in ruins. The school attendance rate is less than 30%. Malnutrition and food insecurity are severely affecting the children, with 15% of them suffering from malnutrition. The Bishop of Manono really wanted the retreat to be held here, and it was the first time that priests came from other dioceses, which was why the presence of such a large number of prelates was greeted with such an atmosphere of celebration. During Sunday Mass, the cathedral’s priest asked all the parishioners to bring water, a rare and precious commodity here, for all those participating in the retreat as a sign of love and welcome. Then the actual meeting days began. There were spiritual themes, meditations on the evangelical counsels and in-depth discussions on synodality. With the participants divided into small groups, there were many moments of communion of life, exchange of testimonies, knowledge, sharing and fraternity.
The spirituality of communion, the discovery of God Love, a new style of ‘synodal’ pastoral work that ‘liberates us from pre-packaged schemes and opens us up to mutual love’ as one person said, were some of the points that struck everyone the most.
Back in Lubumbashi, some members of the Focolare were able to greet a number of Bishops from various dioceses who were there for a meeting of the Bishops’ Conference. The Bishops warmly thanked them for the contribution that the retreats were making to the life of their dioceses. In particular, the Bishop of Manono expressed his gratitude for “the contribution made to the spiritual life of priests and laity, and to a communion among priests that is overflowing onto the lives of the laity, giving them the opportunity to live mutual love and put the word of God into practice“. The Archbishop of Lubumbashi, Archbishop Fulgence Muteba Mugalu, who has just been appointed President of the Bishops’ Conference, also expressed his heartfelt thanks for the retreats that have been held for several years, expressing the hope that this formation which is bearing so much fruit, will continue.
After the retreat, some of the members of the Focolare’s International Centre went to Goma in the north-east, where the focolarini organised two schools of formation attended by 12 young seminarians and 12 priests. The Bishop of Goma, Mgr Willy Ngumbi Ngengele was also present for a liturgical celebration. Several of the guests were unable to attend due to an intensification of clashes near the city. There are 7 million refugees in Congo, including 1.7 million in the North Kivu province where Goma is located. The meeting went into depth on the spirituality of unity and synodality. The programme included a visit to a parish surrounded by thousands of refugees where the parish priest gave a very strong testimony of how the Gospel is being lived. The visit to the “Père Quintard Centre”, run by the Movement and located in the middle of 2 large refugee camps, which offers a service of promotion, education and social development, was also a strong testimony for everyone present. Several saw it as a beacon of hope and asked for similar activities to be initiated in their parishes.
At this crossroads of countries where the Iguaçu and Parana rivers meet, there is the busiest border in Latin America; the area is characterised by great cultural diversity and the centuries-old presence of indigenous peoples, such as the great Guaraní people. Tourism is the major economic resource of this region where people mainly come to visit the Iguaçu Falls, which are the largest in the world, with a width of 7.65 km and are considered one of the seven natural wonders of the planet.
In her welcome message, Tamara Cardoso André, President of the Human Rights and People’s Memory Centre of Foz do Iguaçu (CDHMP-FI), explains that in this place they want to give a different meaning to national borders: “We want our triple frontier to become more and more a place of integration, a land that everyone feels is theirs, as the original peoples who know no barriers understand it.”
Foz do Iguaçu, last stage
This is where Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán’s journey – president and co-president of the Focolare Movement – in Brazil comes to an end. They have travelled it from North to South: from the Brazilian Amazon, passing through Fortaleza, Aparecida, Mariapolis Ginetta in Vargem Grande Paulista, the Fazenda da Esperança in Pedrinhas and Guaratinguetà (SP), up to Foz do Iguaçu. Here the “extended” family of the tri-national Focolare community celebrates its young history and recounts the contribution of unity that it offers to this place: the embrace of three peoples that the spirituality of unity brings together into one, overcoming national borders, while each one maintains its own distinct cultural identity. Also present for the occasion are Card. Adalberto Martinez, Archbishop of Asuncion (Paraguay), local Bishop Sérgio de Deus Borges, Bishop Mario Spaki, Bishop of Paranavaí, and Bishop Anuar Battisti, Bishop Emeritus of Maringá. Also present was a group from the Islamic community of Foz, with whom there have been long-standing relations of fraternal friendship.
Peoples with common roots
Arami Ojeda Aveiro, a student of Cultural Mediation at the Federal University of Latin American Integration (UNILA) illustrates the historical journey of these peoples and the serious wounds that have accumulated over the centuries. The conflict between Paraguay on the one hand, and Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay on the other (1864-1870) was one of the bloodiest in South America in terms of human lives, with social and political consequences for the entire region. However, there are also many cultural factors in common, such as music, gastronomy, popular traditions derived from the same indigenous cultural root, such as the Yerba Mate Guaranì, a typical drink of the three peoples.
The Guaranì culture is one of the richest and most representative of South America; it is a living testimony of the resilience and adaptability of a people that has been able to preserve its identity over the centuries with a unique cosmogony, where the connection with nature and respect for traditions are fundamental and can be a great wealth for all humanity.
“This is why,” concludes Arami Ojeda Aveiro, “the Triple Frontier region is not just a geographical border, but a multicultural and cooperative space that strengthens the whole area”.
The “tri-national” community of the Focolare Movement
Among all the Focolare communities in the world, this one has a unique character: “It would be impossible to feel that we are one family if we only looked at our national histories,” says a young woman from Argentina. Monica, from Paraguay, one of the pioneers of the community together with Fatima Langbeck, from Brazil, recounts that it all began with a daily prayer of hers: “Lord, open the way for us so that we can establish a more solid presence of the Focolare and that Your charism of unity may flourish among us. Since 2013 we are one community and we want to write another history for this land, which witnesses that fraternity is stronger than prejudices and secular wounds. We are united by Chiara Lubich’s word of unity, when she said that true sociality goes beyond integration, because it is mutual love in action, as proclaimed in the Gospel. Our specificities and differences make us more attentive to one another, and the wounds of our national histories have taught us to forgive one another’.
The artistic contributions speak of the vitality and relevance of the cultural roots of the peoples who inhabit this area. There are the songs of the Argentinian community coming from the “litoral“, from the coast; then “El Sapukai”, the very rhythmic Paraguayan dance that is danced with (up to) three bottles on one’s head; the representation of the Guaraní people intone a song in their own language praising the “great mother”, the forest, which must be protected, produces good fruit and gives life to all creatures.
Father Valdir Antônio Riboldi, a priest from the diocese of Foz, who got to know the focolares in 1976, continues the story by writing: “The focolares of Curitiba in Brazil and Asuncion in Paraguay began to promote events involving people from the three neighbouring countries, an experience we called the ‘Tri-national Focolare’. Ecclesial life here is also moving in the direction of communion, promoting joint initiatives between the different dioceses’.
It is clear that the life of this region and of the local Focolare community does not only speak to Latin America, but to the whole world. And it says that it is possible to walk together, being different: it is the spirituality of unity that comes into contact with the deepest part of the identity of people and peoples, making the common humanity and fraternity flourish.
A few words from Margaret Karram and Jesús Morán
“I felt embraced not by one, but by three peoples,” Margaret Karram said. “Throughout my life I have dreamed of living in a world without borders. Here I have felt that my deepest wish has come true, that is why I feel part of you. You are the confirmation that only love removes all obstacles and eliminates borders”.
“I have lived in Latin America for 27 years,” continued Jesús Morán, “but I have never come to this area. You have experienced so much pain: the Guaraní people have been dispossessed of their land and dispersed. What you are doing today is important even if it is small: we cannot rewrite history, but we can move forward and heal the wounds, accepting the cry of Jesus forsaken. Wounds are healed by creating inter-regional relationships also with the original peoples because they are in fact the only truly ‘tri-national’ people. They too have received the light of Christ; let us not forget the work of evangelisation and human promotion that the Jesuits did in this region with “the Reductions” from the 1600s to the 1700s. Today we are connected to this history, to all that the Church does, and we know that unity is the answer in this world that needs a soul and limbs to achieve true globalisation at the height of human dignity”.
At the end, Margaret shared what she had experienced this month: “This trip has increased faith, hope and charity in me. In Amazonia, at the edge of the world, ‘faith’ emerged powerfully: I met people who strongly believe that everything is possible, even the most difficult things. They dream and they achieve! I wish I had even a pinch of their faith, as the Gospel says: “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you” (Mt 17:20). From there I take this faith that moves mountains and the courage to dream great things. Then, the word of the Genfest can only be ‘hope’: we lived this experience together: the whole Movement was committed with young people and for young people. It was also an ecumenical and interreligious event that gave a lot of hope.
And lastly, ‘charity’, which I have seen here among you today and which we have touched with our own hands in the many social organisations we have come into contact with this month: the Fazenda da Esperança; the many movements and new ecclesial communities we met with in Fortaleza; the UniRedes meeting that brings together all the social organisations and cultural agencies of Latin America that are inspired by the charism of unity (which we will write about separately). All this says ‘charity’, because every social reality stems from loving one’s neighbour, from wanting to give one’s life for one’s people.
From this frontier starts a hope for all the Focolare communities in the world and beyond. Last December I suggested the “Mediterranean of fraternity” project, where we could gather all the actions already underway and those that will emerge, to build peace in that region that suffers so much from war. A “fraternity for Latin America” project could also start from here and be extended to all its countries, let us entrust it to Mary!”.
Genfest 2024: Together to care
Amazon, land of caring and the future 
Genfest 2024 concludes second phase: a yes to peace
Let us not be at peace until we bring about peace!
Phase 3 of Genfest 2024 has come to an end, but it is only the beginning…
‘Start Here and Now’ the new single by Gen Verde
An original condominium
Genfest: the road comes into existence 
Mariapolis Ginetta and Polo Spartacus: the courage to change
From the “tri-national” community – a future of fraternity for Latin America
CEU: different flowers in the same garden
UNIRedes: hope for Latin America and the world
