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4 Jul 2012 | Senza categoria
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“I reached my mother’s house just a few hours after the first big earthquake shock. We tried to figure out what to do, what to do that night . . . every few minutes we felt that we had better get out of there! And what about the people in my building who lived alone? And so with a bit of courage, I invited them to leave with me and settle down for the night in the welcome centre that had been set up by the public protection agency.
We were surrounded by hundreds of people with such lost looks on their faces, children and newborns weeping, elderly in wheelchairs. . . I was quiet, not a word, because those who suffer acquire a particular sensitivity that has no need of words. People feel love through small concrete acts of love and compassion. It’s what I tried to do all night long. But inside my heart was breaking.
It reached a point in which any word was useless, fragile as the bricks that crumbled so quickly in my land of Emilia. It swallowed up the life of people who only yesterday were enjoying their peaceful existence, without any tremors, in spite of the crisis. Time was relentless and slow; the night seemed like it would never end. And then during the following days, each moment seemed endless. . .
After restoring some order to my mother’s apartment, where some pieces of furniture had fallen and a few things were broken, I finally was able to convince my Mom to move away from the danger zone, to go and stay with my sister some 150 km away.
Then there was a second shock and my birthplace is now a ghost town: houses destroyed, thousands sleeping in the streets, in tents or somewhere far away. My land continues to shake.
In Modena, Italy, one teacher recounts: ‘This morning, I found myself under my desk to hold on to the arm of a boy who was close to me and was shaking with fear, while the other children were calling to me, and I could only tell them: stay calm. Twenty minutes are but a breath in the wind, but they can turn into an eternity. Some wept, but they all followed me out of the building. They grabbed on to anything they could see, to the person standing next to them. Parents began to trickle into the garden, seeking the only thing that remained unshaken in their minds through this earthquake: the faces of their children.’
Ican still see the sadness and the inconsolable grief of people whom I know from my town, the elderly especially and the children. And also priests who no longer have a church: Eucharistic Jesus was the first evacuee in each area that was hit by the quake.
There are no longer any churches made of stone, but we are the first stones for the rebuilding. The question that should be asked: is there something in life that cannot be shaken? What does the Lord mean to tell us through this earthquake. At times his handwriting is “illegible”. We need faith, and it only takes a pinch of faith to “move mountains”. We ask that it may truly “still the plains”!
Is there something that can’t be shaken? Yes, God-Love. Everything can crumble, but God remains standing.
Meanwhile, messages began to arrive from everywhere in the world, from friends and relatives: we’re with you; we’re praying for you; we are on body and when one part suffers, the entire body suffers. Yes, we are one and this gives us strength and energy and new life!
The people from Emilia are strong, tenacious and hard-working. They have a strong sense of solidarity and sharing. Just a few days after the schools closed the teachers from my area went to the welcoming camps, dressed as clowns to play with the children, their students who had spent the night in tents and cars. . .
We are living a dark moment, but there’s also hope that ruins are not the final world.
Sr Carla Casadei, SFP
![A discovery as the earth shook]()
11 May 2012 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
Lights, a stage, colours, dance, music and lots of movement are some of the features of “Arts & Culture reshaping urban life” which has come to its last stop in Belgium with “Streetlight – The Musical” with Gen Rosso. The international musical group will be in Brussels between the 5th and 13th of May, highlighting the importance of creativity for building a more united world. For the 120 youths who are participating in the project it is an experience of unity in diversity.
Brussels is an alive city, a crucible for different nationalities and cultures. Against this beautiful backdrop, Gen Rosso held the first two days of its tour, some workshops for youths in view of the presenation of their musical Streetlight on a large stage at Tour&Taxi, the city’s renamed public arena. The young people come from at least three linguistic groups: Flemish, French and German, not counting those who are coming from farther away: Middle East, Africa and Asia. Their work began under the motto: “one for the other” as they set out preparing the musical in workshops for hip-hop dance, instrumental music, Broadway music, chorus, scenography and Brazilian dance.
Tells a true story that happened in 1969. It is the story of two boys, Charles and Jordan, who lived opposite realities and who in an important moment of their lives, saw their stories intersect. One of them, Charles, who with the help of the Streetlight Band whose music and song promote the values of a united world, is a sign of contradiction in his own environment – a Chicago ghetto.
Here are some of the impressions gathered from the young people who attended:
So many different languages, names, nations, ideas and attitudes. . . and in spite of all these differences our hearts were beating one for the other. I’ll never be able to forget this!
I’d like to say thank you, because before coming here I didn’t feel at peace, like an empty chest. . . Now I feel full, full of love and hope that I would like to bring back to my home. Thank you!
The last days of Gen Rosso’s tour in Belgium will be the 12th and 13th of May at the Together forEurope event, which will also be attended by Focolare president Maria Voce.
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Together4peace in Brussels is co-financed by the European Commission (http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/culture/index_en.php) as a sub-project of the European “Arts and Cultures Reshaping Urban Life” project (www.reshape.eu). Its purpose is to foster relationships among people through art, in an urban context. Artistic gatherings have already taken place in several cities in Germany (Schwerte), Italy (Udine, Venice) and Czech Republic (Sternberk, Olomouc), with the aid of Gen Rosso. These events include panel discussions, conferences and international exchanges. Together4peace is an initiative of Youth for a United World of the Focolare Movement in Belgium (focolare.be), in close collaboration with the Gen Rosso group (genrosso.com) and the Focolare Movement in Solingen (fokolar-bewegung.de).
11 Apr 2012 | Senza categoria
![A discovery as the earth shook]()
13 Mar 2012 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
Roberto and Patrizia live in the province of Naples, Italy. Like many Italian families they have really been put to the test by the economic crisis. Ten years ago they adopted a girl and now their family has grown in size with the adoption of a Chinese boy who is in urgent need of sugery and medical care. This experience of welcoming children into their home has brought them much joy, but also sacrifice. While reviewing the family budget, the question arose whether or not to continue the distance support which they had been providing for a girl in Brazil. “Life isn’t easy,” they write to their friends at Santa Maria di Igarassu School in Recife. “We Italians are losing economic certainty and peace of mind as an advanced industrial society. Many parents are losing jobs, young people can’t find work, people of advanced age are no longer certain of their pension. Health care is no longer completely free and the cost of living has risen so much. Faced with a scenario such as this, many families have begun to reduce cut back, to shorten their holidays – and we have also had to make sacrifices.” 
As the days passed, there was a growing sense of emptiness. Their thoughts kept returning to the “Escola Santa Maria” located, since 1967, in one of the poorest regions of North East Brazil, surrounded by unemployment, alcoholism, drug abuse and violence. Many children living below the poverty line have been rescued over the years thanks to the generosity and perseverance of distance adopters, and even the entire community has benefited from their support. “We looked at each other, spoke some more, and realized that it would be a mistake to turn in on ourselves. We realized that we should rather widen our hearts and continue with the distance support (link http://www.famiglienuove.org/it/sostegnoadistanza.php) for the Brazilian child. She and everyone else at St Mary’s School were our family in Brazil. It would never be justifiable for us to just abandon them.” 
Meanwhile little A.X. will be facing his first surgery, which will last six hours. “We got through it with much serenity and courage. Those who sow love, reap love. Our hope for him, for his sister at home and for the one in Brazil is that they will have a positive future in which the love they’ve received and will one day emanate, may one day reach out to help others.
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3 Mar 2012 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
Vaikalpalayam is a small village with humble homes and asphalt roads punctuated with potholes. At the entrance to the village stands a small brick building that is bursting with the shouts of a dozen happy children. It houses one of the ten kindergartens or Bala Shanti Kendra which the Gandhian institution Shanti Ashram opened over the years in the region of Coimbatore, in Tamil Nadu, South India, close to the borders with Kerala. 
This Bala Shanti Kendra is one of the ten kindergartens which are part of a project named Bala Shanti. When it began twenty years ago the kindergarten had a precise goal: to begin an educational process among dalit, the outcaste whom Mahatma Gandhi named Harijans, children of God, in order to give them a chance at a more dignified life. What happened then has been called by some a veritable revolution. In India, the dalit live on the edge of the towns, they may not draw water from the same well as the other villagers and, until only a few decades ago, it was unthinkable that they should enter the same temples. In Vaikalpalayam today, dalit children and those of the superior caste study, eat and pray side by side. Their mothers sit beside those of the other students at meetings for the parents of the 220 children who attend kindergartens founded and run by this Gandhian organization that was begun twenty-five years ago by Dr Aram, a nominated member of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament, pacifist and top level Indian educator. The goals of the Bala Shanti project as a whole include:
- Develop a holistic development initiative in the 3-18 age group
- Provide children in the pre-school age with education, nutrition & health services through the Bala Shanti Kendras
- Create a child-centered platform for advancing Peace & Inter-religious cooperation
- Coordinate a monthly Children’s Parliament : ‘Ondru Seruvom’ for rural boys & girls who graduated from the pre-school program
- Ensure the Rights & Responsibilities of Children in partnership with children, families, communities & institutions working for children
The balashanti provide an educational experience that combines early reading and writing skills together with playing, singing, religious and human values, along with daily dietary assistance.
Today nearly 1500 children who graduated from the Bala Shanti Kendras participate in the ‘Ondru Seruvom’ or Monthly Children’s Parliament, contributing their commitment and service for the welfare of their village. A dedicated team of teachers, social workers, and child development experts have worked hard for two decades to realize the vision of the program. The local families can only afford one meal a day with a monthly salary of more or less sixty dollars. In recent years, with the great industrial development that is taking place in Coimbatore, new settlements of temporary workers have arisen. Many of the migrant workers are also economically very vulnerable and belong to all religious traditions, the Muslim, the Hindu and the Christian traditions. Many social problems including alcoholism and domestic violence affect the families, requiring thus not only education of the child, but also of the families. Bala Shanti Program serves the community in three ways, Assistance to Children, Assistance to family and Assistance to Community. A group of mothers have been integrated in a micro-credit project. But also throughout their educational experience, the children participate in lessons aimed at teaching them how to save Last year, four year-old Karuna was able to save three thousand rupees in her piggy bank, the same amount as her father’s monthly salary. In the balashanti they learn the rules of hygiene care, which helps to prevent those illnesses that are often caused by poverty. Dr Aram and his wife Minoti are clear on the fact that in order to build a lasting peace it was necessary to start with the little ones. This is where the idea of the kindergartens came from. “The children are often the ones who are able to break the mechanism of family violence and create peace,” recounts Mrs Murthy who has followed the project for more than twenty years. Recently, Divya, a kindergartner at the balashanti went to sit in her father’s arms during a family quarrel. She said to him: “Daddy, violence is like the devil!”
Moreover, the children are taught respect for each faith. The morning starts with a Hindu, Muslim and Christian prayer and so the children begin to grow without the barriers and prejudices that have separated groups and communities from this part of India for centuries, and created social tension that often erupted into violent and bloody clashes. The Focolare have been working in this project since the late nineties, when Minoti Aram felt the need to ensure food and nutritional supplements to the children of the balashanti. At that time the New Families and the Gandhian Shanti Ashram joined together on this project, and this gave birth to a brotherhood between the two movements that has opened to religious dialogue and to peace education for the new generations. Gandhi had said: “If you want to teach real peace (…) you should begin with the children.” In its 20th year, the program will deepen and expand its service to vulnerable children, train and improved capacities of community workers and document experience and findings for policy change, says Shri. A. Devaraj, the current Head of the Bala Shanti Program. Roberto Catalano (From an insert in Città Nuova (5) – 2012)
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4 Feb 2012 | Focolare Worldwide, Senza categoria
“The Genfest’s main message will be: Unity. This is why we chose the title, “Let’s bridge,” recounts 23 year old, Philippino, Ark Tabin. The construction of a bridge is to be used as a metaphor for the construction of authentic relationships which is the main theme of the program that will take place in the Sport Arena of Budapest (with a seating capacity of 12,500) and on the bridges that cross the Danube River, from 31 August to 2 September 2012. Orgainizing the event is already an experience of unity which is based on the constant effort to welcome and listen to the other. This leads to true dialogue and deep relationships. A new phase of this experience will unfold this 11 and 12 February with seventy youths who will gather in Sassone, Italy to prepare the 10th edition of the program. 
“Although we’ve been awaiting them for a long time, we also feel that this shouldn’t be just another event, even if it’s a great event, but that it should mark another step on a journey, a point of arrival and a point of departure in the building of a United World. There is a need for this testimony of unity nowadays. We can’t turn back,” recalls 23 year old Brazilian, Thyrseane Tupinamba who is on the central organizing comittee of the Genfest, together with other youths and adults from a variety of countries – the United States, Hungnray, Argentina, italy, Brazil. . . Youths seventeen years old and older, from more than forty countries have already signed up to attend the event in Hungary. A preview of the program is available on the web page: www.genfest.org You can find the Genfest page on Facebook in English, Portugese, Polish, Spanish and Italian. Follow us there!
