Lidia and Loris have 3 children who are 11, 9 and 6 years old. Each of them was born in a different city from the other because after their parents married, the family moved to Veneto, then to Alto Adige and then aruond Trentino. When her husband suggested moving back to the city of their origins in Crotone, Lidia reacted: “My first thought was the children and the wider range of opportunities they would have up north, but in the end I was convinced. Our city on the sea is truly beautiful, we know some very gifted people there and our children once adults, would choose their own futures for themselves.   We wanted to do something to improve our country, because we love it! But we immediately realized that we were never going to begin a revolution, but at least we could begin with something small. So we began with the world of schooling; me with the classmates of my children and Loris with his students. He teaches German, but his first job in Crotone was as a substitute teacher. To begin with, he contacted the teacher of the boy who had been entrusted to him, to better understand his academic problems and built a relationship of trust with him. Several times, his intervention helped to resolve serious communication problems between school and parents.     For almost 3 years we have been running a youth centre in our centre.. When we moved, Loris began the Associazione Amici del tedesco (Friends of German Association) that won a contract with the “With the South Foundation”. We offer children between the ages of 11 and 16 games and recreation, but also tutoring in Literature, Mathematics, as well as Italian and English for foreign students.     Recently the Association won a competition connected to redevelopment of property confiscated from the mafia at San Leonardo of Cutro on the Ionian Sea, Calabria. Lidia explained: “We will use it as a hostel for young people and families who are unable to pay for holidays. We have been classified as a youth training project for youths and teenagers who have dropped out of school. We are supported by the Ministry of Youth Politics.    We feel that all of this has come from God’s love, perhaps a plan that we don’t yet fully understand, but based on mutual love, because it’s actually not easy to work together. We are so different from each other and this is positive, but at times also difficult because we see things in such different ways. But then the discussions and misunderstandings pass and we begin again.   The positive results are also the result of our sons’ love for us. They put up with it all with so much patience, all our organizing and moving around. It often happens that their love is what helps us to face the challenges of the forgotten on the fringes of society. And for them it’s a source of reflection and growth. Source: http://www.famiglienuove.org/