On April 24, Erica chose to celebrate her birthday in an unusual and deeply meaningful way. Rather than receiving traditional gifts, she invited her friends to transform the occasion into a gesture of solidarity and shared responsibility.

The inspiration for this initiative dates back a few months earlier, in October, when the venue for the 2026 New Families Secretariat Congress was unexpectedly moved from the Mariapolis Centre in Castel Gandolfo to Nairobi, Kenya. For many participants, the experience became much more than a congress: it was an encounter with a reality that left a lasting impression.

“There is a before and an after Nairobi,” Erica recalls. “Once you come face to face with these situations, you cannot remain indifferent.”

During the visit, participants discovered the reality of the Magnificat project, supported by AFN for many years. The school is located in one of Kenya’s most densely populated slums, home to around half a million people. There, they met Millycent, the school director, who herself had once benefited from the project’s support as a child. Her story embodies the transformative power of accompaniment, education, and trust: receiving help enabled her not only to build a future for herself, but also to dedicate her life to serving others.

Despite the severe hardship faced by local families, the project encourages a path of responsibility, personal growth, and independence, helping both parents and children move toward greater dignity and opportunity.

The school activities take place in a small corrugated-metal structure known as St. Anna Chapel. This modest space hosts educational activities for children of different ages, snack distribution, meetings with parents, and moments of community life. It was there that Erica and the group listened to the stories of the staff and families, gradually building relationships rooted in trust and friendship.

“As my 50th birthday approached, I felt a strong desire to share this joy with our friends in Nairobi as well,” Erica explains. “Together with my husband Fabrizio, we decided to include a simple question in the invitation: ‘Do you want to make me happy?’ Instead of gifts, we invited people to support the project.”

For years, Erica’s family has kept a special piggy bank at home — a pink one dedicated to Mikael, the child they have supported from a distance for the past five years. Their children, now teenagers, grew up contributing to it. Written on the piggy bank are the words: “Mikael is our brother.”

“In this way,” Erica says, “Mikael became part of our family life. He taught us that sharing means holding together both our own needs and those of others.”

For the birthday celebration, this familiar family gesture became a collective initiative. A new sign was added to the piggy bank: “Erica & Friends for the Magnificat Nairobi Project.”

Guests were free to contribute whatever they wished. “The amount collected was never the most important thing,” Erica explains. “What mattered was sharing my joy with the friends of Magnificat.”

During the evening, Erica also shared photographs from the trip to Nairobi with the friends who had accompanied her on that journey. Through those images, the faces, stories, and encounters remained alive in everyone’s hearts.

“After seeing those realities and meeting those people, you cannot simply forget them,” she says. “I have been given so much in life. I wanted my birthday gift to become something for them — a way for my life to continue being a gift, rather than something kept only for myself.”

The initiative was intentionally simple and accessible to everyone.

“Not everyone can give a lot, but that is not what matters,” Erica says. “The piggy bank represents freedom: each person gives what they can and what they feel able to give. What truly matters is feeling that we are one family together with our friends in Nairobi.”

Friends, relatives, and colleagues warmly welcomed the initiative, many expressing a desire to learn more about both the Magnificat project and AFN, an organisation born within the New Families movement that has long promoted an inclusive and supportive vision of family life, inspired by solidarity and universal fraternity.

“So far, we have raised more than €1,600, and donations are still coming in,” Erica concludes. “But more than the amount itself, my hope is that this experience may inspire others too. For us, it has been an immense joy.”