Basma and Ben, her husband, arrived in Italy, Tunisia, eighteen years ago, finding accommodation in a small town in Central Italy. Young couple and children, have experienced the traversings of those who are far from their own land, trying to build a life for a better future for children born in Italy.
We let Basma to donate his life. Eighteen years ago I arrived in Italy with my husband Ben and our two children were born here. One day while I was waiting for my youngest son outside his school, I met Tatiana, an Italian mother, with whom I slowly developed a deep friendship. Up till that moment, I had known many Christians or at least they said they were Christians, and they had given me a negative impression of being a Christian, where everything is permitted and there was no difference between right and wrong. With my new Christian friend we started to confront our faith  and we continued to discover that we had much in common.: each of us had put God at the centre of our life. She always offered me a lift outside the school, we live near each other , and so we started to get together including our families.

One day at lunch time, with my husband Ben, we decided to give them a present: we rang the doorbell with a large parcel in our hands: couscous for all the family served with various Tunisian specialities. Our friendship was marked by concrete and reciprocal love. One evening, we invited them to go out for dinner to try a real kebab. We crossed the city on foot, as we are used to, and they said they had discovered a hidden city, where Muslim brothers live.

Tatiana, wife of a doctor and mother of seven children, continues the story.
Ben had an accident at work, and while there was a lawsuit for responsibility he received no salary. It was the beginning of September and I was busy buying school books but thinking of the difficult situation of Basma and Ben; I had an idea which I proposed to them.
Basma  was touched and said she had had the same idea but wasn’t sure if it was all right to share it; we organised an Tunisian dinner, involving other Christian families. A house was put at our disposal and was decorated as an Arab ambience, with carpets, curtains, cushions, low tables and candles. We did the shopping together and Basma cooked. Many people came and we asked for a free contribution and great was our joy when we discovered we had the exact sum to buy books.

During the evening, continues Basma, Tatiana and her friends helped me with the preparations. There was an’ air of celebration and everyone waited for me, to eat together. At the end they gave me a card with this phrase, “Dear Basma, thank you for this journey in your land which we made with you. From your family of Latina”
I was very touched……I was no longer alone. During that unforgettable evening, I discovered that behind Tatiana and her family, there was a Christian people who all live for God, and I felt surrounded by true brothers.

After a few weeks, suddenly, Ben became gravely ill. He was hospitalised with a stroke and when Basma ,desperate, phoned me, I immediately ran to her.  Ben  quickly deteriorated …..there was no hope. We tried to support Basma who didn’ t have the strength to deal with this situation which seemed absurd.

They were terrible days, Tatiana and her husband, who is a doctor, were with me at the hospital.  Ben was very agitated and continued to say in our language, a very important phrase that he repeated to everyone: “For Basma, I want only Paolo and Tatiana”. His family and many Muslim brothers continually came to visit , but he entrusted me to Paolo and Tatiana , as he knew our relationship was built on God.

The next day, in the evening, Paolo called Tatiana to tell her wife to go immediately to the hospital as Ben was in a coma and was dying. His family, who couldn’t bear the pain of this moments, had gone home. I found myself alone with him in front of an infinite suffering. I knew of his great  faith and prayed God to welcome him.

Ben was dead leaving me and our two children in deep pain. Suddenly we felt alone in a foreign land. We didn’t have the strength to live, to eat, to smile.

In those terrible days, Tatiana tells, we shared looking after Basma’ s family, by preparing food, and trying to convince them to eat. Her pain was ours, her children were ours.
We involved many in a large Communion of Goods to sustain them at the beginning , until Basma regained her strength. Around her and her children was a real people, moved by great love.
Not knowing how to help Basma economically ,given that ours is a big family with seven children,
I asked God for the right Providence to divide with her.  Two days later, Paolo came back from shopping with ten bags of vegetables,  which the owner had insisted in giving him, as a thank you for a service we had provided. And so, for more than a year, every time Paolo went to the greengrocer he came back full of bags. Each time I wondered about sharing vegetables that I knew my children enjoyed but I reminded myself that I must,  because it wasn’ t all for me.

In the following days my joy was great,Basma continues, because every time I wanted a certain vegetable,  Tatiana arrived with that one. She explained that I shouldn’t thank her, as Christians call this Providence and say that it comes directly from God , so it is necessary to share it with brothers in need. Thanks to this providence my house was transformed, and I also couldn’t keep everything for myself and felt the need to share in a Communion of Goods. One day I called Tatiana asking her to come quickly as Providence had also arrived for me: I had received 10 chickens. I was so happy to share them with my brothers.
The biggest joy is feeling part of a body in which each one cares for the good of the other. Having found out that a friend of Tatiana had a serious illness and every Friday they prayed for her recovery, I immediately suggested going with them. We had a beautiful experience of praying distinctly but together. We started at the same time, them with the Rosary and I with my prayer carpet turned towards Mecca.
Finally, one day I had an offer of work. I was very happy but at the same time very worried when I discovered that I would start at four in the morning in a factory far from the city. With my eldest son I looked for the route to walk there, but with great sorrow, I realised it would take two hours in the dark, walking on a main road.

When Basma phoned me with the good news of work, I was very happy, but at the same time she was desperate, not knowing what to do. Immediately I felt that this couldn’t stop us, because love covers all: I offered to take her, as being so early, I could get back in time to wake my children and take them to school. We meet early in the morning, in the dark and travel down the road with a great joy in our hearts.

Slowly, in this new place of work, Basma started to love everyone, including who considered her to be an enemy because of her veil. Now there is a good atmosphere, Basma says, and I don’ t  need a lift to work as my colleagues offer to take me. In the first difficult days I repeated a phrase learned from my Christian brothers: “Where there is no love, put love, and you will find love.”
And it’ s true, love is contagious.