Angel Moroni was placed on the Rome Temple on March 25, 2017. Big Day for the Rome area saints. We were not invited to attend, this photo was taken by our Mission President, which he shared with me.
I think the bird's eye view of the Rome Temple complex is really cool. You can see clearly the temple. Straight across will be the visitors center, which will have the life size statue of the Christus, as well as all 12 apostles, all made in marble from Carrera (where Michael Angelo got his marble for the Pieta!) On each side of the temple with the red roofs: the stake center and the patron housing...I'm guessing the larger building is the patron housing. The parking is in a semi-circle around the complex. (which is also cool). The one tid-bit of info that you might find incredulous: there were no historic ruins found when they dug the foundations! Impossible in Rome!!! Also built AFTER they had the land for the temple is a huge mall across the street which has 8 million visitors a year! And from the mall terrace is a bird's eye view of the temple. Now how about that?
On the same day that Moroni was placed on the temple, we (along with the couple that was training us in refugee aid from Frankfurt, the Stays) went to the east coast to a village of the name of Pescara. There we took part in a service project putting together hygiene kits. The Red Cross were the first to arrive and be welcomed.
Tom talking to Angelo Melone, now in the Stake Presidency but prior was the public affairs director and the man who organized the service project. So on the same day we met Angelo Melone was the same day that Angel Moroni was placed.
Angelo Melone....Angel Moroni.....
There was a great community feeling about the project with lots of good feelings and comradery. Red Cross, Civil Protection, Psychologists for the People, and San D'Egidio (Catholic organization) and the Mayor's Office. The Stays are the Europe Area Refugee Specialists and they gave a presentation on the Church's humanitarian efforts. Very nice to have that overview, for members as well as non-members.
The assembling of hygiene kits. It was chaos to the max, but in a couple of hours it was all organized and ready for delivery. Amazing. Everyone participated. It was inspiring.
Sunday. A member of our ward Hanim Shakir (far right) brought her investigator friend. He only spoke Arabic so she translated for us. Both are Egyptians. He was a refugee who arrived back in 2012, before the huge influx of today. His story was of becoming a Christian and being tormented for his beliefs, to the extent that he had to flee to protect his life. His wife was unable to join him and has since passed away in Egypt, and of course he couldn't be with her. Hanim's story: Two marriages and two children and then joined the church at 54 (missionaries first talked to her in the park!), after which her family disowned her because of her Christian beliefs. First son shot by the police b/c he was on drugs and doing illegal things, second son slowly took all her money. She has served temple missions to Switzerland, London, and Frankfurt and also a mission to Manchester! She is now 74! Amazing woman with a burning testimony.
The Stays who came from Frankfurt for specific training in refugee aid. Here we are for a simple lunch after church on the terrace of our small temporary apartment. We loved that place: right by the metro stop! Aaargh, we miss the convenience b/c we find we have meetings almost every day downtown!
Sunday evening Senior Potluck dinner (every 6 weeks at the Mission Home) This was our first time to attend. It was great fun to meet all the other couples. Most are actually working on the temple. Front and center is Anziano Simmoncini and he does all the procuring of apartments and their upkeep. Second row from right: the Fenns who are the directors for the temple building: They have been here SIX years!!! Then next to them is a couple from Deseret News (Taylors, and they were just visiting). They are also the Branch Pres for the missionaries going to Rome at the MTC. They were here to report on the placing of Angel Moroni and are good friends with the Mission Pres. Too hard to explain everyone else, just know it was super fun to chat and get to know so many other couples here in Rome!
We were back at Tiburtina Train station to visit with MEDU and also had a meeting with the Director of Baobab: Andrea Costa. It was a very fruitful meeting in that we identified ways that we could help their efforts. They truly are hands on with the refugees and are doing a lot of good. Here they are lined up for food which volunteers bring in three times a day!
I wanted to share just one story that is printed in the MEDU booklet:
"Today Vos Hestia Ship arrived in Pozzallo Harbor together with 300 rescued persons from two different operations. Migrants are mainly coming from West Africa, some of them are also coming from Pakistan, Sudan: there are 105 not accompanied minors. Many report fuel burns. Almost all the migrants said they had suffered violence and torture in Libya. An 18 year old boy from Ivory Coast referred to the MEDU team spent more than 7 months in a Libyan prison where he was brutally beaten every day and forced to hard labor. The boy shows clear physical signs of violence on his body and says:"My body is full of scars but larger wounds are in my heart. I do not know if I will return to the person I was before."
A 30 year old woman from Ivory Coast lost 2 daughters, aged 14 and 6 just before boarding. The woman told us that traffickers entered the connection house and started taking people, and they took the 2 girls. These stories were collected by Flavia Calo, coordinator of MEDU team in Sicily.
I like to end my posts on a lighter note. Just a pretty hilltop town outside of Rome.
A small lake just outside of Rome. Our P-days are really P-afternoons. The luxury of a full day seems just that, a luxury. Maybe it will slow down when the Italian heat sizzles?
On Tuesday evening we attended a 'fund-raiser' concert hosted by the Italian magazine: Confronti. The concert included a singing group: Gruppo Coral Cantering for the first half, and then by a pianist and a sax player (Luigi Bonafede, and Mauro Verrone). Talented! The concert was held in the Chiesa Metodista (Methodist Church) and the acoustics were phenomenal. The place was packed and it was well worth the effort to get there. Afterwards we were able to meet and talk with Claudio Paravati who is the director of Confronti. Confronti put on this concert to raise money for scholarships for refugees. We hope to be included in future planning meetings that this group arranges!
On Wednesday we had an appointment with the Red Cross. We toured their facilities and also the refugee camp which they host on their grounds.
PR photo with the Director of the Red Cross Rome Chapter. Also at my left is the RS President, Luise (who is the mother of our friend in Brussels: Emanuela!, and our translator Barbara.
Just outside of the women/children shelter. This building is for those with special needs as well as mothers and children under the age of 10. One problem is the cost of DNA testing to be sure the children belong to the women. When asked what happens when the facilities are full? "We just make room!" This house has about 200, but it has swelled to 900.
Tent City. 400 in this city. These camps house the refugees after they have been identified at the Hot Spots and before they area assigned a camp.
Discussing the mobile kitchen that LDSCharities donated last summer.
The Red Cross President and her managing director. They were asked what their biggest concern is at the moment: "We need bathrooms and shower rooms." They have a great need for mobile units for housing instead of the tents.
It was nice to take the metro into town for an early morning walk this morning. This mission is getting quite hectic and it really pays to get outside for some exercise just to clear the mind and get in some fresh air! Today also marked the one year anniversary of the Brussels Bombing. Very sobering to remember.
First of all, don't stop at this photo! The next post is more on topic and I want you to read that one. It's just that this family was visiting our ward on our first Sunday to attend church in Rome. I asked them, "Where are you from?" Answer: "We have been traveling for TEN YEARS!!!" Seriously??? So here is their website: DiscoverShareinspire.com. I would love to hear what you think? Do you think you could do it???? They have SEVEN children, the oldest was adopted. The sister missionary in the photo is in our ward and she and this family met in Alaska (where Sister Anderson is from) thus their visit to our ward! I just find it fascinating. Now grant you, I understand the enticement. I love the world. I love to travel the world. However........
And you guys thought it was tough to say where you are from. Try being one of these kids and answering that simple question!
It's a bit hard to know exactly how much to post. We had a day where we really did get somewhere though, and it's worth a blog post. We invited the public affairs director of the Rome West Stake over. Her name is Barbara and she is not only delightful, but full of information. I get the feeling she is our new best friend! She is arranging an informal meeting with Red Cross Rome and to visit the Via Ramazzini Camp. That visit will be documented later. Just wanted to mention Barbara because she is such a dynamite!
After our visit with Barbara, we went to visit the MEDU medical van which was at the Piazza Spadolini. There is another post about MEDU and we were just visiting all the places that the medical van goes. While at the piazza we ran into a group which call themselves: Baobab Experience. They are on FB. We also found an article/video on this group in the NY Times, Dec 21, 2016. They are a grassroots organization that help the refugees in a very direct manner. The Italian government is doing a great job: They have hotspots where the refugees are brought into the country and then documented and identified. Next they are assigned to a camp. However, all the camps are full! So they have to wait for an assignment. That's where Baobab steps in.
Volunteers from the citizenry of Rome (the Baobab experience) supply food and tents and clothes to those who are waiting assignment to a camp. Once they get into a camp, they are well taken care of. Beds, showers, food, housing, and education. I might also mention here that the movement of refugees, once in Italy is to go North and bypass Rome all together because the word is out that the camps are full. They head up to Milan where the word is that they still have space in those camps. The border towns are struggling to keep up b/c the refugees are not allowed to cross the Italian border into the Northern EU countries (as a general rule)
Momo Hussein was kind enough to let me take his picture. He arrived in Italy this December from Somalia. The tent pictured behind him was his home not too long ago when he was awaiting assignment to a camp. He is now housed at Lungeszza where there are about 200 people. Momo has asked for asylum. Once he gets his green card it's good for 5 years. In the camp, the Italian government is providing Italian language lessons, and will also help him to find a job. Tom asked him what he wants to do for work. He said he would do anything, maybe work in a grocery store? Anything though he said.
He told us there were nine men and two women in his family. All of them were killed but himself. He is on his own.
We talked to several of the volunteers. Myrium has been with the group from the beginning (she is in the video from the NYTimes). The general director is Andrea Costa. (pictured below directing a meeting: held outside because they have no office space!) One they called 'momma' is Rosaria (far left in the photo) Everyone there is a volunteer and they make sure there are volunteers there all day, every day!
The MEDU van is parked near the 'tent city'. As stated in an earlier blog, MEDU provides medical care to the refugees including a psyche clinic which LDS Charities helps to fund. Below: The guys still want to have fun. A couple of empty water containers make a great drum. Just start a beat and you get a gathering! All the pictures are taken at night because that's when the medical clinic operates!
And now to end this post on a lighter note: We had friends, Neville and Penny Rockow from Australia who serve a mission in Brussels come to Rome and we took an outing to Ostia. So fun to visit and catch up on 'home'!!!
Lastly, we did find a lovely spot in the Borghese complex to relax and have a bite to eat.
Elder Bolaji Oyebanji Adepoju was at our Zone Conference. When I heard that he was a refugee, I wanted his story and he was kind enough to let me have a video of his story.
His story: He is from Nigeria. His father was muslim and his mother was Christian. His parents divorced when he was 7. At age 22 he walked into a mormon church and he didn't want to leave. He was happy and was soon baptized.
One day in his compound some men came looking for the 'Christian boy'. It was strictly taboo to be a Christian in this compound. He ran up on the roof. There were gunshots everywhere. They killed his father. He ran away. He went with his brothers from Nigeria to Tripoli Libya. They were in a room with about 200 people. He couldn't figure out what they were doing there but his brothers told him to be patient, a boat was coming to rescue them.
They got on a boat. No pilot, no compass. Just a big push and they were on the sea. A Libyan man told him to sit in the front. He wanted to stay with his brothers but he thought the Libyan man could kill him so he sat in the front. There was a big storm. People were praying they could just die right there on the boat. He was in the front, and didn't know anything that was happening in the back of the boat. The Italian Coast Guard came to rescue them. He called for his brothers. They had died.
"God kept me alive. I talked to God on the boat: If I survive I'm going to serve You."
Why so happy and smiling? The metro had shut down b/c of a strike, but it reopened from 5 till 8pm...just enough time so that we could take the metro downtown to visit the MEDU traveling clinic and we didn't have to drive in all that traffic!
MEDU has a medical traveling van that is operated 2x/week in the evenings from 7 to 10pm. We visited this one just outside of Termini station. The beneficiaries are refugees as well as the homeless. The refugee influx is seasonal. Winter time is slower. A surge happens spring/summer. There second location is Piazza Spadolini where the clientele is almost exclusively migrants/refugees.
The MEDU volunteers and medical team in front of their van. LDS Charities has been one of the many charitable organizations to help keep this medical unit operating. The girl with the yellow scarf is also Anita and she is the coordinator of the mobile clinic. One of the volunteers was also Anita. Then me. Three of us!
Brother and Sister Healy in the midst of intense training in our temporary apartment. There is much to learn, and one part of the job is huge amounts of documentation and filling out forms and requests, etc.
The MEDU psyche clinic. We met with this amazing team today. The champion of this organization is Alberto (center with blue sweater). The others are Doctors and Francesca (seated) is an intern. Toune is a translator (2nd from right)
There is only one consultation room. They desperately need more consultation rooms and hope to be able to get a larger place soon. LDS charities is helping out with many other organizations to keep this clinic operating.
Cool poster of Toune Abdoulaye. He is from the Ivory Coast and came to Italy 7 years ago. Through the system that is set up by the government here in Italy, he has progressed to the point where he is fluent in the language (as well as a couple more languages). He is working with MEDU not only as an employee but also as a volunteer. He is a great testimonial that it is worth the effort. He is very grateful and wants to help others..
The psyche clinic is downtown Rome. Here is Alberto who is the General Coordinator with two of the Doctors.
A pharmacy is in the cupboard behind this desk and is run by a volunteer. Here is one of the Doctors making follow up calls.
Tom and Toune really hit it off. Toune hopes to find more space for his psycho/social activities (music). I think they are talking guitars and drums! The clinic uses sensory motor therapy in a framework of a cognitive therapy approach.
Their paperwork must be accurate and thorough and must be mountains high for their innumberable clients. The refugees are referred to MEDU from the Government operated Reception Centers. MEDU is operating with a one month waiting list. The average age is 23/24 years. Mostly from Sub-Sahara, but also Asia, Afghanistan, etc. The majority of migrant routes are through Libya. 180,000 refugees into Italy last year (2016). 60,000 asked for asylum and are hosted in reception centers. 90% are victims of torture. Italy is focused on political refugees. The total of refugees sent to Rome that are living in camps are between 8 and 9,000.
This was a most interesting visit. MEDU is accomplishing amazing things and we are thrilled to be assisting in a small part. The cycle that the refugee experiences: isolation, depression, nothing to do, nothing to hope for in the future. These organizations help to break that cycle and offer hands on help. We were very impressed. MEDU has several sources of revenue: Donors, government, charitable organizations such as LDS Charities. MEDU has an integrated clinical work and psycho/social work. At this psyche clinic I was impressed that they use a narrative approach because it is culturally understood by patients: able to give words to emotions. They integrate with mindfulness. There were other approaches they use as well (CBT) but most of this medical discussion was not in my vocabulary!
A capsule of some of the training we received at the MTC, I wanted to report on:
From Theriot....family services therapist. He holds up a notebook. We see the back of the notebook that is black and the other side is facing him. He asks: 'what color is this notebook?'
'Black'
He says, no it's white. He then describes the side he sees which is white with the writing of such and such.
Is one right and the other wrong? No, it's just different perspectives. The notebook was both black and white depending on which viewpoint you had. So both were right, both were wrong. Same with disagreements and same with opinions, etc. Especially when it comes to your companion, you need to remember that we are right AND we are wrong, it just depends on your perspective! I loved the object lesson.
Again with his notebook, he put it directly in front of his face. When thinking of your inadequacies we sometimes let them eclipse everything else going on, just like when we put a notebook in front of our faces. We see nothing but our weaknesses. Put them down! Put the notebook down in your lap. A bigger picture. More accurate. Never allow your inadequacies eclipse everything. Keep the big picture.
You want to let someone know you care? You talk 1/3 of the time and they talk 2/3 of the time! Smile and listen. You create an atmosphere of caring. Be very slow to give advice. No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. The goal in our mission? One to one connection. Impact the life of one person.
With our spouse we are supposed to take time at the end of our day and give each other 5 min to share our emotions of the day. Not what we did, but what we felt. Each one gets 5 min of uninterrupted time to share.
-empathetic
-listen
-never blame, ever!
Then he showed a video from youtube called 'the nail'.....worth watching if you haven't already seen it.
We loved his presentation. This was just one morning course.
Others were great too. It's not all fun and games and there was a lot to learn: PDW (project development worksheet) and CDW (CHAS development worksheet). There is the LDS Charities totem pole: ICC (in country coordinators or better know as 'boots on the ground'...BOTG???) that's us...and at the bottom of that totem pole by the way. In that totem pole there are directors and managers and specialists in the field. There are directors and managers and technical specialists in SLC. And yes, the ICC are still at the bottom of both poles, and quite delighted to be there by the way!!!
There are Major Global initiatives as opposed to Area initiatives and ER (emergency relief to sustain life) as well as HUM (humanitarian, which has the sustained long term perspective and long term poverty alleviation). There is an aid spectrum (Relief, Recovery, Development) There are partnerships. There are Resettlement Agencies. There are objectives and outcomes to be evaluated. There are member Welfare Projects.
There was a course in legal requirements. There is an ALC (Area Legal Counsel). There are residency and work permits and registration with the Government. There are model written agreements to use and customize. We even had a course on purifying water and using filters and proper plastics to maintain clean water.
Did you get some of those acronyms? PDW, CDW, CHAS, MI, AI, ER, HUM, ALC...
You get the idea. It's huge. It's well organized. There are thousands of volunteers as well as paid employees. The church takes the mandate to relieve suffering and care for the poor (powerless and no hope, not specific to material things) and the needy of all nationalities and religions, very seriously. Very, very seriously and they do something about it. This was drilled into your head: the first principle of aid is RESPECT. Become a servant of the local people.
I felt the need to write down just a brief description of some of the training we had in SLC. This coming week we receive even more intense training for our specific job here in Italy. As I said, I get the feeling that right now is the calm before the storm.
The Rome Temple is making great progress! The office missionaries picked us up at the airport and this was our first 'sight'. And what a glorious sight. So exciting to see all the workmen busy as bees. Keep going guys!!!
The temple complex will include a stake center and a visitor center and dorms. It's going to be awesome. Fingers crossed it will be completed sometime in 2018. But the entire complex has to be finished before it can be opened. It's a huge project.
Pres and Sis Pickerd are seated on the left side. In front of Tom is Anziano Guerico. He handles all the apartments and cars. Only a man of great patience could do that job, and from what we could tell, he is a man of Great Patience! Sis Pickerd fixed a lovely welcome meal. We feel loved from the get-go.
We landed on Friday where we were taken to our apartment, given a phone, did some paperwork for check-in, stopped at the grocery store. Saturday (today) is preparation day. Our current (but temporary) apartment is on the metro line so we went into town for the afternoon. Amazing how much you can squeeze into just a couple of hours. Spanish steps (check), Fountain of Trevi (check) and the renovations are all completed and that place sparkles, Pantheon (check), Piazza Navona (check), Vatican (check) Pictures following.
This ancient Roman marble fountain was discovered in one piece while digging the foundation of the Senate Building. This was the first time we have seen it working. Can you imagine those archaeologists that discovered it? Must have knocked their socks off. It's stunning.
Assassination of Julius Caesar
Location
Theatre of Pompey, Rome, Roman Republic
Date
March 15, 44 BC
Target
Gaius Julius Caesar
Attack type
Stabbing
Vittorio Emanuele (check) The Roman Forum (check) and Trajans Forum (check)...pictures following. I know it seems impossible that we passed by all these sights in just an afternoon but we really did! It's a very walkable city if you know where to go.
There is an increased presence of law enforcement. Not sure if there was something special going to happen or if they are just being prepared. It's true that most European cities are more alert, expecting the unexpected. It's impressive.
I'm sure most of my blog will NOT be sights of the city, but who can resist the temptation that Rome offers on P-day? Every corner is picture worthy!
Oh, and the title? Jet lag is an enemy to a good night's sleep and everyone has experienced it. Mind you, it's 12:21am and we are fully awake. And that deep sleep won't come until about 9am tomorrow morning right as we need to get out the door!
I'm sure by the next blog we will be more immersed in our work. Nice to have a day in the city before the onslaught. We will have specific training starting on Wednesday and we get the feeling it will be like drinking from a fire hose.
