Meetings and People

Shoto Aoki from Brussels came to visit!  We taught him in sunbeams!  They came to our ward by chance.  What fun to see them again.  They tell us the Leuven ward has now combined with their ward, so it's back to dual language.  We got all caught up on the Brussels scene.

CARITAS Florence meeting.  The church donated hygiene kits to Caritas and Medu.  T-shirt, underwear, socks, mini towel and soap.  Scabies is a problem, a very contagious skin disease that many refugees come here with.  A shower and clean clothes every day is necessary, thus the hygiene kits help with that issue.  The couple are there representing Caritas and accepting the kits.  Enrico Morelli is the public affairs director for the Stake.  Afterward he gave them a tour of the building as well as a copy of the Book of Mormon.

This is Elder Michilini.  He is very happy because I found him some tassels to put on his keys.  Look hard and you can see the tassels.  I found them in Como and bought them for him.  He likes the office to look 'classy'....thus the need for the tassels!

INTERSOS.  We think this organization is top notch.  They have a dormitory for minors and vulnerable people.  They are starting a project  where they will search urban Rome for minors to bring them in off of the street.  They also will pilot a project to expedite family reunification.  

Renauld.  He is Nigerian.  We interviewed him at LDS Institute.  He joined the church in Ghana where he was working.  The Gospel gave him courage and clarity.  A friend told him he changed when he joined the church.   He felt Heavenly Father protect him when he crossed the desert.  He felt that He would protect him to cross the sea.  He decided to try.   He came over in a rubber boat just one year ago.  Really sharp kid.  He would love to work.  Lives in a camp.  I asked him what it was like to cross in that rubber boat:  "There was a pregnant lady and children.  About 200 in the boat.  All you can think about is staying alive.  I kept repeating to myself, I've got to stay alive!  On the sea there was no food or water.  The pipe to the engine broke and they held it together with their hands.  The smugglers trained one person with a compass and he became the driver.  They were rescued by an NGO boat near the Italian border.  One person had died, and everybody was sick.  They landed at night in Sicily and were bused to Rome.  On the bus they were still in the clothes they had worn on the boat."  He had been on the sea for 2 days.
Hard to even fathom what this boy has been through.  Sadly his request for asylum has been rejected.  Right now he is in the appeal process.  He has a mother and siblings still in Nigeria.  He was born Sept 15, 1992.

Baobab had a conference in Rome for 2 days.  It was an 'awareness' conference.  This is Francesca.  She went on the trip with us to the Three Frontier Cities.  Anyway, she took pictures of people and lined them up in a row.  The game was to pick which one in the row is the refugee.  Her point was that many times we judge people by their skin color and decide  about their history.  Another activity was they invited school children to line up:  Then in a strange language, under the hot sun, they were given instructions in a harsh voice.  Of course they were confused.  This was to teach them that many of the refugees have a hard transition and we should be patient and kind.  

Taking tents and rain ponchos to a camp downtown Rome on the metro!

This is a totally legal parking maneuver.  Yep, park directly behind someone and pin them in.  No problem.  It's their problem for getting a parking space I guess.  You are also allowed to park in the center of a round-about.  

You can also park next to another car.  You can't tell, but the yellow car also has a car parked behind him.  There is literally no way to get out.  No tickets.  No problem.  Just be aware when you park you may have to wait a long time to get out!

Aqueduct Park in Rome.  It's right off of the metro line and an easy walk to get there.  Nice pizza place nearby as well.  You know with the thin crust pizza baked in a wood burning fire?  You would think that kind of pizzaria would be plentiful but actually they are hard to find.  It was a nice end to a busy day.