An Amazing Week

Friday night before we left on our trip to the North, we took the Woods family to Baobab.  Austen their oldest boy is looking for an Eagle Scout project, and Baobab has plenty of need for service.  They suggested to Austen the possibility to build individual cooking units for the different Ethnic groups:  Eritrean, Sudanese, Guinean, Gambian, etc.  Austen plans to do just that and hopes to make 7 different individual cooking units.  

On Sunday morning we got an email from Sarah Jane Weaver (Church News Editor) who had been diverted from the Worldwide tour that President Nelson was on.  The tour was split up after evacuating from Jerusalem when the US, UK and France bombed Syria with chemical weapons.  Sarah and her team ended up in Rome.  They wanted to make use of their time and asked us to help them with the humanitarian efforts being done for the refugees in Italy.  We had already left for the North, but decided we could rearrange our schedule somewhat, drive the 7 hours back to Rome and help them out.  I took this photo at the new Friendship Center that will open here in Rome on May 26th.  Sarah was interviewing Drew, one of the volunteer staff.

This is Jeff Allred, the photographer that was with Sarah.  I left most of the photo taking up to him, but thought it was good to get a photo of him!  The night before we had toured Baobab with Sarah and Jeff.  They also were able to interview with MEDU who changed their normal schedule so they could be there at Baobab for the interviews.  I had managed to contact all of our partners in Rome, and at the last minute they all came through!  Our schedule was non-stop and fully packed, and I was so grateful to everyone for fitting us into their busy schedules.  At Baobab, Sarah told me that one of the 'guests' told her "I just want someplace to come home to"

This is Sarah interviewing Fasasi, the sculptor who lives at CasaScalabrini.   All of his artwork was currently in the 'oven' and there was not one piece at the house.  But he brought out his drawings (one of them below) and he told Sarah about his trip from Nigeria just 2 years ago.  And how his art helps to keep the trials and struggles of the refugees alive and remembered.

This was the visit to INTERSOS.  The activity that they were able to photograph was the moms/kids activities.  This is the van that LDS Charities provided.  The kids were playing games in the back of the van.  Jeff said he liked the photos from this visit the best.  I can't wait to see what comes of this two day visit with Sarah and Jeff, and all of our Rome partners. 

We drove back from Rome to Ventimiglia.  The very day we visited Ventimiglia was a very dramatic day.  Early in the morning, the 'tent city' that existed under the bridge was completely cleared out by the police.  There were over 200 tents under this bridge just hours earlier.  They wouldn't let me get very close, but here are the trucks/tractors/containers that are taking away everything!  The refugees had been given notice that this would happen and most had been transferred to the Red Cross Camp.  Some fled, and a few resisted.

It was a serious affair.  The police were there in full combat gear:  helmets, shields, etc.  The camp also housed human traffickers.  The police know who they are, but they can't do anything until they are caught with evidence of their trafficking activities.  The traffickers will tell newcomers that the Red Cross camp is a prison, that the good guys are the bad guys....hard to know who to believe when you are a stranger in a foreign land.

Our partner in Ventimiglia is Terre des hommes or TDH.  They focus on children and their rights.  We were with Elena and Aisha when they spotted a 10 year old on the street.  They went right to work, got him and the Red Cross connected and safely taken to the Red Cross camp.  This intervention was impressive to watch.  They are the 'good guys' but as I said, people are confused as to who to trust.  Understandable.

To clean out and throw away over 200 tents, sleeping bags, supplies,  a basically a whole temporary city, it was a big deal!  Some of the structures were semi-permanent and they had been burned.  This section under the bridge was full in the morning, but cleaned out by mid-day.  It was something to witness.  As I said though, I couldn't get too close and when I pulled out my camera to take photos you would have thought I had pulled out a gun.  "NO PHOTOS"

The background on why the camp was cleared out:  On March 4th, Italian election day, there was a full out fight between the Sudanese and the Afghans.  There were rocks thrown at each other and at nearby buildings.  This lady is on her balcony watching the eviction of those in the camp.  Her building suffered some of the damage from the fight.  After the fight/damage the local citizens said, "Enough, we don't want refugees anymore!"

The next stop was in Torino.  Our partner there is Chiesa Valdese.  We have partnered with them in a project called JTT (Job Training Torino).  Here we met with the course instructor and one of the students in the course.  The next step in refugee aid is certainly in integration and job placement.

In Como at the parish of Don Guisto, Konde  Foumba is talking with Elder Herway about his experience with an agricultural job training program that he has just completed thanks to the funds from LDS Charities.  He has received two certificates that allow him to operate small farm machinery.  He has his documents, and after 5 years in Italy he will be eligible to operate large farm machinery.  He is starting work this week and very happy and excited.   He lives at the parish for now, but hopes that his work will eventually be able to provide enough for him to start a life on his own.

Lamin Marong is another student who just completed his training/schooling and has now landed a 6 month internship, which has the potential to become a full time job.  He is also very happy about his prospects.  He does send most of his money back home to his mother in Senegal because his father died when he was young, and he is the only son and is responsible for his mother.   There were two more boys who also completed the same program but they weren't available to interview, and why?  Because they were at work!  Hooray!