The article came out on May 12, 2108 in the Church News. It was fun to have a real live photographer and editor follow us around for a day and a half, interested in our projects and what we have been doing for the past year. We know we were lucky. There are plenty of full time missionaries that never get this kind of exposure to the work they are doing. We were just in the right place at the right time. As mentioned earlier, Sarah (church news editor) and Jeff (photographer) had been traveling with Pres Nelson and when the group had to evacuate Jerusalem, the air space became a premium. Sarah and Jeff were routed to Rome and they were looking for something interesting to report on to use their (diverted) time wisely. Enter Tom and I. Not that we are interesting, but refugee work is interesting and a hot topic in the Church. Documenting the article here on this blog is for my own documenting purposes because I know you have all seen it. The post just prior shows the measly pictures I took while showing Sarah and Jeff around. Amazing how a real photographer can bring all the feelings and colors and emotions into the scene. Now I can always look back on our mission in Rome and these evocative photos will bring it all front and center. I could have never done it on my own. The only improvement I would have made personally is more of Tom and waaay less of me!!!
'Maybe we can help': A look into LDS Charities' efforts to ease the pain of refugees in Rome
LDS Charities missionary Anita Herway plays with Malek and Momo Mana at INTERSOS in Rome, Italy, on Tuesday, April 17, 2018. LDS Charities contributed money to the organization.Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
ROME, Italy — The bold strokes of Fasasi Abeedeen’s pencil record the story of his tenuous journey across the Mediterranean Sea.
A screaming child is passed between adults to safety. A boy, struggling in a consuming sea, is gasping for air. A woman’s lifeless body is lifted from the water.
Wearing blue jeans and a green T-shirt emblazoned with the title that reflects this place — the Casa Scalabrini — Abeedeen shows his sketches to Tom and Anita Herway, missionaries for LDS Charities, who have been in Rome helping refugees for a year. Abeedeen knows he is lucky to be here, creating art in the shade of an outdoor patio.
In 2015, Abeedeen fled Nigeria, where he had just completed training as a sculptor. A political election scandal drove him from his homeland.
“I was forced to leave for my own life,” he said. “I didn’t even know where I was going.”
Traveling through Libya, he gained passage on one of two boats that were to carry passengers across the Mediterranean Sea. But one boat overturned, leaving the journey not only etched in his sketch book, but also in his mind.
Clean cut and clean shaven, Abeedeen looks nothing like the people in his sketches. He is now numbered among a lucky few who have found refuge and inclusion at the Casa Scalabrini Order of the Catholic Church In Rome, Italy. The program and home support 30 refugees — some Christian, some Muslim — each year on their journey to self reliance. With one-on-one mentoring, the residents find jobs, friends and community.
LDS Charities missionary Anita Herway hugs a young refugee at Baobob refugee camp in Rome, Italy, on Monday, April 16, 2018. LDS Charities contributes volunteers, dining tents, and money to the organization.Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
“The real issue will become integration of the people that are all right here in this society, so they can say, ‘I belong to this society.’ ” general director Goacchino Campese said.
It is a program LDS Charities wants to assist, said Sister Herway, explaining the Church has completed one project with Casa Scalabrini and is currently completing a second. “When they leave they are totally self sufficient.”
A place to go
LDS Charities has served refugees in 119 countries and territories since 1985, completing 378 projects in 49 countries alone during 2017, according to the 2017 LDS Charities Annual Report.
The work is part of a much larger program to reach out to God’s children across the globe. In 2017, LDS Charities worked in 139 countries and territories on 2,705 projects with more than 1,800 partners to serve millions of people, according to the 2017 annual report.
LDS Charities missionaries in Rome — and other couples like them in Sicily, Italy and Greece — are responding to a developing refugee crisis, where fewer refugees are entering the area and instead staying longer in Libya and other African nations, said Elder Herway. Many that do enter Italy do not have official refugee or legal status to access services in the country.
Baobob refugee camp, located southeast of Rome about 30 minutes from Casa Scalabrini, serves these least-advantaged refugees.
The “informally organized, but very effective camp” includes more than 130 men and a handful of women and children living in more than 100 tents or shelters.
Demba Sitapha and his cousin Limin Jita sit by the fire in their shelter at Baobob refugee camp in Rome, Italy, on Monday, April 16, 2018. LDS Charities contributes volunteers, dining tents, and money to the organization.Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Limin Jaita of Gambia and Demba Sitapha of Senegal cook on an open stove and talk about the camp and peace they have found here. They dream of a future where things are better.
“Every time I pray, I pray for the good life,” said Jaita. “This life is poor. I want a place to sleep, a place to come.”
Andrea Costa, who has spent his days serving the refugees at the camp for the last three years, said volunteers have had to learn about the refugee crisis, what it means and how to best help. He admits that before working with the camp, which started in the spring of 2015, he knew nothing about migration. He now tries very hard to listen to those he meets.
“What do they face: the unknown of the future. They don’t know where they will be tomorrow. They know they have a goal, but they don’t know if they will ever get there. They are very, very tired.”
He imagines the Baobob camp — where LDS Charities has donated large food tents and other supplies — to be a “peaceful pit stop,” where people can rest, refuel, and determine their next move.
The LDS Church’s young single adults bring dinner to the camp’s residents once a month. Other Latter-day Saints have found other ways to assist at the camp.
One way LDS Charities has supported the camp and others like it is through a partnership with MEDU, a mobile medical unit. Because refugees in Rome have little or no access to medical care or medicine, it is necessary to take a mobile clinic to them in the camps, said Anita Carriero, project coordinator of MEDU in Rome.
“Many times they don’t know they have the right to health care,” she said, explaining they have cultural mediators who can inform refugees of the possibilities.
Mulu Gheta, for example, has been in Rome for 15 years and three months. He speaks to a 16-year-old boy and urges him to share his story “so he won’t forget.”
Austin Woods, right, plays soccer with a refugee at Baobob refugee camp in Rome, Italy, on Monday, April 16, 2018. LDS Charities contributes volunteers, dining tents, and money to the organization. Woods is planning an Eagle Scout project at the camp.Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
The boy has a bacterial infection on his leg, most likely caused by going more than two months without a shower; the wound is cleaned and dressed by one of MEDU’s volunteer doctors.
The power of partnerships
Because the Church can’t provide services to all refugees, Elder and Sister Herway say they partner with many organizations — including the Red Cross, Intersos, and the Joel Nafuma Refugee Center — to collectively accomplish what cannot be done alone.
Intersos, which prominently displays the LDS Charities’ logo on their vans, is an organization that travels to refugee camps and picks up at-risk populations — women and children and young teenage boys — and brings them to their transitional housing units. While staying at the transitional housing, the refugees get showers, hot meals and time to ponder their goals and next move. Sometimes professionals help them with legal paperwork and appeals.
INTERSOS employee Abdul Bassite lifts refugee Sanssy Mana from a van in Rome, Italy, on Tuesday, April 17, 2018. LDS Charities contributed money to the organization.Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Valentina Murino, director of Intersos for Italy, said the support of LDS Charities was instrumental in opening the complex in Rome.
That is also felt in the Red Cross camp in Rome where they are using shelters built in partnership with IKEA and LDS Charities. The “Better Shelters” campus was especially helpful this winter when snow fell in Rome.
Gaia Rovelli, who works with the Red Cross in Rome, said when LDS Charities and the Red Cross — who share a “long-lasting partnership” — were envisioning the project “we really tried to see ourselves in [the refugee’s] shoes.”
When looking at the huge refugee crisis, “it is often difficult to put the focus on the need” of the individual, she said.
“We feel like we are offering hope to people,” added Sister Herway. “We are there saying, ‘Maybe we can help.’”
Volunteers at the Joel Nafuma Refugee Center also focus on respect and empathy when providing services to the refugee community, said Drew Dilts, a volunteer coordinator with the organization.
Medical student Edwardo Demeis cleans the wound of a refugee at Baobob refugee camp in Rome, Italy, on Monday, April 16, 2018. LDS Charities contributes volunteers, dining tents, and money to the organization.Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
For the past decade the center is a safe place people can come, get food and find acceptance; no one asks for an identification card when visitors walk in the center.
“They come and charge their phones.” It is a place from which “they are not being ushered away.”
Over the years, many guests asked, “Why can’t you open longer?” said Dilts. “It is a lack of resources.”
So the Church and local members are stepping up to help.
Beginning this month, Latter-day Saints in Rome will sponsor an afternoon “friendship center” — where members will teach classes every day from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on subjects such as language skills, employment training and health care. The goal is to find ways to serve the refugees while promoting self reliance, Elder Herway said.
Dilts said when he started working at the center, he thought people would come for food or work. He has since learned that they want something else. They come seeking “peace of mind” and “respect,” he said.
A refugee’s artwork
That’s exactly what Fasasi Abeedeen’s is trying to communicate with his art work. His sketches — used by him as a guide to create beautiful sculptors — were recently exhibited under the title “My Journey.”
Abeedeen, who studied art at advanced institutions in Nigeria, just needed the opportunity to get his feet on the ground and start again after he arrived in Italy. But, he laments, so many never get the services he received.
A brochure showcases the work of refugee and artist Fasasi Abeedeen in Rome, Italy, on Tuesday, April 17, 2018. LDS Charities contribute funds for two remodeling projects. Abeedeen is a refugee from Nigeria and sculpts scenes about refugees.Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
“I will be very happy if I have the opportunity to teach,” he said. “Some people may not know they have the talent.”
He also wants to continue to explore the feelings that are inside of him and “pull them out.”
Those feelings, he said, continue to evolve.
His first art exhibition in Rome was titled “My Journey.”
Now, however, he is drawn to sharing the plight of other marginalized populations in Rome, such as the homeless.
When completed, that exhibition will be titled “Hope.”
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!
We have been anxiously awaiting our first visitor, my sister Suzanne. She came for Easter week-end/ Conference week-end. She was very patient as we did our missionary duties in the mornings, and visited one camp and had full day service activity. Still we had plenty of time to be together and to enjoy Rome!
At the Baobab Camp with Miriam. As we discussed the situation at the camp, we were able to ascertain their three current needs: dry wood (for fires to cook and to keep warm) water, and cooking units. Last week there were over 300 Eritrean women and their children who arrived at the camp. Some of the babies were only a few months old. Most were accommodated with INTERSOS and Save the Children who have permanent structures for these vulnerable people. However even those accommodations filled up and so some had to stay at Baobab in the tents. The guests are starting to cook their own meals, and there is a hope for about 10 cooking units so each section/national grouping can cook....and Eagle Scout project might just do the trick. We are talking to a young American boy who is in need of a project!
The very first night of her arrival we went to the Spanish Steps. "Why are they so famous?" Who knows, except that Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck made them famous. Then I found out she had never seen "Roman Holiday"!
Why come to Rome? First priority is for the gelato! Our favorite haunt is 'La Romano' and this flavor is the best. They put a dab of fresh chocolate in the cone, and just when you think your eating delight is over, you forget about that last, best bite!
Suzanne threw in her coin, so she will be back!
Rome doesn't lack for stunning, jaw-dropping churches, cathedrals, and basilicas.
This is Cynthia Kneis. She is the mission nurse. But she is so much more! She does just about everything. One of her duties is to help at the newly opened 'visitor center' on the Temple grounds. It is just a temporary trailer and there is a full time missionary couple who will operate the center. The couple are the Simmoncini's and they served here in the office just as we arrived. They are back....their 3rd mission.
This is the current status of the Temple as of April 1st, 2018. How relieved everyone is that the official dates have been announced: Jan 28 to mid Feb will be the open house. It will be dedicated March 10-17. I think Kathleen Bluth is coming this Fall to put in the furnishings. This is what you see from the Visitor Center picture window.
Cynthia is pointing out on the diagram the different buildings and lay-out of the temple complex. It's going to be quite magnificent. We'll be long gone when it opens, but it has been exciting to be here as the final leg approaches.
Trapazzino's is a restaurant that we like very much. These are eggplant sandwiches in the best bread. The round balls are called 'supplie'...insides is always a different mixture of rice and veggies, but it's always tasty.
Easter Sunday at St. Giovanni Basilica.
Scarf shopping in Florence. We took the train up for P-day. It's only 1 and 1/2 hour trip b/c it's a bullet train.
You would think that all the pizza in Italy is equally good. Not so. However, at the market in Florence we found top notch pizza. It's so good, you don't have any trouble finishing it off!
Suzanne took this photo of me and Tom.
Easter Sunday brunch with friends. We are at the house of Brett and Arianne Woods (temple). Also invited was Cynthia and Fred Kneis, Dave and Carolyn Fenn (temple) and family Olmes (embassy)
Ostia Beach clean-up Day. Suzanne was a trooper as we spent the entire day at this activity!
This is Craig and Susan Christensen. They lived in Brussels for a year. They came to the Rome One Ward last Sunday, and then we ran into then again at the restaurant Trapazzino's! Can you believe that? Susan has given me lots of tips for my transition from Europe to UT/USA....the most important tip is that I need to buy a ski pass! Their oldest child is Nikki...who hadn't arrived in Rome yet, the oldest boy was in 5th grade in Brussels....then there is Abby and Sophie....and the youngest boy wasn't born yet when they lived in Brussels.
Suzanne's last night in Rome, we walked down the block to the local cafe and had a hot chocolate. It was so fun to have her visit. Already it seems too quiet. She is my good friend as well as my sister. I know I am blessed and very lucky that she is 'mine'....
On Easter Monday we had a Stake Activity at Ostia Beach. With the unusual high winds this Spring, the beach was in need of some trash clean-up. Ostia is only 45 minutes from Rome and very near Fiumicino Airport.
Somebody else had a camera. I got caught! Dad is in the gold/brown coat behind me also with a green bag. Suzanne came with us and stayed with the car which was full of personal backpacks/coats/purses as well as added vests, water, cakes, etc. Suzanne never complained about staying with the car and thanks to her I could participate in the activity!
I was after a photo with the missionaries, which was pretty successful with only a few 'photo-bombers'.....however, I was glad to get our Stake President in the photo, far left next to Tom. He is President Sonaglia.
President Sonaglia giving a spiritual thought to the group. He works in the TV industry in some capacity. His stake is quite difficult when you consider the Stake boundaries: All the way down to Naples, all the way up to Florence, and includes the island of Sardinia...He once said, "My problem is I have an ocean in the middle of my Stake boundaries." Yeah.
The activity was for the youth in the Stake, we are Rome West Stake. Also invited was Rome East Stake. The Stake paid for flights for the youth that live in Sardinia. It was slated as a refugee/member/community service project.
I got a kick out of this kid who wanted to wear the protective gloves we handed out.
Plenty of trash to pick up....all washed in from the high winds.
Elder Melling having way too much fun...but the Elders and Sisters came out on their P-day. Pretty impressive group and we think so highly of all of them.
It was a fun activity. Started at 7:30am for us when we picked up supplies from Barbara Ventura's house. The actual trash collection went most of the day. The sun was stronger than we thought and all of us got sunburned. As with any large activity, there was the usual hiccups but the job got done and it was a great day for those who participated.
After Conference there were several of these 'jokes' on Facebook. I couldn't resist adding these two to my blog b/c they really are very funny.
