Fundraising by Maddalena Manera

More or less a year ago I decided to leave for the first time for Lebanon with Operation Dove - nonviolent peace corps of the Pope John XXIII Community. Due to force majeure, I ended up living this experience in morsels last year, but in the months afterwards the memories of the days spent there took more and more space and the outlines of the people I met among the tents in the Tal Abbas refugee camp instead of blurring became sharper and sharper.

In this spring I reselect to leave. In 2024 I am accompanied by a greater awareness of what I am going to do and why, as well as what lies ahead. In addition to Arabic, from the Syrianə I am learning hospitality. It may seem like a contradiction, yet it is people who no longer have a home who are teaching me what it means to welcome.

Among many that have been said, I think Chandra Candiani's words help to grasp the different nuances of welcoming, which is listening, closeness and presence.

The universe does not have a center,

but to embrace one does so:

one approaches slowly

yet for no apparent reason,

then spreading one's arms wide,

one shows the disarming of wings,

and finally one fades away,

together,

in the space of charity

between you

and each other.

Thank you for the moral support I have received this year and for what is to come. If anyone would like to make a more material contribution, this is the right space. The money raised will be used to support the project and the volunteerə presence in Lebanon.

Happy spring!