My name is Valerio, I am 34 years old and live in Rome. I was fortunate enough to cross paths with ASCS about ten years ago when I decided to participate in the training course for international volunteers organized in Milan, with the sole expectation of putting myself out there and learning more about the projects the association was promoting in missions around the world. During the meetings, however, I realized that there was something else, the desire to leave and to do my part in a world, the world of migration, that was so complex and that resonated so strongly with my sensibility, was beginning to grow in me.

The first experience I had was the Io Ci Sto camp in 2014.: a week of field service in Foggia, serving seasonal workers who were victims of Caporalato in the Borgo Mezzanone area. Needless to say, how important and formative that week was for me, the jolt I needed and had been searching for, believing I had to travel halfway across the world when all it took was a few hours by train. Borgo Mezzanone taught me the meaning of “gratuitousness” between the torrid afternoons in the cycle workshop and the smiles of the children during the animation in the square. Back in Rome, I contacted Lucia, international volunteer manager, and made myself available to go.

In December 2014 I arrived in Bolivia as a volunteer. In the Casa del Migrante in La Paz and the APTHAPI project (which promoted play and school reinforcement activities for barrio children) I learned the meaning of the word “sharing.” The days went by quickly, around town in the various migration offices, or in case handling new migrant entries or departures of old friends. The interweaving of stories, lives and paths that I encountered during my three months in La Paz remain to this day one of the most precious treasures, an indelible mark on my educational and life journey.

Returning from Bolivia, I approached the newly established project of Casa Scalabrini 634, a new reality of reception decidedly closer than the Casa del Migrante I had known in La Paz. Scalabrini House showed me the value of the word “welcome.” It taught me how important it is to do what we can, even if we think it is little, and give it to each other. Because every encounter has meaning, the meaning of wealth that, when shared, does not divide but multiplies. I still attend and participate in House initiatives, running the House Driving School course for 8 years now.

This long journey that began for me ten years ago brings with it many memories, many faces and many emotions. ASCS has given me the opportunity to broaden my views, to see beyond the familiar horizons of my city by guiding and supporting me on the path of getting to know the reality of migration and encountering the other. These life fragments, summarized above, have changed me deeply and marked important moments in my life.

I wish ASCS on its 20th anniversary to continue to be a reference point for all the people it helps through its projects and to continue to give life and meaning to the experience of meeting migrants and refugees.

Happy birthday ASCS!