I met ASCS in 2014, in Milan, through a missionary journey with PIME (Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions) proposed to students at the Catholic University. I was in the midst of my undergraduate studies, but it was a gray, uninspiring time. I felt trapped in a feeling of closure, sadness and apathy. Lo and behold, a window to the world opened wide for me, to a country full of light, warmth, and color: Nampula (in northern Mozambique).

I arrived in Africa with no expectations and no clear idea of what I might find and see. I felt ready to watch and listen, trying not to judge (valuable advice from Lucia).

The two months spent between Nampula and the Maratane refugee camp helped me savor the passing of the hours and the alternation of light and dark that punctuates the days. I realized how beautiful and simultaneously intense the simplicity of living is.

And I felt welcomed in a land where you are the different one. I felt at home, and this is what I wish for everyone who will get to know ASCS.

Ten years later I have grown up, married, and become a mother of three children in whom I find the smile, the light and the simplicity of those children who waited for me every morning under a cajù tree to take me by the hand and make their way to school together. Because together it is more beautiful and the path ahead seems less difficult.

I thank ASCS for giving me the opportunity to “let myself be taken by the hand” and for opening a window to the world in my heart that has changed my outlook.

I wish ASCS to continue to keep this window wide open to give everyone a chance to look out and look far.

Letizia