Hello everyone! My name is Syria, I live in Bern and I am 26 years old. In September 2024, I left for Guatemala where I had a four-month volunteer experience in the Migrant House in Guatemala City. I got to know ASCS through the Catholic Italian Language Mission of Bern (MCLI) where the Scalabrini Fathers work. On one occasion Emanuele Selleri, ASCS executive director, came to introduce us to the international volunteer program and from there the idea of leaving never left me. Two and a half years passed from that meeting to my departure. Leaving for Guatemala was the best decision of my life.

The Scalabrinians have always been a part of my life, yet I only came to know about their charism and history through the training course and daily life in the Migrant House. It is impressive how St. John Baptist Scalabrini is present in the daily life of the house, in the people who work there, in the religious who work in the house, and how his ideas are developed and concretized every day thus helping hundreds, thousands of migrants. The motto in the house, quoting Bishop Scalabrini, was to do good, to do it well and in the best way possible. So that every day all the migrants who crossed the threshold of the house could be assisted in the same way.

The migrant’s home in Guatemala City provides the following services: temporary housing, food, change of clothes, personal hygiene items and showers, medical attention, legal counseling, psychological care, humanitarian assistance, outreach activities, sacramental pastoral care and assistance to deported people.

As a volunteer I tried my hand at various areas of the house such as cleaning, welcoming migrants, helping in the kitchen, distributing meals, distributing clothes, administrative tasks, entertaining children and adults. In the air force, on the other hand, we helped deported people with domestic and international calls to let their families know where they were, helped them get home by giving them directions, and often when they did not have lodging for the night, we housed them in the Migrant House so that they could return to their homes or find other accommodation.

When people would ask me what my motivations were for leaving for this experience, I would often respond by saying that I wanted to do something for others, without receiving anything in return, to make myself available to them, to help, and perhaps I failed because what each individual person gave me was so much more than what I could do for them.

I will never forget the weariness in those people’s eyes, the fear of what they went through and yet would have to face the next day, the desire for something better for them and their children, the motivation and determination to continue their journey, the hunger, the heat and cold, the mistreatment they endured, the stories that led them to take the bare essentials and leave only with a backpack to an unknown destination, the doubts and uncertainties. I will never forget their smiles that warmed your heart, their living and arduous hope, especially how God was present in every single moment of their day. In fact, they never lacked moments of communal prayer, where religion did not matter but everyone prayed and gave thanks to one God.

I thank ASCS for giving me the opportunity to live an unforgettable, truly life-changing experience and for giving me the opportunity to meet wonderful companions who welcomed me with open, integrated arms and made me feel at home from day one. Because yes, Guatemala has been my home.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

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