It all started as a game: my Civil Service between bridges and borders
by Teresa Mosso
My encounter with ASCS started literally “for fun”: in September 2023 some ASCS volunteers brought The Game, a role-playing game about what it means to cross borders, to my parish. From there, a curiosity was born that led me to become part of this reality in an increasingly concrete and active way: in November 2023 I participated in the Course to become an International Volunteer, in April 2024 I experienced my first ConFine in Ventimiglia, and, in the summer, I participated in a Camp Attraverso in Capitanata on the issue of caporalato. Then, in March 2025, I left for Amora, near Lisbon, for the Pilgrims route.
Gradually I began to get to know the many realities and people that make up ASCS and decided to take one more step: applying to do Universal Civil Service in the Chieri office. After an interview, in May 2025 I finally started! I was already quite familiar with the macro-areas of ASCS, especially the youth work area “More Bridges Less Walls,” which the Chieri office is mainly involved in, but there was still a lot to learn.
In recent months I have helped organize summer training and service camps, including participating in Through Trieste. I have, in addition, designed and brought to schools and youth groups workshops on freedom of movement and The Game. With the team, we organized cross-cultural dinners and migration awareness events. Among the most significant moments were the summer camp in Trieste, where I had the opportunity to put myself out there for the first time as part of the staff, get to know so many different people and realities and create relationships that continued beyond that experience; and the trip to Rome for the Jubilee, during which I welcomed the Portuguese Scalabrinian group I had met months earlier in Portugal thanks to ASCS. Different experiences, but linked by a common thread: encounter. An interweaving of people and stories that made me feel part of a larger network.
During my community service I was also able to test myself on the organizational level: I took care of the logistics of the International Volunteer Course 2026, which is taking place in Turin these months, participated in team meetings and worked on communication.
In March I will accompany a class to Oulx for a training and volunteer camp, and the following weekend I will leave for Luxembourg to represent ASCS at the Migration Festival.
Looking back on it all, I realize that this path started as a game, but it became a choice: the choice to put myself out there, to meet people, to take responsibility and to build bridges, one step at a time.
