My name is Marianna, I am 34 years old, and when I think about it, I cannot remember a time when the Scalabrinians were not present in my life. Since I was a child, I discovered and cultivated the Scalabrinian charism in Rome, in the Most Holy Redeemer Parish, spending my days with lifelong friends at the G.B. Scalabrini Youth Center.

It was there that I crossed paths with some of my educators who, in the years when ASCS was “born,” were preparing for their first international volunteer experience.

I also dreamed of one day being able to leave with ASCS. I kept in my nightstand drawer a photo of Ben and Alessandra, and a wooden Africa keychain that came from one of the projects itself. Looking at that photo “from the field,” I wondered what it would be like to have an experience in service to humanity on the way.

After very intense years lived in the Scalabrinian youth movement, it was my turn in 2011. I left to join my friends Met and Debby, ASCS workers in Mozambique, for a few months, where I volunteered in the Maratane Refugee Camp.

That experience marked a deep furrow not only in my heart and my relationship with ASCS, but also in my professional choices. After returning from Mozambique, with the help of some dear friends, I organized my first fundraising event, “A Marathon for Marathas.” I thus realized how much I wanted to train myself to do some fundraising my job.

After a master’s degree and other professional experience, in 2015 I received a call from Emanuele, then Project Manager of Casa Scalabrini 634 in Rome. “Now that you’ve learned how to do fundraising, how about coming home? You are needed here!”

And so, in 2016 I started a new experience first at Casa Scalabrini 634, coordinating fundraising and communication activities, and then continuing from 2020 as ASCS Fundraising Manager.

A lot has changed in almost 10 years. I have seen ASCS grow, evolve. There has been no shortage of challenges and times to roll up our sleeves to give sustainability to the many projects and activities we pursue.

A great fortune. That of doing work that I love, alongside some of my greatest friends, because of a charism, the Scalabrinian charism, that has always been at the center, the engine of my life.

My wish for ASCS is to always be a “home” to return to, to have extended horizons, without the fear of the unexpected or complexities. So that ASCS can always be a generative place, in which to think and give birth to new projects, cultivate relationships, get our hands dirty and put our hearts into it!