I am Giacomo Pierobon, a 59-year-old old man, kid on the inside. From a young age I felt a vocation toward the “least of these,” and because of this I went from being an accomplished electronics designer to an educator, then a pedagogue, then a career counselor, combining various lifestyles and passions over the years, nevertheless with this “fire” within, a never complete search for truth in reciprocity. My first volunteering was in 2010, in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico; a strong experience, terrible in terms of violence, emotionally demanding; however, the strength, determination and hope felt by the migrants gave me confirmation of my calling.

I expected adventure and relationship: the former undoubtedly was there, albeit in its sense of tragic, the latter a little less so, perhaps the such strong and extreme experiences of the protagonists (including myself) affected our ability to find together humanly creative forms of collaboration; I firmly believe that sharing is, especially in these cases of precarious conditions, the high road, not only the means but also the end of volunteering itself. I met many people, I remember Luis who arrived from Guatemala on a bicycle after a rocky journey, Jose from Honduras, who arrived without a leg because he slipped under a train he was trying to catch on the fly, 14-year-old David from San Salvador, who arrived alone and with toy cars to play with, I have heard countless stories of life on the margins, but I have also seen an irrepressible striving for the future.

I wish ASCS well in continuing to train volunteers, as it is doing and indeed with increasing quality and quantity, an indispensable aspect nowadays.