“Thank you for listening to me”: the words of M.S.

Telling us this story is Fernanda, a psychologist with the Wasi project in Milan since 2025, who has been following M.S. in Spanish. The woman’s name has been changed to protect her privacy.

M.S. is 47 years old and a face that greets with a smile even when her eyes are glazed with tears. Her story is a journey through loss, but more importantly a testament to extraordinary resilience. An Ecuadorian citizen who was widowed 16 years ago, she had sought refuge and stability in her grandmother’s home, the sole pillar of her life. However, upon the latter’s death, family ties were broken. M.S. was removed from the home by her grandmother’s sisters, suddenly finding herself homeless.

In that moment of extreme vulnerability, she tried to rebuild her life alongside a man, but what was supposed to be a restart turned into a nightmare marked by physical and psychological violence. It was then that M.S. made the most difficult decision: to flee Ecuador to Italy with her minor daughter, hoping for the support of her older daughter who was already living here.

But her arrival in Italy five months ago brought her another painful ordeal. After only a month, her eldest daughter, who has been living with a partner for a few months, sent her away from home: the urgency of working and M.S.’s difficulties in learning Italian from one moment to the next created an irremediable rift.

Since then, her life has become a daily challenge for survival. Today she lives as a guest of a friend she recently met, in a house where space is not enough for everyone. Her youngest daughter sleeps on the couch, while M.S. spends her nights sitting on a chair, the only place available to rest the few hours that worry gives her.

Despite being undocumented and having to turn to the Tricolor canteen for food, M.S. never gave up. She found work as a caregiver for an elderly lady who unfortunately passed away after two months; with the little savings from that work, instead of prioritizing immediate needs, she sought legal counsel to figure out how to regularize her position and apply for political asylum.

When she arrived at the ASCS counter, M.S. had only money for a subway ticket in her pocket. She showed up for her appointment two hours early, moved by immense dignity and respect for anyone who extends a hand to her.

For her, ASCS is a place where she can hear a friendly voice, where her roots give her strength and where, after so long, she has been heard.

Today M.S. prays every day and seeks a job and a home, sustained by an unwavering faith and resilience that impresses anyone who meets her. Her greeting, made of gratitude and hope, encapsulates the meaning of our commitment, “Thank you for listening to me and making me feel like a human being.”