The experience that changed my life. Thank you ASCS

My name is Andreuzzi Barbara, I am a nurse from Friuli who worked for 12 years in the hospital, until early 2011. In fact, in February of that year I left as the volunteer with ACSC with destination Haiti. I operated for 8 months in the mission clinic taking care of welcoming mothers and children, following them to medical examinations and distributing prescribed medications.

When I decided to have this experience, I had no idea that it would completely turn my life upside down. I initially left with the intention of “taking a look,” of “touching” a reality very different from the one in which I grew up, a reality in which priorities are different from those living in a developed country, a reality without all the amenities (trivially electricity and water). But what I found was much more.

I must admit that I was not prepared for what I found. Seeing the photos, videos, and reports is not the same as living every day among people who survive on gimmicks, to children with malnutrition whose ribs you can literally count with your naked eye, to mothers who are forced to choose between spending money to care for one child or feed the other 5. I found myself in a reality where the relationship with illness and death was very different to what I had seen and experienced until then. I felt privileged. Privileged to have been born in a country with a good, public health care system, but also to have had the opportunity to experience this.

After returning from Haiti, I did not feel like resuming the life I was previously living. So at the first opportunity offered to me by ASCS, I flew to Mozambique to run a nutrition center for malnourished children inside the Maratane refugee camp. Here we were in charge, together with local staff and Italian volunteers, of checking the nutritional status of children, both Mozambican and refugees, under the age of 5 and giving them highly nutritious foods. At the same time, we were educating mothers about the importance of proper nutrition in pregnancy and the baby’s early years, hygiene and routine visits to the health center.

This adventure has lasted more than three years, and it has given me the opportunity both to meet wonderful people and to learn in depth about my surroundings. I had to recalibrate my priorities and learned lessons from all the moments of frustration and setbacks.

But, as they always say, I have received far more than I have given. I realize this may sound trite and obvious, but it is a truth and there is no better way to sum up these experiences. The smiles of thanks from the mothers of the children who were coming out of malnutrition are the most precious gift I took home and jealously keep after several years.

I wish ASCS a happy 20th birthday and to continue to work with the same commitment, dedication and passion alongside those in need, with all the enthusiasm that distinguishes the staff and volunteers.

Best wishes ASCS and… THANK YOU!!!

2024-03-11T16:04:30+01:00
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