As summer approaches, activities to meet, welcome and raise awareness continue. Here is the link to our service activities for this summer!

Integrated Welcoming

The month of May was full of events: on the 12th we took to the streets for women’s health, participating in the Race for the Cure organized by Susan Komen. United in our mission to promote opportunities for prevention and women’s health, this collaboration enables hundreds of migrant women we accompany through our activities to have free screenings each year.

Also in the area of health, the meetings of the Wasi project. The last one named “Safe Voice” was an empowerment meeting based on assertive communication for migrant women. It was a meeting and discussion opportunity for the many women who attended.

Another meeting of the Afya project in attendance in which students from ASCS Italian school and other migrant people from ASCS Milan were involved. The theme of this appointment was mindful self-medication.

What happens when funding cuts are made for reception?

We hear a lot about it in political terms, but then it always remains abstract how such a decision impacts people’s lives.

The latest cuts have jeopardized the centers’ ability to hire workers who specialize in teaching Italian or even reduced the hours of those involved in the legal and integration accompaniment side.

This was also the case in Chieri, where it emerged from the Trame association, which manages the city’s prefectural CAS, the need to involve a group of volunteers to teach Italian language to the asylum seekers they host, given the lack of funds to hire a qualified person. At this call, we took action together with the Cathedral Parish volunteer group with the intention of creating a group of volunteers/volunteers in support of the needs of the people in the center.

In May, we were guests at the Exponiamoci event , organized by Refugees Welcome Italia, Intersos and UNHCR. It was a day dedicated to work, training and entrepreneurship with migrant people from the Roman area who learned about different realities that offer services and opportunities.

The arrival of summer is also a time for celebration: in June Scalabrini House 634 celebrates 9 years. We got together with a group of volunteers and young people who live in the house to plan the party! On June 14 from 4:45 p.m. we will have an afternoon filled with music, food and art. We are waiting for you!

Intercultural Engagement

The first three evenings of the project
The World at Home
have been an exciting journey between different cultures. The opening night featured the 2023 edition countries-Zambia, Afghanistan, Mexico, and Greece-with Italian language students performing songs and unveiling the 2024 calendar. On May 17, the Argentine evening delighted with typical food, tango and the photo exhibition “La lucha de Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo” curated by Alejandro Reynoso. The third evening celebrated the
Japan
with a choir, culinary specialties and the Kamishibai theater show. Each event featured a festive and engaging atmosphere, inviting people to discover new cultures. The next evenings will be devoted to
Bulgaria
on June 7, to
Tunisia
on June 15, with the grand finale on June 21.

In recent weeks, we are joining forces with the Turin migrant pastoral ministry to organize meetings and workshops with schools and groups in Turin. We have created a dedicated group of “shared” volunteers/ies to begin the work. To learn more, follow us and stay updated.

Like an invisible thread that unites desire to know and understand the reality around us, we constantly find ourselves dialoguing and accompanying groups, such as scout clans and parishes, who ask us for guidance in organizing summer camps for young people on the borders. We listen to their requests, offer practical suggestions, and provide useful contacts to help them best organize their experiences.

The second meeting of Crossover Granda was held on Friday, May 3: A collaboration between the diocesan Caritas of Cuneo-Fossano and Saluzzo and ASCS. During the course of the evening we enjoyed a delicious appetizer produced by the restaurant “The Thistle and Lortica,” which prepared a wonderful sampling of vegetable cuisine for us. Speaking during the evening were two social workers, Francesca Massa and Fabio Chiappello from Cooperativa Momo and Cooperativa Armonia, respectively. Both workers collaborate as part of the Common Ground project, which deals with interregional actions to combat labor exploitation and support victims of trafficking. The evening was actively articulated with the audience in the room through questions and interventions by the practitioners.

The
Remix project
continued in the month of May by getting into the swing of the theater workshops offered by Useful Theater Association. Every weekend in May, formal or informal gatherings for youth and adults were offered; enriching was the participation in the evenings of the project
The World at Home
, a valuable time of exchange and meeting.

We were also present at Maddalene Festival Park with a booth presenting ASCS activities and The game at the opening of “Maddalene open cinema” in Chieri, along with many other associations.

Development Cooperation

On May 4, after a couple of emergency night receptions in the past months, we officially started the overnight migrant reception service Ceuta. In the month of May, 14 migrant children were received.

Activities continue to support people in transit at Calais, where 31 people were received in the emergency room in May. (emergency room for a few nights that accommodates families or single men traveling) and 11 people in ordinary reception, provided for lone men in transit in a particularly vulnerable situation.

Before we say goodbye, we want to remind you that in view of the next tax return, you can choose to support ASCS by allocating
your 5×1000 with F.C. 03133600241.
The activities we have been telling you about are also carried out thanks to this small gesture that can really make a difference for us.

Keep following us on ascs.it to stay updated and to find out how you can support our activities. Thank you!