 Video call of Elisa and her friends of Progetto Miriam |
My name is Elisa. I am 22 years old and live in Padua. Some months ago, I accepted the opportunity to participate in a very interesting initiative: I became a volunteer at the Progetto Miriam and I must admit that this was the best choice I could have made.
The Progetto Miriam, created and organized by the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, welcomes and protects young girls escaping from a life filled with hardship. These girls are hosted by the Franciscan community and live there for several months. During this period of time, they enter a community path, in which they participate in many initiatives, that are carried out with the help of volunteers. This includes reading books, studying English, cooking, or simply, taking a walk or watching a movie.
When I accepted being a volunteer in this project, I was very determined. I already knew this troubled reality and that is the reason why I felt my participation was more a natural consequence, rather than a choice.
At the very beginning of my experience, I had just come to know the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor and only afterwards, by chance, I made the acquaintance of these amazing girls.
The whole experience was very natural, just as when you meet someone with whom you’ll become friends. You meet, chat, and without even realizing it, you weave an incredible bond of friendship. Exchanging ideas and opinions enabled me to become a friend to some of the girls, whereas with others I became a friend just by showing them my sympathy and willingness to be there for them.
The bonds of friendship help and are meaningful to both people who are friends. When we talk about bonds, I imagine them as a ribbon, that perfectly represents the balance that friendship establishes: I am here for you and you are here for me.
This is what volunteering means to me: Mutual love.
 Online cooking school with Elisa and the other volunteers |
Not even the Covid-19 lockdown stopped us. We were in constant contact studying together or having a chat. However, the most enjoyable thing for me was baking together. We video called one another and baked cakes, biscuits, and jam tarts. We had lot of fun! I must admit that our cakes didn’t often look like the ones in the recipes, but they tasted delicious.
Despite only a few months having passed, I have already said to some of the girls that left the house: “So, shall we meet soon?” I often think about them and wonder where they are, how they are . . . I hope they won’t forget me and, even if they do, I hope nevertheless to have given them my love, as many of them did with me.
One day, one of the girls said to me: “It’s not always easy to live in this world” and my thoughts immediately turned to my life, present and past, whose best and worst moments are linked by a common thread, namely love: For Him, for others, for me… from Him, from others, from me.
Elisa F., volunteer
Published: February 22, 2021
