Home letter AFRICA  
March 2002
Dear friends,
I hope you'll forgive me that I'm writing one letter to all of you but from here it's not easy to access to internet and it's really slowly.
Where Am I? Many of you already know,I'm in Zambia,Ndola!
It's already one month and it's time to share with you my feeling in this new LIFE!
Till the 1st step in this country I felt like at home and than the rest was up and down!
You can't imagine the color of this wanderful country, the sky is so blue and the night is full of start and for a second you can forget to be a person and really you can be one things with the nature!
Than there is the situation that to say unbeliveble is to far from the real life here!Here there is a lot of kids in the street to ask for food and in the compund you can easly see orphan to walking around without shoes and clothes and it's so deep this view! I'm at moment involve with students from secondary school to teach about HIV/AIDS and also about FirstAid and maybe also about Computer (in the school there are no PC)
In this month I've rescue the value of many things, to start to drink the water from the tap, here we've to at least boil or better to use clorin and of course it's a big step for me, to start to appreciate what in my part of world came everyday and maybe I was complain if it was missing!
Here the heart is alive and all day there are thousand of feelings that came, sadness and happyness! In this people there are many things to learn the 1st is the smiles, all over there are smiling face and happy person.... and it's quite funny with many kids, we've learnt "MOLISCIANI" that in the local tribal language means "How are you" and also all kids know "HOW ARE YOU?"!!! and we are always to walk with a lot of kids behind to say "HOW ARE YOU?!!!

write me ....... I really need support,and to know that you're with me!!!!
Ok at moment I say thank to all of you!!!
I PRAY for you!
 
March 2002 

Dear friends,
thanks to write me back and always to support me with all your words.
Like you know is more than one month and the time here is so fast and at same time is look like I was here for years. The incredible atmosphere that this country is giving to me and also to face all day full of power and energy it means that I've found my way.
I'm rescue day by day the meanning of the word LOVE and day by day I can feel my live and to make a sense on each thinghs that I'm doing and to feel deelply the precense of my God. My motivation came from Him and to Him I pray and give back all my life.
Last week, like all human beeing, I was a bit down and I was walking around and there was always questions on my mind. Why? Should I do more? What I can do? .... and than the rain helped me to hide my tears ......
I went back in the Center where was waiting my friends and there we went to Misundu,a compund near our farm, to bring back the students that during the day had partecipated to a "DRAMA FESTIVAL". All of them was to happy and all was fighting with my feeling......and suddnly in the deeply dark I see this light in their eyes, they was singing just because happy and involved us in their song, we went with them and my surprise that 20 km after our farm there was the compund and it is like you imagine Africa, small house with leaves on and all people to greetings us and to shake the hands ....... the light inside me start to growing and growing, that was a His message, keep and going,do your best, no give-up, ..... in the end we stopped in a school and hundred kids run to us and they start to smile and have fun and was unbelivble....... I was almost out of mine dark, I went back home, without say a word and the day after we start with an OpenSunday and was another message.....
It's was near 11 and just few of our staff was there, we was waiting from 10o'clock and I was starting to be nervous and than a crowd of people was screaming between the wall of the Center and on the gate we saw 50 kids and we invited them and the teacher told us if they could join us and me and Emil told them....why not?
A big circle and me in the middle..... I start with all the songs and games that I've learnt when I was animator for children ..... my friends I never felt so alive like in that moment...... my God send another message and I've to apologize to Him because I was losting the infinite hope and now I know that the Love will win in the end.

Kisses and embraces
Peppe

  
April 2002 
Hola my friends....
Peppe is always in Africa and each day enjoy is time..... and I'm always more and more happy.
Here the life is so lifefull and just a simple walk in the city became a lesson of life.
With my friend Emil (sweden) we go around to keep in touch with this country and in the school we have the top. We are running courses about AIDS prevention and First Aid and also Computer Courses...... and we arrange events like OpenHouse (all people came to enjoy the sunday and let know about our project), Football tournament and also we're arranging a show for few days.... really interesting. So yesterday after few weeks was my day off and I went to the mess with same italian that live in a mission close to my farm.
With them I spent all day and I've used my lovely language, and was so nice also to share with them my experience.... they run a farm with handicappated and also they have same Family House for Orphans... I went in the afternoon to see one of them and was so amazing to play with all this kids, and many of them was talking in italian..... so far from home but so close to my culture.
Last week I've been in Livingstone and the Victoria Falls are really wanderfull,you can feel the power of the nature and all over the drops of water come down like a big rain and you became complitly wet in a second.....and than also BUNGEEJUMPING 111meter from the bridge....I love to fly and the next 9th june I'll be there again to jump!!!
So my dear friend here the life is ok and like always with the power of God I feel alive and a person..... write me because you encouragment are really helpfull and every time I'm down I just read your mails and all became better and take a sense....
A big kisses from your italian friend......specially to the girls! :)
 
April 2002 "God don't remember just the good men, but also the bed man.
But not see their foult that make our sufferings : remember the good things
that come from that :
the loyality, the humility , the courage, the generosity and the
nagnanimity that was growing inside us
for all this sufferings, and when this men will come to be last judge, make
that the good things come from us
will be their forgiveness."

Dear friends,
I tried to translate this message and I hope I have also transmitted the meanning. This letter has been always in my heart. In this african months the feeling of impotence put me down and like usual the escape will be to point the finger and to blam someone fal all this injustice. But, always I remember this message that was wrote on a paper near a kid in the Ravensbruk camp. In that letter I've found a lot of answer and the meanning to many question.
My feet touch always more and more this land and I felt more and more part of this side of world.
When I walk trought the path in red-ground ,the worm-wind breathes on my face and the happy faces of the africans around me, I see my life took the write Way. The pictures are fixed in the my mind and the fair to leave this place, keep me like a child that doesn't find his mum. Francesco sayed, I want be like the dust and to be confuse with the ground ...... I'll like in the future to see this work like a small-person, to be thankfull ann to love all the people and the creatures. I hope that God will help me in this
prayer and everyday will give me the power to love and to look all the injustice and poverty that are around me. Each breathe ------ to listen my heart to bit, to turn my glance ... my eyes to the one that know the Man on the Cross, the one that, in the sufferings, hide the Eyes of God..... to touch with hand the wounds of the Man ..... Thomas put tha hand in the His wounds ..... but Why the men that tough the poor doen't belive and don't feel God glance in that person? .....in that angel? ..... I'm so lucky to meet Jesus every day, to talk with Him and to try to make less painfull his pains ... the nails give,yet, Him a lot of pain..... Dear friends, forgive me for this words, but always I have to keep all of that in my
heart there is noone around me that understand my feelings, they are not belivers and their motivation are so different from mine..... thay want that I explane God with science.... but if that was possible, I told them, there is no religion and no atheist and all of us was belivers! And it's in the faith that is the God's LOVE...... and this thought are loked in my heart. Dear friends thanks a lot for all your letter and God Bless you every day!!!
Your small friend

  
July 2002
Dear Friends,
in 2 weeks I'll be on the way back to Italy and it's really unbeliveble that are already pass 6 motnhs!
Here the time has been really fast and all the emotion are changed my way to be and I hope I've improved part or my strange behaviour.
In the last months I've been involved basically on the image of our Organization and to make the development that we brought part of the projects where we was involved. We didn't succed at all but I think also a small success can be a reason to come here and to start to make the different.
Here they need all, and I mean from basic things ..... they need once on top EDUCATION, the school system is complitly obsolete and there is nothing to compare with our school.
The teacher class are not trained propely and the students keep this problem. The material are all over not enough and of course for the teacher that have the mission to educate all this became harder. Can u imagine a school without books? I'm not talking about forniture, because to seat on the floor it's not a problem but when you use all your time to copy from the blackboar what the teacher write without an explanation I think you'll miss all the needed part of our school and I mean when you have to use your brain to solve problem and to connect subjects.... here you just write and than repeat without any knoledge what you have learned!
Than there is the HIV/AIDS problem, hudge like to claimb an HIGH mountain. Here their sex behaviour make this problem bigger and bigger ..... it's not easy to find a girl that 17 old hasn't got a kids and go around with him hanging in the back!!!!
Here to talk about family is talking about a sort of clan, where all kids belonging to this clan that is based on mothers,fathers,hant,ancle,sohn,dortha.... and all the people that live around all this person, it's normal if you can keep your keep you give to someone in the clan, a sister or your mother , and it's not so far that you don't see often your kid!!!
The funeral is part of the life and of the day, to lose someone is like in our families there is someone sick for flu!
 
July 2002
Dear friends,
yesterday my father (Pietro) has raisen to heaven. The sofference has come in our family and now we ask all of you all over the world to pray for him and for our family. I'll be back in Italy next sunday and I'll join my family.
The smile of my father will always be in my heart and if today I'm here is because he is a good father, I'm thankfull to God for it and I hope that now he's happy in His hands.
Thanks all of you!
Your friend