Paolo, Antonella, and Fabio are close friends from Ponte Lambro who, through the association "NOIVOILORO," work to welcome young people with disabilities and integrate them into the workplace. A future issue will explore their association's activities and evolution. For now, we publish "The True Story of Giorgio, His Work, and His Life in the World Around Him"—an account that Paolo, in collaboration with Antonella and Fabio, has written as a faithful witness and friend.
Giorgio has made his way through a "formation" that has taught him to live with optimism and acceptance, even when work brings real difficulties.
He attended school at the "La Nostra Famiglia" institute in Ponte Lambro until age fifteen. From fifteen to twenty-one, he had his first significant—indeed, defining—work experience at La Nostra Famiglia's "Guided Work Center" in Como, where he assembled camping equipment.
During those years, Giorgio showed remarkable strength of character and a spirit of sacrifice. It was his first taste of independence using public transportation: a thirty to forty-minute bus ride, his first test of endurance and faithfulness. Lateness was not tolerated; like any other employee, he would lose a quarter hour or more from his wages.
This experience, despite his youth, demanded great commitment and genuine maturity in relating to others—qualities that still define him today.
When he aged out of that program, Giorgio reluctantly left a workplace that had become his own. In September 1990, he began working at "Acquacolor," a textile dye factory in Erba, about three kilometers from home. He would stay there until March 2002.
His father drove him to work each day. The strain of starting was real. Giorgio never spoke of his fears, but his parents—watching him lose weight, watching his face—could see the difficulty he was living through. As always, his persistence and trust in others bore fruit. He formed a deep friendship with an older coworker, a man who truly mattered to him. When this friend retired, Giorgio's pain was visible.
When the factory closed and downsized, Giorgio faced unemployment. It was not easy. But thanks to his parents' efforts, this young man's willpower, and the prayers of friends who knew his struggle, April 2002 brought news like a gift from heaven: a new part-time job at "Pontelambro Industria," where he works today. There, Giorgio assists with the final stage where twenty-five-meter rolls of plastic-wrapped material come off the line. He inspects and labels each roll before it is packaged and shipped.
Giorgio settled into this new place quietly, gradually, yet over time he built genuinely positive relationships. Now he works each day with pride and dignity. Through work, Giorgio has found something essential: a sense of himself as ordinary, as capable, as valued by others. He believes in people, and that belief makes him whole.
The most beautiful thing about Giorgio—the constant thread through all his working life—is his need and gift for forming deep friendships with his coworkers. He connects intensely with people who truly accept him. When these people leave, for whatever reason, his first response is worry. He closes in a little. It happens to all of us, but knowing how fragile and sensitive young people like Giorgio are, we must step in and offer them moral support.
Giorgio needs affection as everyone does. He seeks it through volunteer work at a local assembly program, where he has found more friends. This "living fully" keeps him at peace. When he talks with me, he tells me about these relationships and I can hear when someone matters to him especially. Recently, for example, he has been a bit sad because his aerobics instructor at a gym here in Ponte Lambro will be leaving. Giorgio cares deeply for her. He was genuinely accepted there. And this separation, as I mentioned, is a small trauma for him. He has had the misfortune of losing friends to death too—Don Dario, Nicola Tagliabue—friends who have left a void. But that is part of life.
For nearly twenty years, he has taken guitar lessons with me, and together we write for a local newspaper called "IL PICCHIO." He is proudly our sports correspondent, and despite the occasional error, he has been writing about sports since 1995. So Giorgio is truly engaged! And for all of this I say "THANK YOU!"—to him and to his parents.
Paolo Tardonato, 2004
Giorgio's story matters because it shows us the reality of work in different settings, and it lets us see something important once again.
Giorgio's calm and dedication to his work—and that of many like him, kind and willing—depend entirely on the relationships he builds with coworkers and supervisors. Clear, simple explanations are essential for him. Pity and excessive joking are, as always, harmful. But genuine solidarity and intelligent, sincere friendship are as necessary as air. When you think about it, the same is true for each of us, as Paolo rightly observed. But we don't feel it right away. We don't show it with the same immediacy. So we end up blaming our own unhappiness on other causes.