Doctor and Volunteer
Dear friends at Ombre e Luci, I came across your magazine through a friend who subscribed and lent me her copies. Later I found it in the parish mail. The magazine captivated me, and I've tried to spread the word about it.
For about a year I worked with people with handicaps and their families at an association called "L'Arcobaleno," which I helped found. Since then—and continuing now—I am a conscientious objector doing civil service at a group home for handicapped people and those with chronic illness in Foggia.
I'm 28, a doctor specializing in psychiatry. I don't take on a medical role in my work—neither at my practice in Cerignola, where I live, nor at the Foggia house, where I do everything. Adopting a professional role in volunteer work is particularly difficult. What I've valued in this time is simply being present. After my conscientious objection service, I'd like to work at Osimo—a place I learned about from an Ombre e Luci article some months ago. Child psychiatry is very scarce where I am.
I'm sending you several addresses—perhaps too many. I don't know how many will subscribe or are truly interested. But I'm convinced that the freshness of your message will help them greatly in their work and in their family struggles.
Regarding your survey, when asked whether our parish wanted to distribute Ombre e Luci, we said yes. One copy already arrives. If you send a few more copies, we'll announce them during Mass, and if anyone is interested, we'll send you their name.
I greet you in peace and joy.
Salvatore Russo, 1989
We look forward to hearing from Salvatore about the "L'Arcobaleno" association and the group home where he serves, so we can share his work with our readers. Ombre e Luci is always glad to publish news, initiatives, and volunteer efforts—to make known all that is being done for our friends with handicaps.
A Song After a Fede e Luce Gathering
From the Lierna conference I came home with inner aliveness and deeper peace...
I sing alleluia to the Lord
who picked up this withered reed,
who lit the oil in my lamp,
who tore open my gray sky with light.
I bless you, God,
for the good you have done me,
for the peace you have given and give to me.
Maria Teresa Straulino (a mother), 1989
Worth Copying
Here's an intelligent idea that could easily be adapted and realized in some Italian city. In a Paris neighborhood there is a park complete with a carousel, puppet theater, pond, flower beds, slides, swings, rocks to climb, a beehive, grapevines, and roses. Nothing unusual so far, you might say! But here's what amazes the peaceful citizen looking for fresh air: there is a "scent path." A winding walkway winds through plants of lavender, rosemary, mint, and chamomile flowers. A small central channel carries running water along the path's contours. Before each plant stands a sign with the scientific name in Latin, French, and Braille.
The scents of the flowers and the sound of running water guide the blind visitor, delighted also by the cheerful voices of children from a modern nursery school next to the garden. A "delicious aroma" and a "divine music" for someone who endures daily the smog and deafening traffic noise of a great city like Paris.
Barbara Pentimalli, 1989