I have never been an international volunteer and my friends at CELIM often held it against me in a good-natured way. History, or Providence for those who believe in it, wanted differently and as always it must be accepted and thanked for what it has given us. However, I have had the fortune and privilege of traveling many times to the countries where CELIM conducted development projects: Zambia above all (almost every year for over 20 years), but also Kenya, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Albania, Kosovo, as well as Countries visited for other NGOs: Tanzania, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Congo, Turkey, Lebanon.

They have always been short missions of a few weeks, but always full of contacts, emotions and experiences. Human above all, which are the most important and enriching. I still remember my first trip to Zambia in 1985, to the Zambezi valley, where I literally felt catapulted into another world! The impact with the African rural reality was very strong and I remember thinking: only by coming here can you understand what this world is, if they tell you about it and show it in photos or videos it is different. You have to smell the smells, the perfumes, feel the wide-open eyes of dozens and dozens of children, experience the engaging and irresistible rhythm of their music, be amazed by their simplicity and hospitality together, remain breathless under a terrifying starry night sky, after a quick sunset of a red sun. That first time was in December, with Carla Gussoni, pediatrician (also of my daughters) and dear friend of those years; we returned to Milan just before Christmas, with the city festively decorated, full of lights and shops full of everything. The contrast with what I had seen and experienced up until the day before in Zambia was shocking and a life lesson.

Of the many evaluation missions carried out in Zambia, Ivory Coast, Mozambique etc. I remember the moments shared with the volunteers, always beautiful. Daniele, do you still remember the bridge games with Roberto Minotti and his incomprehensible “sixth post”? Or when I explained that the gecko on the table, after a blow from me, pretended to be dead and after half an hour was still motionless and now stone cold?! Or chasing the cockerel that, full of testosterone, came to us attracted by the chickens and then ended up bloodless? But I also remember the pain of when I went to Christine’s funeral, who died in a road accident like many, alas, in those countries where roads, vehicles and drivers too often leave something to be desired.

And the endless discussions with the missionaries to maintain a “secular” approach to our interventions, non-welfare and respectful of their times and ways. And the long, jolting journeys on the back of the jeep (we were poorer then too) and the forgotten young man from Lusitu locked in the back with a goat for three hours! We laughed about it for an evening, but he laughed a little less. Or the lunch offered to us by a Subcentre family consisting of “deviled” mice: beautifully flattened in a pan and roasted. That time I didn’t have much of an appetite and I enjoyed the toasted flying ants more.

I have always returned richer inside than when I left and I still thank those I met there then: locals, volunteers, nuns and missionaries. I owe a lot to CELIM and over the years I have tried to repay it at least in part by taking on some positions of responsibility, obviously always as a volunteer. I had the honor of chairing the CELIM board for 21 years and even those years were full of moments of sharing with other members of our NGO: some beautiful, others more difficult, with choices that were sometimes painful, but always made in an attempt to favor the organisation, its growth and the success of its work in favor of brothers less fortunate than us, but with the same rights.

CELIM is a year older than me and is like an older brother, one of the family… obviously an Inter fan!

Matteo Crovetto
Italy