What is CELIM? It is difficult, if not impossible, to summarize 70 years of CELIM in all that it has achieved and is achieving today in Italy and the Global South, better to tell it through the encounters CELIM has had with its volunteers and beneficiaries. My encounter with the Milan-based NGO took place in 2019 through my civil service in the Western Province of Zambia, working on rural development, a reality that is certainly not easy, but full of life and energy. CELIM was therefore an opportunity for an encounter with a strong diversity in terms of perspectives, cultures, work and ways of life. An encounter that is impossible to describe in all its components, that is confrontation and not judgment, and the ability to collaborate across all distances. This vision and this attitude towards the world have been with me ever since. Back in Italy, I am now involved in research, although in Colalboro with third sector organizations in international cooperation, and I certainly owe this also to CELIM. So, another 70 years of CELIM!

Michele Salvan
Zambia