The South of the world still has many needs, perhaps more than before. While it is still very much needed, cooperation must be adapted to these growing needs through the search for new tools and forms of action, without however neglecting the values that underlie its history. In seventy years, CELIM has been able to change and grow, becoming a more professional and specialised organisation that draws its strength precisely from the idealistic drive that is at the root of its creation. This will give our organisation the strength and momentum to overcome future challenges. This is how Daniele Conti, 60, vice president of our NGO, sees CELIM’s future. His analysis goes way back to the experience he lived with his wife in Zambia in the late eighties. “I learned about CELIM when I was twenty – he recalls -. In those years the strong political commitment of the young people of the Seventies had given way to a greater social commitment aimed at providing practical responses for the needs of the last. Coming to CELIM was the natural outcome of my commitment in my parish, hence the result of a journey of faith. A personal journey that, at the time, was shared by many of my generation”.
Finding CELIM helped you fulfil your desire to have an experience in the field of international civil service for your Africa…
In 1989, my wife Carla and I left for Zambia. For two years we focused on an agricultural development project financed by the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs. We worked in a difficult area called by locals Death Valley, a depression created by the Zambezi River where the government had relocated the communities that had been evacuated following the construction of the Kariba Dam. The area was densely populated and, even then, we were beginning to glimpse the issues of environmental fragility that over time would become so pressing by taking away precious resources from families and increasing their poverty . For two years, Carla and I worked alongside farmers helping them with rural development actions in a perspective of cooperation. Alongside these actions, there were also programmes aimed at promoting the role of women in local communities. Our commitment has always taken into account the cultural characteristics of local populations. We never wanted to impose our own vision, on the contrary, we always tried to promote gradual changes in society through a sustained action of mediation.
How did this experience in Africa affect your life?
Working with CELIM has been a very powerful experience that had an impact on my lifestyle, as well as that of my wife and, I would say, my entire family. So much so that, a decade later, we had another experience as lay missionaries in the context of the ecclesial exchange projects of Milan’s diocese.
What values have you brought back with you from the African continent?
As part of my luggage I brought back, first of all, a respect for diversity . Diversity is a richness that makes us better if we accept to get to know those who live next to us and pay attention to their history, their culture, their traditions. I would also say that my cooperation experiences taught me the importance of sobriety , that is, a simple approach to things. This is an important concept to convey, especially to younger people who are approaching a very different reality , such as the Italian one, which is dominated by image and the superfluous. Aside from bringing back this wealth, I must admit that an aid-worker’s life also involves some difficulties , the biggest one being returning home. There is a risk of praising one’s experience abroad by setting it against the situation in Italy. The true value, on the other hand, lies in turning the experience you lived into a wealth that can be integrated into your daily, professional and family life experience.
After returning from Africa you continued to work at CELIM, what expertise were you able to bring?
Once in Italy I tried to convey the need for broadening our outlook beyond the local context, for thinking that the cultural realities and traditions beyond our borders can enrich us. As I mentioned, diversity is a positive value that can be transmitted to boys and girls starting from school. Over the years, CELIM has been able to take this vision a step further by promoting projects in schools that also disseminate an attention to the values of social integration (increasingly needed in our society ) and a sensitivity to environmental issues and sustainable development.
How did you see CELIM change in these years and how do you see the future of our NGO?
CELIM has undergone much change because cooperation has changed a lot. When we first set out for Africa, our projects were characterised by limited preparation and great spontaneity. Now there is greater planning and specialisation, little or nothing is left to chance, every aspect of the projects is carefully studied and retrospectively analysed. However, I like to believe that, today as then, the idealistic drive that moved us young people of the eighties is not lost and is still moving today’s aid-workers. I think that the values of attention to people, selflessness , connection with the territory and with different cultures are still intact. And I believe that it is precisely from these values that CELIM can build its future.