"We went back to Albania, to repeat the experience, the mission, to strengthen our brotherhood " Fr. Andrea Picciau wrote on returning from Shkoder with 17 young people, leaders of the Eucharistic Youth Movement. We were present to support the birth of 3 new youth realities; one in Balldren near Lesha, another in Sukht near Durres, both communities present in diocesan parishes and another at the Pieter Meshkalla Institute. This was a journey to the peripheries prioritizing what is of value.

"This wooden road has changed the perspective of my journey"

"What struck me was their strength and their determination" Matteo from Torino confided, "their ability to fight for a better future. I was somewhat sadwhen I came in contact with their reality. They are not different from me, yet life seems to be constantly challenging them. The recent earthquake is an example. All this makes me aware of how privileged I am, of the many opportunities that I have ... In these suburbs we walked through a disastrous road, supported only by wooden beams reinforced with concrete. I thought how one tremor is enough to demolish everything, about their difficulties and how the State has abandoned them. This wooden road has changed the perspective of my journey. It brings me closer to prayer, to the Lord and reminds me that what I desire to do is to help others at present and in the future ".

"I found the Lord in the eyes of the people"

"I found the Lord in the eyes of the people who opened their front door to us, who allowed us to enter their simple life, people with a big heart and sincere eyes, alwayswith a smile on their face, the smile of someone who has never lost hope " Anna from Cagliari disclosed." I saw the Lord also in their generosity: people who have little but give you everything, people who have told us about their difficult past, as well as the joy of overcoming, which is visible in every smile, in every hug they give and in their sharing with us. ".

"A place I had never seen before has now become my home."

Anita looked back on the experience a few weeks later: "My life has been filled with so much beauty. I found the Lord, from whom I have been so far for so long, in the stories and smiles of these people. A place I had never seen before has now become my home. "

"You experience the marvel of those who have very little, but give you everything"

"The first thing you learn is that the things that you usually attach so much importance to are worth nothing," Clarice from Roma writes. "They don't make you a betterperson, they aren't really beneficial to you. I understood this when visiting the prisons and the places struck by the earthquake, places where people sleep in tents, next to their demolished house. You experience the marvel of those who have very little, but give you everything and when you greet them, they give you a mandarin. Empathy, getting emotional, pain is what you experience, but also hope, when you turn to prayer.”