Cammarata (Italy). Inspired by a nursery rhyme of the Italian author Gianni Rodari, the young people of the Civil Service and the children of the community housing for unaccompanied foreign minors of Mary Help of Christians Longo Institute, of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of Mother Magdalene Morano Province (ISI), created small trains with recycled materials and placed them in different points of the town of Cammarata, in the province of Agrigento, Sicily.
In the nursery rhyme “A train loaded with … is coming” Gianni Rodari tells the children about a train with twelve wagons, one for each month of the year. In each car there are gifts related to the different seasons. The last one, in December, “is made entirely of panettone, has candied cedar cushions and torrone doors”.
In the impossibility, due to the pandemic, to carry out the activities planned for the Christmas holidays, including the living Nativity Scene on the theme “the Crib, an embrace that welcomes” and the evening with typical dishes and multi-ethnic atmospheres, the young people of the Civil Service and the children from the Community of the Mary Help of Christians Longo Institute released their imagination and creativity, creating trains and wagons to leave a positive sign in the town of Cammarata.
The trains are positioned in public places: in front of the Municipality, in the town square, in a green area, and in various commercial activities such as butchers’ shops, bakeries, grocery stores, etc., so that they are clearly visible to the whole community of Cammarata.
What are these trains loaded with?
“First of all, wishes of peace and hope, of welcome and hugs, which in this time cannot be given in person. But they are also full of our love for the environment. In fact, the trains were built by the children of the Institute and by the young people of the Civil Service, exclusively with recycled and discarded material and with a lot of patience,” explains Alessandra of the Civil Service.
“They are traveling all over Cammarata to witness that, even if it is difficult, something can be done. We designed them to give a sign of hope and joy, which will transport us all into a more peaceful and less complicated period. Our trains are also loaded with unsuccessful intentions and the hope of being able to put them into effect again. They are full of good intentions and afternoons spent together pasting flowers with hot glue or painting boxes.”
“Accept them as a message of love and load them too, with your dreams and hopes”, is the invitation of the young people, who wish them a “Merry Christmas of hope”.
Source: fmaisi
