Magazine

Volunteers Charity

Federica Beretta, 25 years, from Milano
Recent graduate in Medicine and Surgery, Rome campus

I didn’t know what Mal d’Afrique was. Now I have returned to my everyday life, I do. I think it is that knot in my stomach every time I think about Africa, a sense of emptiness, as if I had left a part of myself there. It leaves me feeling slightly lonely amid the chaos that surrounds me and sends me into deep thought and reflection that others can’t comprehend because it is difficult to make them understand the significance of your experience.
I didn’t think the Charity Work Program could have such an effect on me. It allowed me to grow, to see the real value of the things we often take for granted in our society and in our routines and, at the same time, also to appreciate the little things in life, from a simple smile to a caress, to a word of comfort.
My most amazing experience was delivering, on my own, a beautiful baby boy, having been given the chance to help with the birth of a child. Then something happened that I don’t think would happen anywhere else in the world: the father said to me “what is your father called?”, and I said: “Paolo, like my maternal grandfather and also my second name”, and he replied: “Ok, we will call our child Paulo in your honour”. I was struck dumb, I couldn’t believe it,