Kinder sind meine Schönheit

It's been almost three months since I started my project in Westerkappeln. Working with kids is not so easy as it could seem. They require attention, patience and above all care. They want to be listened and to have someone to play with. Loneliness is not a word admitted in my project and I agree with this principle: kids need to spend time with people, socialize and find out the beauty of being different and, consequently, special. ​When I moved to Germany for my EVS, I expected I should have acted like a "teacher" by sharing my knowledge and helping kids with homeworks or so. As usual, reality is totally upside-down. To my kids I look like a big sister to hug, to drive sometimes crazy with their jokes, to play with and- most importantly- to tell their stories.

​One day, I started talking with two kids who came in Germany from Syria. They started describing me how their hometown, Aleppo, is not anymore a cozy play wherein live with family. "Giulia, do not go there. It is not nice" they warned me. See, I read daily news about  the hell down to Syria and cities such as Aleppo and Homs, but hearing the stories of my kids made me feel paralyzed, because I sitting in front of someone who saw the war and its dreadful consequences for real. Witnesses of horror at an age which should be dedicated only to joys, fun and childhood. ​But their sadness and homesick passed away as soon as they found out I was from Italy. They surprised me by singing an old Italian song which their fathers taught them. I joined them, cheerful and blessed to be able to share something of my roots with them.

​That day I understood an important lesson: we must sometimes learn from kids the art of semplicity, the art of telling our feeling and of opening our heart without any hesitation to someone we trust, because we will always find complicity and empathy.