Rome: One Month In

 

It has been a little over a month now since I arrived in the eternal city. My perspectives regarding my professional and personal life have undoubtedly changed as the people and situations I've encountered have forced me to see things alternatively to my previous norms. Rome is a city which has aged gracefully, constantly attempting to rediscover and reinvent itself in the present, globalizing world. It has simultaneously preserved its monumental legacy as the former capital of an empire and the seat of spiritual authority. No more evident is this current face of the city, one that combines its religious history and modern, interconnected sense of global citizenship, than the the non-for profit organization, Solidarietà Internazionale ONLUS.

Based in the Lasallian Generalite, the organization which I am honored to be a part of, even though only an intern, was established to facilitate the construction and enhancement of educational and development projects throughout the world where the Christian Brothers are present. In an office where Italian, French, Spanish and English are interchanged and spoken fluently, the mission is to forward the opportunities of disadvantaged youths the world over. Fundraising for the construction of a secondary school in Rumbek, South Sudan, or implementing a system of clean, portable water to the most desperate populations of Haiti on the Island of Tortuga, are daily tasks for the team of Solidarietà. It has been enlightening to be surrounded by people who are so oriented and driven to advance the possibilities and improve the livelihood of others. In doing so they carry the Lasallian mission, a centuries old establishment, into the 21st century, attempting to facilitate sustainable development and quality education. Whether it be through the construction of a school, or of a water well, they attempt to provide a basis for people to uplift themselves.