Sometimes it happens to feel alone, sad and without energy; at that moment I say “Alè Alè” to find the energy inside me. When I feel myself and I believe in me, nothing becomes impossible. And I don't worry if when I cheer “Alè Alè” people go away: they will probably return. In all likelihood, someone will approach and start to say “Alè Alè” as well.
It was precisely the desire to meet and to know people who could cheer “Alè Alè” with me that pushed me into the heart of Africa. When I left Italy, I did not know what to expect. It was like a jump in the shadow, but the curiosity and the desire to know a new world and to meet new people made me go to Nairobi, in a rehabilitation school for kids from the street. I saw things that I thought did not exist, I saw so many smiles, I also saw horrible things, I smelled the savannah and the stink of the Korogocho dumpsite, I met people of every kind: I knew myself. I learned a lot from the people I met in Africa and I realized that after all, we are the same despite the differences in culture, religion, political paths, economies, and languages. The affinities lie in the nature of human beings, in their propulsive forces, in the defensive mechanisms, in their limits and in their tendency to overcome them, in their lights and shadows. The ridge distribution of genetic characteristics, biological anthropology and the study of migratory flows testify the absence of true biological boundaries within the human species. This shows what already at the dawn of human history, the early philosophers and all those, seeking answers, sensed: the universality of human being 's nature. Moreover, one of the things that struck me in Africa was the strong sense of community besides the difficult conditions of life. Here in Europe, everything works perfectly, or almost, but people actually seem to "work" worse: having many things, having many services and comforts, in addition to the precious good of life, takes us away from the full awareness of our being, from the other people and from life itself. Instead in Africa, where less things works, from transport to infrastructure, people "make a lot of community" and so "work" very well. Africans are very aware of the value of life since they own few things a part the life itself.
We came back from Africa with a deeper awareness of ourself. As Alex Zanotelli, a member of the Combonian missionaries who spent several years of his life in Korogocho, says: "You are not a human being because you have ideas but you are a human being because you are able to connect with other people and grow with them" and so
“Alè Alè”
It was precisely the desire to meet and to know people who could cheer “Alè Alè” with me that pushed me into the heart of Africa. When I left Italy, I did not know what to expect. It was like a jump in the shadow, but the curiosity and the desire to know a new world and to meet new people made me go to Nairobi, in a rehabilitation school for kids from the street. I saw things that I thought did not exist, I saw so many smiles, I also saw horrible things, I smelled the savannah and the stink of the Korogocho dumpsite, I met people of every kind: I knew myself. I learned a lot from the people I met in Africa and I realized that after all, we are the same despite the differences in culture, religion, political paths, economies, and languages. The affinities lie in the nature of human beings, in their propulsive forces, in the defensive mechanisms, in their limits and in their tendency to overcome them, in their lights and shadows. The ridge distribution of genetic characteristics, biological anthropology and the study of migratory flows testify the absence of true biological boundaries within the human species. This shows what already at the dawn of human history, the early philosophers and all those, seeking answers, sensed: the universality of human being 's nature. Moreover, one of the things that struck me in Africa was the strong sense of community besides the difficult conditions of life. Here in Europe, everything works perfectly, or almost, but people actually seem to "work" worse: having many things, having many services and comforts, in addition to the precious good of life, takes us away from the full awareness of our being, from the other people and from life itself. Instead in Africa, where less things works, from transport to infrastructure, people "make a lot of community" and so "work" very well. Africans are very aware of the value of life since they own few things a part the life itself.
We came back from Africa with a deeper awareness of ourself. As Alex Zanotelli, a member of the Combonian missionaries who spent several years of his life in Korogocho, says: "You are not a human being because you have ideas but you are a human being because you are able to connect with other people and grow with them" and so
“Alè Alè”
