“Stories of Hope” is a long-term project. I meet ordinary people that carry a message of hope, a fragment of the future”
— Luca
Story #17 - Alfio (and Fiocco)
Serendipity. Slow life
Alfio Scandurra, Magredi, Pordenone (Italy)
A sad and difficult story but dense with legacy. I met Alfio in June 2021 and waited before posting this story as I promised him I would have loved to dig more into his choices and life. Tree climber, educator and writer, his life changed when he started slowing down, literally.
I was intrigued by the story of a rugby team captain who decides to embrace a slow life in nature in the company of Fiocco, a donkey. He started travelling, mainly in the North East of Italy, to experience nature and raise awareness among children (but also adults) on the importance of all we have around us.
A few days ago, I learned of his passing, at the age, of 52, because of an incurable disease. I returned to our conversation on an evening in Magredi, "slime land", a dry and poor-of-water land in the West of the Friuli region, North East of Italy.
He was there with Fiocco, his donkey and, as he told me, his best friend and mentor.
Thanks to Fiocco, Alfio learned to slow down.
A donkey, by definition, forces you to slow down and take a different pace. Alfio learned to observe, relax, reflect, and be grateful for all the small things around him.
Alfio and Fiocco
He was convinced that beauty is typical of nature. Still, those who enjoy it the most are the only people who learn to look at it and contemplate its simplicity.
“Let us fill with gratitude and let the superfluous, material and mental, go. Look at a leaf, a drop of water, a breath of fresh air: everything is in nature. Even when you take a walk in the mountain, do not rush, but observe and think. It will help value your ordinary
(Alfio)
In an interview he gave to a local magazine Alfio mentioned he was used to camp in the Magredi area, by the fire, on cold winter evenings. He remembered how this land was part of the 'Balkans route', where many Syrian escaped from their country through Serbia and Montenegro with the hope to get a new life in estern Europe.
Thinking at those refugees, I reflect on how many people complain about useless things when many people, in many parts of the world, are still without a house. Some people don't even know what to eat, and we complain because maybe we didn't get a nice Christmas gift or found traffic to get home. You have to learn to be grateful for everything!"
He wanted to share his attitude with children. The story of the man and the donkey, Alfio and Fiocco, started spreading in the region. He was invited to schools, events, and conferences and started organising weekend ateliers for children.
For the future
“I want to teach children that we must learn to live in relation to the environment, hear the sound, observe and feel that we are part of nature.
When we get slower, everything gains a better taste.”
Alfio's legacy is not just a return to nature. It is an approach to life where we please ourselves, we focus on the essentials and stay grateful while rejecting anxiety for the future. Serendipity.
Rest in peace, Alfio. I hope that many of the children you told me about more than one year ago can now have a different approach to life. Keep on strolling, Fiocco will continue his journey with new friends.
STORIES of HOPE. Simple stories of ordinary people that carry a message of hope, a fragment of future. I have been meeting incredible people, that transmit energy, passion, engagement. I talk to them and try to find their message of hope.
Story #16 - “What’s your name?”
The Hoàn Kiếm is a small lake near Hanoi's old town. Kids and teenagers approach you seeking to speak some English
Hoàn Kiếm, Hanoi, Vietnam
The Hoàn Kiếm is a small lake near Hanoi's old town and is surrounded by some of Hanoi's quietest streets that are closed to traffic during weekends. This mirror of water is exceptional: inside, there are a couple of small islands, the smallest of which has a tower known as Tháp Rùal (The Turtle Tower), while the largest is occupied by the numerous pavilions of the Confucian temple of the Jade Mountain.
For locals, this is the soul of the city.
If you are a tourist visiting Hanoi, chances are that, walking by the lake, kids and teenagers approach you and ask you to exchange a few words with them. Don't worry, they do not want to sell you anything.
“What’s your name?”
They just want to practise their English. Most of them make a journey from outside Hanoi hoping to cross a tourist and spend just a few minutes in English.
“I can’t afford English private lessons. I come here at weekends and stop tourists”.
They would offer you a coffee, walk beside you for a while, and even invite you for lunch. The youngest comes with a small notebook with the 'entry questions' we all learned when starting English: "What's your name?" "Where are you from?" "Is this your first time in Vietnam?".
“Do you have time to come to our place for lunch?”'
The new generation's kindness, joy, spontaneity, and hope for a better future were lessons for me.
By the way, legend has it that beneath the waters of Hoan Kiem Lake in the Hanoi Old Quarter, a turtle god guards a magic sword. A stone structure now rises from a small islet in the lake. Known as Thap Ruá, or Turtle Tower, it was built to honor Kim Qui, the magical aquatic guardian of the sword.
STORIES of HOPE. Simple stories of ordinary people that carry a message of hope, a fragment of future. I have been meeting incredible people, that transmit energy, passion, engagement. I talk to them and try to find their message of hope.
Story #15 - Carlo
The need to understand. To avoid repeating the same mistakes.
Carlo Bisconti, Monterotondo, Roma (Italy)
(English version at the bottom)
Ho conosciuto Carlo a Monterotondo, un paese sulla via Salaria fuori Roma. Sono trenta minuti di treno circa dal centro città.
Carlo ama il teatro. Lo fa da 45 anni, dai tempi dell'asilo e dalle prime recite. Nello stesso posto, il Teatro Sala Molloy, di Monterotondo.
“Mi sarebbe piaciuto fare l’attore come professione, inutile negarlo. E’ una passione che ho dentro e che mi porta a trovare nuove storie.”
Mi racconta del suo ultimo lavoro, che ha portato in scena poche settimane fa. Ora é qui in teatro, in un sabato pomeriggio, per rimontare la scena e realizzare un video per promuovere lo spettacolo .
Si intola GUER ed é inspirato dalla Guernica, il famoso dipinto di Picasso. Ma soprattutto dalla storia che c'è dietro il dipinto. Carlo é partito dal dipinto, con infinite ricerche, cercando di isolare le sue varie parti ed immaginare le storie che ci sono dietro.
A proposito di creatività
"Tutto é iniziato durante il lockdown, in cui ho avuto più tempo a disposizione. Volevo capire cosa c'era dietro la storia del Guernica"
Un altro esempio, come in molte delle storie presenti un questo blog, di come la chiusura di tutto ha generato un'apertura creativa.
“Il lavoro di GUER é cominciato con un’idea che avevo: partire dal dipinto e tirar fuori ed estrapolare le immagini, le sagome, i personaggi che stanno dentro la Guernica.”
“Dal punto di vista scenico, siamo partiti dall’immagine totale del dipinto, abbiamo ricavato le sagome sui pannelli di legno e, con mia figlia, illustratrice, abbiamo creato le scene.”
Con un piccolo gruppo di fidati compagni di viaggio, tra i quali la figlia, Carlo é rimasto un anno in queto piccolo teatro di provincia, per capire come definire il dipinto e come portarlo in scena.
"Il fatto che i teatri fossero chiusi al pubblico per il COVID ci ha favorito . E' stato un processo di elaborazione delle informazioni, di studio, di ricerca, incluso la testimonia di uno degli ultimi superstiti, Luis Iriondo , 14enne all'epoca dei fatti. Siamo addirittura andati a Madrid a vedere l'origanle.
Sono sempre stato affascinato dalla deformità delle immagini di Picasso e dal Guernica in particolare. E’ stata una grande scoperta, emozionante sapere sapere cosa c’é dietro e come Picasso é arrivato a questo lavoro. Cosa era successo quella giornata? Perché le morti di quelle persone innocenti?"
Carlo non avrebbe mai pensato che, dopo due anni e mezzo, il suo GUER divenisse di cosi forte attualità, con la guerra in Ukraina.
La forza attaule di questo spettacolo é che GUER é ispirato al bombardamento di Guernica, a quella giornata , ma si può’ associare tranquillamente a quello che succedo oggi a Mariapol in Ucraina.
Racconta le vittime di qualsiasi tipo di guerra.
"Non avremmo mai pensato che la nostra idea descrivesse la realtà che ci circonda. Questo ci dà nuove motivazioni per portare GUER alle scuole, ai ragazzi, per aiutare a far riflettere e a spiegare che troppo spesso ci dimentichiamo della storia".
Il testo é stato creato sulla testimonianza di un 14enne che ritorna al ricordo di quella giornata. Lo spettacolo inizia con una proiezione di alcune notizie che collocano quella giornata nella guerra civile in Spagna, alla salita al potere di Francisco Franco e all’entraa in scena dell’aviazione tedesca e italiana, all’origine del bombardamento a grappolo di Guernica, il primo del suo genere.
Poi il telo si strappa e escono le sagome e gli elementi del Guernica: le sagome sono tutto quello che nascondo le macerie, la distruzione, la morte, la sofferenza… si trasformano e diventano il quadro.
Persone come Carlo hanno una passione speciale. Il viaggio dentro la Guernica é un viaggio attuale, ma che non vorremmo mai fare. Lasciano un segno di speranza, perché ci ricordano gli errori della storia, ci aiutano a capire al di là delle immagine di un dipinto o di un servizio del telegiornale. Perché dietro ci sono persone, madri e padri di famiglia, bambini, anziani sperduti che non vogliono lasciare la terra e si chiedono "perché tutto questo?"
Carlo, spero di vedere il tuto spettacolo, prima o poi. nel frattempo spero tu riesca a promuoverlo tra le scuole e le comunità di Roma e del Lazio (almeno per ora). Per sforzarci di capire.
“Sembra di essere nell’aprile del 1937, a Guernica.”
I met Carlo in Monterotondo, a town on Salaria National Road, 30 min train North of Rome.
Carlo loves theatre. He has been performing for 45 years since his first act at nursery school. Always in teh same theatre, il Teatro Sala Molloy, di Monterotondo.
"I would have loved working as a professional actor. It is a passion, and I will always find time to create new stories and shows ".
He told me about his last work, performed just a few weeks ago.
GUER, the title of his show, takes inspiration from Guernica, the famous painting by Pablo Picasso. But in reality, it is not the piece of art that inspired Carlo but rather the story behind the image.
"Everything started during the lockdown. I had more time, and I wanted to learn more about the hidden stories behind Guernica".
Another example, like many others in this blog, that shows how the lockdown generated creativity.
"From a scenography standpoint, we decompose the Guernica in several parts, creating, together with my daughter, wooden panels and the scenes. We had time, as the theatres were closed, so it took us almost one year of work. We look at testimonies, books, and interviews, including the one from Luisi Iriondo, one of the survivors from this tragedy. He was 14 at that time. We even went to Madrid to admire the 'Guernica' a. What happened exactly that day? Why some many death? who those persons were?"
Carlo never imagined that GUER, created 2 years ago, became so actual today, with the war in Ukraine.
The show's power is that it describes a tragedy that occurred in Guernica in a given historical context. Still, it can be linked to what is happening today in Mariapol or in other cities in Ukraine.
GUER tells about victims of all wars.
That is why Carlo is motivated to bring the story to schools, children, and local communities. To help thinking and raise awareness that we often forget about history and repeat the same mistakes.
Carlo, I hope one day I can come to see your GUER. In the meantime, I hope you can bring your show to as many schools as possible. To help us better understand the situations behind the sufferance and pain.
PS.
A few weeks ago, on 5 April, Ukraine President Zelenski, in front of the member of the Parliament, said: "It feels we are in April 1937, in Guernica".
Carlo Bisconti, Monterotondo (Rome), Italy
STORIES of HOPE. Simple stories of ordinary people that carry a message of hope, a fragment of future. I have been meeting incredible people, that transmit energy, passion, engagement. I talk to them and try to find their message of hope.
Story#14 - Vassiliki
An unfair loss transformed in energy to save lives
Vassiliky, AthensI met Vassiliki in Athens on a tough day for her. 22 March, the day when, eighteen years before, her son Panos was killed at the age of 22 by a reckless driver on his way to class at the University of Patras, 230 km east of the Greek capital.
Even more, we drove the same road. More precisely, we took the new motorway recently built next to the national roadway where the accident occurred. A windy a cald day, that you do not expect in Greece.
A difficult drive"It was a Monday at 12:15, and if the motorway had been ready, Panos hadn't died".
The world stopped for her and her family. You can grasp that feeling only if you experience road fatality directly in your family or in a close circle of friends.
Even though more than 1.3 million persons die on the world's roads every year, it is an invisible pandemia. Till the moment, it gets close to you because it affects your loved ones.
With a solid and well-advanced career in telecommunication, Vassiliki decided to turn all her sadness, anger and unfair loss into something positive. A necessity: no more human losses on the streets of her country.
She sacrificed her career in the telecommunication space and, one year after Panos died, she set up the «Hellenic Research and Educational Institute for Road Safety, Prevention and Reduction of traffic accidents "Panos Mylonas"», an NGO dedicated to improving road safety.
Since then, Vassiliki, with tireless dedication and commitment, promoted many activities, engaging universities, institutions, and the private sector.
"No one should die as Panos did. We can prevent similar situations from happening".
A challenging day on that route.
"I drive at least 125,000 km per year, but on this very road, I don't feel safe, I get too emotional, particularly today".
Vaggelis, one of her talented staff (the Institute now counts 15 employees without the volunteers and freelance) took over the drive.
She told me about the countless activities promoted by the Institute: for children at schools; for tourists at the border when visiting her country; for students at the Universities; for citizens in public squares.
She built a network of support, because she strongly believe road safety should concern everybody, with no esclusions.
Involving everyone
"This is our message. It encourages a safe driving. You see? We have been mobilising everybody"
All Greek Community trust and respect her because she channelled an unfair loss into something positive for the society, implementing evidence-based programmes and contributing to saving lives.
That is also probably why one of the tunnels of the new motorway was entitled to Panos.
The day after I met Vassiliki, the Academy of Athens has awarded her and the Road Safety Institute “Panos Mylonas” with a distinction for Ethics and Political Sciences, for the year 2021, for their exceptional work in raising awareness on road safety and mobility education among citizens
Awards, recognitions, ceremonies help her to remember every day why she is dedicating her life to road safety and give her new strenghts to design new activities for the Foundation. The website of the R.S.I Panos Mylonas gives a concrete idea of the actions implemented and new projects are on the horizon.
"Here is where our new challenge: a training centre for safe mobility for professional drivers"
It is impressive to experience what she has created in Greece over the last few years.
Vassiliki suffered a tremendous loss, but she probably saved a thousand lives in Greece, thanks to her tireless work.
"Sometime things happen. You cannot imagine how strong you can be after such a loss, and sometimes things lift me up. That gives me strength to continue".
Vasiliki Danelli-Mylona
STORIES of HOPE. Simple stories of ordinary people that carry a message of hope, a fragment of future. I have been meeting incredible people, that transmit energy, passion, engagement. I talk to them and try to find their message of hope.
Story#13 Back on stage
Back on Stage (see my story 7)
Thierry, on stage
‘Storiesofhope’ allows me to meet new people and I am so happy that the first post of the New Year goes back to one of the initial stories.
Thierry was my story#7, but I was the second person I met in April 2021 in Nice, South of France.
During our conversation, I learned from him about one of his plays, designed to be performed in private houses and apartments during the first lockdown: theatres were closed and the possibility to perform in front of spectators, was to bring the shows in private houses (or gardens, or private areas).
But then, as we know, also this opportunity was precluded and for actors was impossible to perform, apart from live-streaming and via internet.
Neverthertheless, Thierry, like many other artists, started thinking of his following projects, theatre for children, new plays, and other new ideas.
One of these was the adaptation for the theatre of his play initially designed for apartments. « Qui va là ?" run here in Paris last December at the Theo Theatre, a small theatre but particularly suitable for this very play.
Founded in 1995, Theo Theatre creates an opportunity to showcase innovative projects and promote the work of young artists.
Thierry kindly invited me to visit him during one of his performances.
I join him right before the show to experience the setting up and to live the moment right before the show: the play is a 'one-man show' and doesn't require much equipment or furniture. But still, there is preparation, concentration and setting up (lights; perspective; materials).
'Qui va là' is a story, written by Emmanuel Darleyn, of an ordinary man. He sits next to the spectators, waiting for the show to start. Realising that the actors are late, he takes the stage and begins his journey on his memories, looking back in time and imagining the scene as his family's apartment. He evokes his childhood, describes his mother and re-imagines his life, entering into a personal dialogue with the spectators.
"Qui va là?" is an intimate play where Thierry shines in bringing the different sentiments and emotions. His storytelling captures the public in a crescendo of emotions.
It is so good to witness and tell stories that come true and become life. That is why I started this project after all.
“See you at your next show, Thierry!”
STORIES of HOPE. Simple stories of ordinary people that carry a message of hope, a fragment of future. I have been meeting incredible people, that transmit energy, passion, engagement. I talk to them and try to find their message of hope.