Membra sumus corpori magni

“We are members of a great body. Nature has made us brothers, for we are born of the same elements and for the same purpose. It has instilled in us mutual love and made us sociable. It has established what is fair and just; according to its law, it is more wretched to do evil than to suffer an offense. By its command, hands are always ready to help those in need. Let us always keep in our hearts and on our lips that famous verse: ‘I am a man; nothing human is alien to me. Let us remember this: we were born to live together. Our society is much like a vault of stones, which would collapse if not for the way each stone supports the others—yet it is precisely through this mutual support that it holds firm.”

Epistulae ad Lucilium 95

What I experienced in the two years I spent in the village, what this place represents for me, is a tangible demonstration of how vital it is to live for others. You cannot truly live a fulfilled life if you think only of yourself. You must “live for your neighbor if you want to live for yourself.”And it is only through the emotions these children—so full of love—convey, and through the presence of every person in the village, from the first to the last, that you can truly understand how love is at the heart of everything. It’s not just about what you receive, but even more about what you can give.
Because love is only real when you know how to give it. And if your goal, when arriving at the village, is to give as much as possible to each of them, you will certainly leave knowing that you have received at least twice as much—even in something as simple as a child’s gentle touch.