It all started in December 2022, when the meeting between the children of AINA and Chiara’s suffering took place. We were building a new school in the village, and there were many emotions circulating: seeing a space take shape where children can study and create future possibilities. As we tell the children the story of Chiara, they begin to pray for her.
Let us think of a young woman travelling across her horizon between life and death. As we think of her, we are struck by the power of her smile and the energy of her fighting spirit. We wonder about the nature of her struggle… we look up at the setting sun and sense that her struggle is transforming into hope and faithfulness to life in all its facets.
The days pass ever more quickly and around Chiara connections of Love, Friendship and Prayer are formed so that Chiara’s hope and joy may leave a mark on us who struggle to find meaning in the senselessness of life. We decide that as soon as school ends, this will be remembered: “Chiara, your smile is always with us”. So on 15 August, on the solemnity of the Assumption, we bless and inaugurate Chiara’s school, or rather “Chiara’s Smiles”.
We are increasingly convinced that Love is born from Encounter. Love transforms our lives, which are increasingly directed towards pursuits that are sometimes ‘meaningless’. Chiara teaches us that we must always live every moment with dignity and courage: each of us is responsible for the gift of Life.
Today, Chiara is present in the lives of many people who knew her directly or indirectly and who were touched by her ability to accept and transform pain. Through this, she showed us, because she lived it herself, that living means knowing how to give.
And so the project was born: ‘Chiara’s Smiles’. From poverty and misery, we want to commit ourselves to offering tools for growth to the many children who, like Chiara, struggle to find meaning between the dimensions of Thanatos and Eros!
To support the project ‘I Sorrisi di Chiara’ (Chiara’s Smiles), CLICK HERE
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