2016-07-01
GENERAL HOUSE
General House welcomes refugees
Three immigrants from Ivory Coast arrived to the general house on June 23, after the general superior and the general council announced they would open the doors to refugees back in September.
Hamed, 35, Moussa, 19, and Adama, 24, will stay at the general house for six months as part of an integration programme in collaboration with Caritas.
During this time, they will learn the Italian language and culture and obtain their two-year renewable Italian residency permit.
After the six months, Caritas will then offer them another location as part of the second phase of their integration into the Italian society.
The Brothers believe this experience of welcoming people who are in precarious situations and welcoming a very different culture will enrich the community.
The Ivoirians, who are living in a small apartment on the ground floor, will be able to eat breakfast and dinner alongside the Brothers of the general house when they finish Ramadan.
Caritas, on the other hand, is offering them the Italian lessons, lunch, metro and bus tickets and €2.50 each day.
“Both members of the general council and myself give our full commitment to this wonderful initiative, offering the general house immediately to welcome a family,” superior general Brother Emili Turú had stated in an appeal issued on Sept. 8 for Brothers Provincial of Europe to do the same.
The initiative is a response to the Pope’s appeal to the Church in Europe to take in migrant families during his Angelus prayer on Sept. 6.