The General House welcomes young immigrants
The Marist Brothers at the General House, in collaboration with Caritas in Rome, have welcomed 12 young immigrants since 2016, and 3 more young people are currently living at the House, in a similar way to the 1980s and 1990s. Generally, the young people stay with the Marists for 3 to 28 months, depending on their situation and success in finding work. The young men who arrive are almost always already attending educational centres and have basic Italian.
Under the overall direction of Caritas in Rome, the community of the General Administration provides the young people with room and board while they study, work and regularise their situation. The important thing is to help them integrate into the working and social world of the host country.
In most cases, the young people are of Muslim faith. In these cases, the Marist Brothers adapt to their prayer schedules and fasting times.
Currently, due to the pandemic, which calls for physical and social distancing, the Brothers have reduced physical contact with the young people, as they are constantly going out to work and study, but a team of three brothers is always at their disposal for any need. On the other hand, there are also regular meetings with a social worker from Caritas to follow up on the situation of the 3 guests in the Marist House.
The 3 young guests at the General House
The first is a 26-year-old Guinean asylum seeker. He was accepted in June 2019. For the time being, he is waiting for the Supreme Court’s response to his asylum application. This young man has completed the remaining two years of upper secondary school and is currently studying mechanics at a technical institute, as well as working as a food-delivery rider.
The second is a 46-year-old Nigerian asylum seeker. He too was accepted in June 2019. He is waiting for a response to his asylum application. He graduated from public school last year and works as a gardener.
The third young man currently in the General House is from Venezuela and has been accepted for a few months. Like the other two, he is also an asylum seeker. This young man has a degree in journalism and plays in the baseball team of the Latin American community present in Italy. He speaks Italian very well and has won a scholarship to study “NGO Management” at the Angelicum University in Rome, with the support of the Scalabrinians. He also assists as a scholarship holder in a project of photographic reporting on the sports teams of migrant communities in Rome.