Volunteering

The volunteering night that I did with Ronda della Solidarieto has probably been one of my favorite things that i've done in Rome so far. To understand a different culture you need to know all sides of it. It was so interesting to know more about the people in poverty that I see every day around the city but don't know much about. Also, this organization was very different from any I have volunteered with before. Every one there seemed fully invested in the people they were helping. They weren't just volunteering to make themselves feel better, they genuinely cared about these people and treated them as equals. As unfortunate as it is, that doesn't seem to happen very often. Throughout the night we made special stops in order to accommodate for different people like one deaf and blind man who sought out. There was also a shy girl who did not like to be around big groups so we brought her portion to a store where she could pick it up on her own. I was especially struck when we walked up to one man and he began hugging a few of the woman and calling them sorella. There was a bond there that was completely unique from other situations i've been in which was really refreshing. Of course now I am forgetting his name but the whole night was made because one of the men that was volunteering with us took the time to explain these different situations to us in English which I greatly appreciated.