"After thinking about it for a long time, we decided to do the summer volunteering experience in another community, being the first animators of our work to do such a thing. We've always been in Santiago del Estero to receive others in our oratory, but this time it was up to us to reach another home in a place we knew nothing about. We went without any expectations, but with a heart prepared for everything that would come," they say.
In Rio Tercero, the volunteers perceived the Salesian spirit strongly. "Even for them, it was the first time they opened the doors to volunteers from other provinces, and from the first day they made us feel at home."
Agustín and Guadalupe were not alone: there were also 6 other volunteers with them, and for everyone the proposal was for them to be available to live different moments on the various days. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, they went on a mission to the Magnasco area, talking and interacting with the boys and girls in the neighborhood and their families. On that occasion, the squares and courtyards were filled with jugglers and small artists. On Tuesday and Thursday morning, there was training for volunteers, with the opportunity to get to know each other better and to meet God. And in the evening, there were the so-called "Active Nights" (NEA, in Spanish), moments in which games, sports and music could be shared, always in good company.
The motto of the initiative was: "Holiness is walking together", based on the 2019 Strenna of the Rector Major. Looking back on their experience, Agustín and Guadalupe observe: "We've met many good animators in this beautiful courtyard. Above all, beautiful people, with a big heart, who give all of themselves to the children who need it. We spent incredible days, in which God was always present, in everything we did. It was so much that we experienced that we didn't want to leave."
"Our advice to all the animators who feel the desire to carry out a voluntary work is to convince themselves to go towards God, to face other realities, to leave their comfort zone and to follow and live the Salesian charism," they conclude .
