Many of my readers want to know if Lina and Feroza from Four Feet Two Sandals find a home and if they ever meet again.
In my imagination I hope they have found a place like this town in Riace, Italy.
Riace is located in the southern province of Reggio Calabria. A number of years ago the mayor of Riace came up with an idea to keep his town alive. Young Italians were leaving to find work in the north, schools had to close, homes were abandoned and the town was failing. The mayor saw a way to save his town and offer a humanitarian way to settle refugees from around the world.
Refugees from Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ethiopia, Syria and other countries where they faced war, persecution and poverty are offered a home and a living stipend. In return they work on upkeep of their housing and work to learn a skill including, fabric arts, wood-working, glassblowing and pottery.
Many of the newcomers to Riace are now speaking Italian, the children are in school. Locals from the village help them to learn new skills, the project has brought tourists to the area and Riace is a vibrant village again.
This is not a fairy tale ending for Lina and the thousands of others like her. It is not easy for a community to accept people from another culture and distant lands. Change comes with difficulty. And this will never be the home that people fleeing persecution and war and poverty dream of returning to. A new home in Italy cannot bring back lost family members or erase the fear and terror that they have experienced. Many of the refugees who are welcomed there eventually move on to other towns where they have located family or find jobs. But Riace is making a difference. It is a place where I would be happy for Lina and Feroza to meet up again and to begin to build a new life.
