In the Refuge of Hope, in Mexico, young people and adults follow social reintegration paths after recovering from addictions (alcohol, drugs, toxic substances). The project was started by AMU to give a concrete response to these fragilities that are one of the social emergencies of Mexico.
Our Lia , the project coordinator, has been to the Refuge in recent weeks, where she met the protagonists of these difficult journeys. She met them. She spoke with them at length. She saw the struggle of each one in continuing along the path they have taken : “They are taking their lives back into their own hands, far from addictions”. The strength of these paths lies in community sharing , in the action of work, in spirituality: “The testimonies, the dialogues and the meetings in daily life shared with them, have made us understand how much the change in their life is taking place”. And the sentences that Lia has noted in her travel diary testify to a new vision of life and the future . There are those who would like to go back to studying at university; those who confesses that having now “the mind busy with a job” is a resource for the present; who learns “to serve others by cooking”. And who appreciates the tranquility that can be felt at the Rifugio della Speranza: “Nature transmits peace to me”. Lia’s many meetings, not only with the guests of the Refuge, but also with families, volunteers and friends who gravitate around the Refuge itself, are evidence that there is a community network with a great vocation for service.
