Marina Amalia Zuccala is related to our confrere Claudio Zuccala. She is the daughter of his cousin. She was thinking already to come to Africa last year but did not know where to go. She took time to identify which kind of journey she wanted to do and, by chance, met Father Claudio who spoke to her about Zambia and Malawi. Having little money but plenty of time, she wanted to make good use of it. Travelling just for pleasure was not her concern. How to be useful? Can she be helpful? Which competence does she needs? All those questions were in her mind. Finally, she overcame her doubts and confidently came to Zambia.
Her few weeks experience in the Home of Hope project in Lusaka shown her that what really matter is goodwill and friendliness. Her discovery is quite simple; street boys are essentially boys like any other boys in the world. They like to play and learn.
Marina spent only few weeks with the street boys of Lusaka and her life has already changed for the better. She wanted to give something of herself and ended up gaining most. “Many people of my age, she said, are looking for holidays in nice tourist resorts but I want to discover what life is really all about behind the usual cliché of national parks and poverty as portrayed in Western media. I have discovered that I am warmly welcome as a foreigner, which is not the case in my country in Italy where racism is prevalent. It is not easy to describe it but I feel that I am already a new person. Simply, I realise that, as human beings, we are all the same either in Europe or in Africa. I feel good to be here.”
Marina is right now in Malawi for new discoveries. More precisely, she is in Balaka known to host many projects of the Italian Montfort Missionaries and other religious women Congregations.
We hope to hear again from her before she starts her studies back to Italy.
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Marina Amalia Zuccala is related to our confrere Claudio Zuccala. She is the daughter of his cousin. She was thinking already to come to Africa last year but did not know where to go. She took time to identify which kind of journey she wanted to do and, by chance, met Father Claudio who spoke to her about Zambia and Malawi. Having little money but plenty of time, she wanted to make good use of it. Travelling just for pleasure was not her concern. How to be useful? Can she be helpful? Which competence does she needs? All those questions were in her mind. Finally, she overcame her doubts and confidently came to Zambia.
Her few weeks experience in the Home of Hope project in Lusaka shown her that what really matter is goodwill and friendliness. Her discovery is quite simple; street boys are essentially boys like any other boys in the world. They like to play and learn.
Marina spent only few weeks with the street boys of Lusaka and her life has already changed for the better. She wanted to give something of herself and ended up gaining most. “Many people of my age, she said, are looking for holidays in nice tourist resorts but I want to discover what life is really all about behind the usual cliché of national parks and poverty as portrayed in Western media. I have discovered that I am warmly welcome as a foreigner, which is not the case in my country in Italy where racism is prevalent. It is not easy to describe it but I feel that I am already a new person. Simply, I realise that, as human beings, we are all the same either in Europe or in Africa. I feel good to be here.”
Marina is right now in Malawi for new discoveries. More precisely, she is in Balaka known to host many projects of the Italian Montfort Missionaries and other religious women Congregations.
We hope to hear again from her before she starts her studies back to Italy.
Missionaries of Africa - SAP Province 
It is very uplifting to read your article being a European who lived an experience in Africa, though very shortly, without being deceived by the so called “western media”! Your short story value millions of articles written in several papers, newsletters with hidden motivations. In a sense, those reports are another form of modern slavery. I do not know you Marina, but I appreciate your way of looking at things. All the best to you!
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