Volunteers and the hotel's owner
On November 26th a mudslide hit Ischia, a small island off of Italy. I jumped at the chance to help and got in contact with some friends who live on this island. My father and I took a train from Milan to Ischia and in no time we were there shovelling mud.
Through a WhatsApp group, I was able to communicate with over 250 kids interested in volunteering to help clean up the damage. Upon my arrival, I was surprised that the Protezione Civile, which is the National Guard in Ischia, was not there to help. Seeing as just the day before they had found the body of the last missing victim, they claimed that their work was done and fixing the damage was now up to the individual businesses and residents.
If the destruction had been little I would have understood that the Protezione Civile might have more pressing issues that they needed to deal with, but this was not the case. With the help of other volunteers, I spent the entire day pouring buckets of mud into wheelbarrows that would then be taken to the street for the bulldozer to bring down to the sea. On the first day, it was frustrating that even after seven hours of shovelling, the bottom floor was still not free of mud. I was physically exhausted from the labor, but my mind was energized. We had all done something amazing for the community.
One of the girls I was volunteering with made a comment that stuck with me. We, as the younger generation, always hear from older generations that all we do is stay on the phone. Now, they are congratulating us for how much we are helping our community. Now, we get to be the example for the older generations. Hearing those words made me feel like I was part of something bigger than my everyday life.
This experience has changed me forever and I am eternally grateful to my fellow volunteers for having taught me so much more than I could have ever imagined.
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