Respect has always characterized our relationship with children. Even when it comes to children considered difficult, excluded for schools or despised because unable to express themselves well, the Community has always seen in them the potential of a life that still has to grow and in need of trust. This is why the defense of the little ones, often disregard, has always been a constant commitment of our work. What we want - and we still do - is to be by the side of children and teenagers to protect them and help them grow. Not as teachers or assistant, rather as grown-up companion being careful of their lives, while trying to break the mechanism of social exclusion, starting with the educational one. We felt called by a new responsibility: taking care of them while building a profound sense of familiarity, to encourage their serene development and to sustain their families. Attentiveness to individual needs is what characterize our approach: each support activity and every initiative is designed in relation to the different personal needs. Indeed, every human been is different, so are his/her potentiality and abilities, as well as the difficulties: all of them are carefully taken into account.
In the Schools of Peace, both the rehabilitation and special needs programs are tailored to meet specific and personal demands. Moreover, at the Schools of Peace, parties and playing together are considered as essential moments. In this occasions one can learn how to be with others, while learning many different things in a cheerful and serene way. The cultural gap the most disadvantaged children were facing in school, has driven our commitment to overcome it eventually in order to prevent their exclusion from school while securing their opportunity to learn and complete the curricula. School support is certainly the necessary starting point of our spirit of service, however we also feel the responsibility to look after children’s development in every aspect of their life, particularly when families are unfortunately unable to do so regardless of their deisre. We will never give up our commitment to educate children to face the bigger horizons of the world with an attitude of a concrete solidarity. In spite of their apparent cultural disadvantage, there is a strong desire to be humanely and culturally open.
