10 million people who are victims of war, landmines and poverty have been treated by Emergency in 18 countries around the world. Supporting the organisation means just this: being there and fighting so that free, high-quality healthcare is guaranteed to every human being.
"Between my fourth and fifth year of secondary school, I decided to do a month of volunteering in Sierra Leone, in a small town in the north of the country. I wasn't yet an Emergency volunteer, but it was on that trip that I came face to face with injustice, and it was after that trip that I decided to make my contribution to this organisation."
Ada goes to Sierra Leone, to Lunsar, in 2014, shortly before the Ebola epidemic breaks out. There she meets a child who needs a blood transfusion and a father who cannot afford to pay for it. Ada discovers she has the same blood type and decides, then and there, to face her fear of needles and donate her own blood. However, the needles available at the hospital are too large for a transfusion and her veins too thin. After several attempts, and no result, Ada and her group decide to buy the bag of blood that allowed that child to go on living. Yet there is a question that keeps buzzing in Ada's head and heart: "What if we hadn't been there?"
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Getting a membership card and supporting Emergency means just this. It means being there and guaranteeing the right to care for everyone, without discrimination. "There's no point beating around the bush — in order to do what it does, Emergency needs funds. So if I did my small part, and you did yours, if each of us donated our small contribution, together we could make a difference." These are the words of Angelo, a young medical student and, like Ada, an Emergency volunteer with the University group. Disarming in their simplicity. Words that perfectly encapsulate the work of Emergency, which since 1994 has offered free, high-quality care to victims of war, landmines and poverty.
In 25 years Emergency has treated more than 10 million people in 18 different countries, thanks to its doctors, nurses, volunteers, all its national and international staff, and its donors large and small, because each of them has made their own small but significant contribution, fighting to ensure that the right to free, high-quality care is guaranteed to every human being.
Being there, for Emergency, also means bringing smiles to those places where the signs of the earthquake are still visible and the normality of daily life is slow to return. Indeed, since 2017 Emergency has also been present in the areas of central Italy affected by the earthquake, providing nursing and psychological support to those in need, at a time when healthcare facilities are under strain.
Read also: La cura come pratica sociale. Così le cliniche mobili di Emergency arrivano nelle zone più vulnerabili d'Italia
This summer, Valeria, a volunteer from the University of Pisa group, got an up-close look at the Italy programme, taking part in the first edition of the summer camps: "The first day was emotionally devastating. We toured the towns hit by the earthquake and I was struck dumb by the devastation, by that total silence that envelops everything, by the state of abandonment, by the houses that had come down and those still standing but with enormous cracks."
The summer camps, like the Ludovan — a specially fitted-out camper van that has been in operation since last year — are projects launched in the provinces affected by the earthquake with the aim of offering recreational and leisure activities, providing moments of fun, togetherness and a listening ear in difficult places. So Valeria recalls the children who were waiting for her to start playing: "I had in my mind the passage from The Little Prince where the fox tells him to always come back at the same time and explains what rituals are: it is what makes one day different from other days, one hour different from other hours. And we were there to make those afternoons different from other afternoons."
Ada, Angelo and Valeria are three different people who in three different ways have chosen to stand on the side of rights, contributing, with their small but significant help, to building a culture of peace.
Read also: Forniamo cure gratuite in ospedali sostenibili, perché la nostra presenza diventi inutile
On Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 October, on the occasion of the Campagna Tessera 2020, you too can choose to stand on the side of human rights. Emergency volunteers are waiting for you in numerous Italian squares to tell you how you can support our work, which to date has enabled us to treat more than 10 million people. The funds raised will go towards supporting Emergency's hospitals and health centres in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Uganda and Italy.
