English 
The best of you!
These words conclude one of the most famous poems of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, words that have inspired the work carried out by the Diocesan Caritas of Rossano Cariati for several years, in various fields and according to various methods.
This was one of the first spaces of apostolate offered for us, Missionary sisters of the Immaculate, when we first arrived in Rossano, about six years ago. We started almost for fun by giving Italian lessons to foreigners; however, those couple of hours a week of Italian lessons, served to launch us into an adventure that today has become a range of offers and proposals.
Saying Caritas in Rossano, can mean “Daily Lunch”: a hot meal is served daily for those who have no other possibility of guaranteeing themselves a meal or for migrants who, returning in the afternoon, after hard work in the greenhouses or in the fields, sit at the dining hall for a meal in company.
Saying Caritas in Rossano can mean “Counselling Center” for all the people who turn to the House of Hope for food, clothes, bills to pay, trips to undertake, work to find and sometimes to offer.
Saying Caritas can mean “Food Emporium” for every family unit that, unable to make ends meet, relies on a monthly basket of food to get through the month.
Sometimes Caritas can also mean “Shower Service” or “Laundry Service” for those who do not have a home or cannot pay a bill and use the Caritas spaces and equipment to “give themselves a makeover”.
Saying Caritas in Rossano can mean “Maranatha Center” for those who occasionally slim down their wardrobe and donate the superfluous and for those who need to renew their clothing and look for free clothes, shoes, bags or anything else they need for the seasonal clothing of adults or children.
Saying Caritas in Rossano can mean “Medical clinic” for those who, in their free time, make their skills available to those who cannot afford a medical visit or need a prescription to buy an expensive medicine.
Saying Caritas can also mean audience, consultancy, volunteering, planning, training, visits, collections, purchases, donations… dreams, creativity, possibilities… in a word: “House of Hope”! Yes, because, to offer all these services there is a need to “feel at home” and to “make others feel at home”; and there is a need for concrete gestures of hope to be credible.
It is said that the word hope contains the word foot (“spes” – pé) an invitation to let hope walk on our legs, intertwine with our hands, take possession of our words, and use our smile, our ears. Hope requires the best from each of us.
And it bears the title “The best of you”, one of the latest signs of hope that has emerged at the Caritas of Rossano. It is the “Work shop”: it is here that every day realize ideas, favors and small objects are packaged for the most varied occasions: from first communions to confirmations, from weddings to birthdays… a space of manual skills and creativity that also saw Bernadette and Francesca involved, during their community experience in Rossano.
In everything, you need to give the best of yourself, and if suddenly this happens, you will find yourself enriched by the best brought into play by others. Try to hope!!!
Sr. Antonia Dal Mas, Italia
