Dear friends, 

We get together to exchange “HAPPY EASTER” greetings.
It is natural to think of the feast, of the Easter outing, of the stuffed and luscious dove.
We less remember that that feast was preceded by a triduum of pain, betrayal, violence, mourning, death on the cross of ONE who, to save us, met that tragic and shameful end.

The binomial “death/life” is precisely what this anniversary wants to remind us of. In Ethiopia, we are emerging from years of war and too many deaths. In many villages, the “day of mourning” is still celebrated every time young men who went off to fight are confirmed missing.

But life resumes, little by little. An attempt is made to return to a normality that seemed impossible to regain. Children return to play, to go to school. One is reborn, one RISES. With great effort and a heart that still weeps, you return to hope in a possible future that, alone, would remain a utopia. Instead, it becomes reality THANKS TO YOU, faithful friends of the Adwa mission.

Despite the long silences imposed by the emergency, you did not abandon us. The hospital has treated hundreds of thousands of injured people. We have fed thousands of people with the donations that, despite everything, the Association has managed to send us.

That is why we can say HAPPY EASTER to you, because thanks to you our people are RISING TO LIFE. There will be no stuffed doves or picnics in Adwa…. But children’s laughter, ball games, daily bread for many people, medicine for the sick.

For all this, to each one of you, HAPPY EASTER OF RESURRECTION!

With the help of the Riccardo e Marina Mantovani Foundation, a new well will be drilled deep, given the increased water needs of the mission, school and hospital.

Suor Laura Girotto