Refugee women live in a particularly vulnerable situation: alone in a foreign country, having confronted traumas and grief of all kinds, they must also provide for their children. The Center “Casa di Giorgia” (Georgia’s House), that was founded in 1999 with contributions from the European Commission, is for them. Since the time of its opening, the Center was not conceived of as solely a nighttime shelter, but as a site of gathering open all day. It provides not just a bed, but a welcoming place where one can heal the wounds of both the body and the soul. The Center is named after Giorgia, the daughter of a volunteer couple of Centro Astalli—she suffered an untimely disappearance, and the couple wanted to open up their suffering to hope by creating this reception center.

After a disruption as traumatic as fleeing, resuming the rhythm of daily life is important for children and for their mothers. Time helps in reintroducing normality, but external help is also often needed. At Casa di Giorgia residents receive specialized attention in all phases of reception, from medical assistance to legal aid. Most importantly, this process unfolds in an attentive environment. Each day is marked by moments of intimacy: cooking together, playing with the children in the courtyard, and combing one another’s hair with the typical artfulness of African women. These are all steps that lend to a familiarity that goes beyond differences of language and culture.

Casa di Giorgia, which can host 35 people in convention with Roma Capitale (Municipality of Rome), functions thanks to the help and commitment of many volunteers. Offering up their time during the day and night, they assist with basic services and keep the residents company. At times, when the weather is nice, they even organize excursions that allow the girls to get to know better the country that hosts them.

Feeling safer and more at ease are important achievements, and ones that also occur through greater knowledge of the local language: in this area too, the volunteers are essential in transforming theoretical lessons into practical conversation. The inevitable moments of pain and silence alternate with moments of shared joy. A birthday, a religious celebration, and even the day in which one of the residents succeeds in obtaining her documents: these occasions for making the women participants to the sights and sounds of the country are never lacking. In those moments the Center becomes a more familiar place.