After having eaten at the soup kitchen and taken a shower, those who arrive at Centro Astalli search for a place to sleep. But unfortunately not all of these requests can be fulfilled. The centro di accoglienza (Reception Center) San Saba hosts around 30 male refugees and asylum seekers in convention with Roma Capitale (Municipality of Rome). In 2010, after more than 20 years of activity, the structure of the nighttime dormitory was transformed into a center open 24 hours a day.

Hundreds of people have lived in the 37 beds situated among five large rooms: Ethiopians, Eritreans, Sudanese, Congolese, Kurds, and Afghans among them. A small kitchen there serves for the preparation of hot tea, and in the room opposite, during the summer, Italian lessons are held. San Saba has always been a place where one can recover from the pain of fleeing. Thanks to long winter nights spent watching films of all genres, from action to horror, from Italian comedies to American hits, everyone has the chance to rest and to push aside one’s thoughts and worries. It almost seems as if the building has returned to its former use: before hosting people on the run, the Reception Center was a parish cinema. In December 1989, the small screening room overlooking the Aventino was opened for a week to welcome a group of Ethiopian refugees, who were sleeping in the gardens of Piazza Venezia. After a hurried removal of the seats and the projector, San Saba was transformed into an emergency shelter. A few Sudanese remember that they preferred sleeping on the stage, under the screen, so that they could get up to pray without disturbing the other guests. But the emergency didn’t end after a week, nor after months, nor after years: the newly destined use of the building had become permanent, and in 1997 it was endowed with the restructuring that gave San Saba its current appearance.

In recent years young Afghanis have represented by far the majority of its guests. The tradition and the passion they have for chess has infected the other residents at the Center as well, and the game has become a decidedly absorbing pastime. While speaking of “international” games, the game of football (soccer) has also played an important role. Matches between staff members and residents have contributed to making the environment at San Saba relaxed and friendly. Some of the most talented players were even selected for training on a real team. As this game demonstrates, everything can serve to give back serenity to those who feared they’d lost it forever.