Exodus, a 40-year journey: the caravan stops in Rome

They set out from Madagascar, then crossed Northern Italy and the Apennines, and today they stopped in Rome, from where they will set off again, heading south, to Palermo. They are the 15 young people of the Exodus Caravan , which, 40 years after the foundation conceived, desired, and created by Don Antonio Mazzi , is back on the road. It left at the end of May and will not stop until October 5th, when this "madness" is expected to conclude. This is how Don Mazzi defined it, speaking remotely at the meeting held in the Capitoline Hill, during the Roman leg. "Truly, until this morning I was hoping to be there with you. Because I live off madness and I want to continue doing it! On the other hand," he added, " the life of Christ is all madness on the move ."

Whether it's madness or a "provocation"—as Franco Taverna , vice president of the Exodus Foundation, called it—the Caravan is the best way to celebrate the Foundation's 40-year history: a history in which movement, the journey itself, is an integral and essential part of the educational journey and emancipation from what "were then called drugs, then became drug addictions, and today, further softening the concept, are called addictions," said Taverna.

Opening the meeting was Rome City Councilor for Social Policies Barbara Funari , who recalled "the crowd of young people who in recent days have filled Rome with joy and excitement, bringing a message of hope: the same hope that guides the journey we are honored to welcome today at one of its stops." She added that "your hope becomes our commitment to stand by and support Exodus in the challenges it has faced for 40 years. We want to be the strong legs that Don Mazzi asks for, to continue the journey."

Your hope becomes our commitment to stand by and support Exodus in the challenges it has faced for 40 years. We want to be the strong legs that Don Mazzi asks us to have, to continue on our journey.

Because " the Caravan is our strong point," said Don Mazzi, "and the beauty of this day is that Rome is not a destination, but a moment along the journey . Because for us, education is a journey; it cannot stop, it is always moving."

The 40th Anniversary Caravan set off on June 1st with an international stop in Madagascar, where one of Exodus' historic headquarters is located. This first stage, of great symbolic value, was attended by the educator who leads the Caravan, Marco Pagliuca . Once back in Italy on June 4th, the real journey began: 10 young people, all from different Exodus communities, mounted their mountain bikes and are pedaling for hundreds of kilometers, crisscrossing Italy and stopping in significant places and communities to meet and exchange ideas with each other and with the communities that welcome them. These realities are more complex and varied today than in the past: "40 years ago, it was very clear who was vulnerable and who wasn't; the drug problem affected certain categories of people," said Luigi Maccaro, head of Exodus Cassino . "Today, all of society, from adolescents to professionals, is much more exposed to the many forms of addiction. It's a society that isn't doing well, which is why we want and must give legs to Don Mazzi's dreams, networking with all the organizations that work with young people, such as Csi and Agesci, with whom we collaborate constantly."

At the head of the Caravan, leading the group that has since grown—from 10, along the way, the participants have become 15—is Marco Pagliuca : "In December, Don Antonio asked me to lead this journey. I had every possible reason to say no, but instead I simply said yes , because I felt I couldn't do otherwise. Nothing on this journey is certain and definitive: we don't know how many will make it to the end, we don't know where we'll sleep or what we'll eat, we don't know exactly where we'll go or who we'll meet: the only certainty is that the Caravan will return on October 6th, after the final stop in Palermo. In the meantime, our legs are getting stronger, and we're enriching ourselves with all the encounters we make along the way. The first stop in Madagascar allowed me to set out fired up with enthusiasm, with the light-heartedness and simplicity essential to face this experience. We've been on the road for two months, we never stop: it's all fascinating, we have a fire inside, which we want to spread."

Francesco is 38 years old and one of the Caravan participants. In December, he joined the Exodus community in Cassino : "I was in a hurry to finish the journey; I'd fallen into the same old pattern: I go in, I settle in, I leave. Then you realize you need time, and so you decide to give it to yourself: when you start to feel better, you're no longer in a hurry. Now, thanks to the Caravan, I'm starting to feel that being with others, perhaps helping them, is a way to help myself. And I want to continue doing so, even after this experience."

The Caravan, more than just a journey, is "a provocation , which I want to launch today to everyone, and especially to politicians," said Franco Taverna : "These young people are proof that even from lost paths, one can be reborn. Meanwhile, however, the world outside speaks to us of war, destruction, and desperation. Institutions should take a cue from these young people and the Caravan: rather than chasing answers to needs, they must imagine different and viable paths. This is the task of politics: to imagine a world free from dependencies and slavery ."

The Caravan is a provocation that I want to launch today to everyone and in particular to politicians: these guys are the testimony that even from lost roads one can be reborn.

For Paolo Ciani , parliamentarian and secretary of Democrazia Solidale, this means changing our perspective on fragility: "The concepts of education and fragility have changed significantly over the years. Previously, fragility was perceived as a fragment of society to be recovered, today the ' throwaway culture ' has transformed it into trappings to be discarded. We must free ourselves from this vision, as well as from the exaltation of self-sufficiency, which is another evil of our time . Just as we must recover a vision, a perspective, which is sorely lacking today, especially in politics, which is completely preoccupied—as they say—with chasing the answer to need ."

In a word, summed up Mario Morcellini , Professor Emeritus of Communication, "we must overcome individualism, which is killing society. And rediscover the dimension of the journey, as the Caravan shows us: because walking means thinking." In this sense, "today shows us a way forward, and your courage is proof that a better future is possible, and we must always dream and seek it," concluded Rosita Pelecca , Secretary of CISL Roma Capitale.

The opening photo (Exodus Foundation) was taken during the Caravan's stop in Sestola

Tags:
• Addictions
• Rights
• Rome
• third sector