"alternative" holidays” “

Some 10 million elderly people in Italy don’t, or rather can’t, go away on holiday during the summer months; many of them are poor and sick. They, as well as prison inmates and the needy, were remembered by the Pope in his Sunday Angelus address, speaking from Castelgandolfo, where he was spending a brief period of rest before departing for Toronto. Wishing “happy holidays” to those already in holiday resorts, John Paul II said he “could not fail to remember with affection all those who do not have the opportunity to go on holiday. I am thinking especially of those in prisons and in hospitals, or those who remain alone in their homes”. The Pope expressed appreciation for “those who devote themselves voluntarily to the support of the needy, the sick and those who find themselves in difficulty”. This loneliness in the summer months is difficult to support, and aggravates a sense of abandonment, especially in the big cities. We have gathered some testimonies of various initiatives to respond to this European emergency. Belgium. A week of “alternative holiday” for the young and the elderly in Brussels is the proposal of Belgian Caritas which organizes holidays in which groups of young people are invited to spend a week inside an old people’s home: “This is a very important experience both for the elderly and for the young”, says Maurits Timmermans, director of the Magnolia Institute at Jette, a suburb to the north-west of Brussels. Over 160 elderly people live at Magnolia. From Sunday 14 July their life was shared for a week also by a group of youngsters: “This is a chance for them to discover a human person within a weak and suffering body, and help them to understand better the feelings, the dreams and the aspirations of the elderly”. Joelle Desmet (22 years old) is a young woman from Brussels who has often spent this type of alternative holiday: “They have given me some wonderful memories. They enable me to understand better the desire of the elderly to be useful, to be respected and loved. Friendship is easily established. I gave so little and have received so much in return”. Joelle has forged a particular bond of friendship with one elderly woman in the home; and, even after her stay, has often returned to see her. “My grandparents are no longer alive. But Mrs. Bins has become a real grandmother for me”. Joelle is convinced that this experience has also helped her in her professional life. As a police inspector she has a lot to do with the elderly: “I have the distinct impression that I succeed in understanding them better than my colleagues”. Another volunteer is the Flemish Anneleen Verstreken, who is only 16 years old and has enrolled for the first time in this week of alternative holiday. “I am convinced that the contact between the young and the old will be wonderful for both, and, besides, this is also an opportunity for me to enter into contact with the French-speaking community, to improve my linguistic skills in French”, explains Anneleen, a citizen of a bilingual country divided between French and Flemish speakers. France. To fill the summer void left in Paris by all the inhabitants who have gone away on holiday and by the temporary closing of food associations and hostels, Pierre Lanne, permanent deacon of the diocese of the capital, set up a charity in 1994. It’s called “Août secours alimentaire” (ASA – August food aid) which opens its doors to the needy in the sacristies of four parishes throughout August. Each day, with the exception of Sundays and 15 August, ASA distributes food packs between 18.30 and 20,00. Over 250,000 meals were distributed free last year. To be eligible to receive the packs, those concerned must present an entitlement card issued by the parish associations and by the welfare centres of the municipality. On their arrival, they find hospitality, games for the children, and a cup of coffee for the adults; a welcoming atmosphere that makes some elderly people come back day after day just to be able to chat with someone. Two youths were sentenced to “socially useful work” for minor offences: the court assigned them to ASA. The experience was so positive that they have continued to provide a volunteer service even after completing their sentence. Contacts have been maintained right up to the present.