Curated by father Antonio Villa, Eva Sopranzetti, Luciana Puddu, Davide Cestari, with the collaboration of parents, kids and all the volunteers.

 

On May 6, 1976, just a few minutes before 9 PM, a magnitude 6 shock on the Mercalli Scale took place in a wide area of Friuli region. After some minutes a second shock between 8ML and 10ML (the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Italy) burnt to the ground entire villages in the provinces of Udine and Pordenone. In less than a minute, buildings, houses, churches and factories were destroyed. There were thousands dead, and about three thousand injured. More than 60,000 people lost their homes.
In the following days everyone started to show solidarity with the earthquake victims. There was a general mobilization; people couldn’t just stand there and watch, they needed to do something. Not only were parishes, Catholic associations and movements immediately mobilized, but also organizations, institutions, political parties, ordinary citizens …
Father Giussani rushed to Udine to offer the support of all the Movement of Communion and Liberation to the archbishop of the city, Alfredo Battisti, who told him to directly help the local priests. On May 18, during a meeting in Milan, more than 3,000 people got involved; those people would spend the whole summer in the tent cities in the area of Gemona and Tarcento.
The beginning of this adventure is the main object of the exhibition, a challenge that involved Father Antonio Villa and a group of volunteers from Milan and from other parts of Italy. After a summer spent with the children and the kids in the tents, they found themselves sharing an educational adventure with the Friulian population that has lasted for 40 years. A school cooperative run by parents, teachers, students: everyone got involved, each according to their task. The pictures and the stories of school life from the beginning to the present day show that unconditional love can create through solidarity a work that is meant to last forever.