The little family of volunteers in Rome

Agustin Scavada, from Argentina, and Jenderson Guerrera, from Colombia, are two jubilee volunteers in Rome. Each with their stories, and despite proceeding from such disparate places, they have become family.

In conversation with ACI Prensa in the surroundings of the Vatican, the Argentine volunteer, who will remain in the eternal city three weeks, highlighted the exceptional nature of the jubilee, because it occurs only every 25 years. “I wanted to live it from the heart, accompanying others to live this path of hope and to be able to contribute my grain of sand,” he said.

A small family of volunteers

“In the volunteer team I have encountered a kind of family. Every day I know people who come from different places, each with their motives, skills and ways of working, ”he added.

For Agustin, the “strength and hope” are felt in the environment, especially in the people who take the tour of Via della Conciliation Until the basilica of San Pedro: “The illusion and emotion contained can be seen when they reach the end of the tour, which is in front of the tomb of San Pedro, and recite the creed. It is nice to be there to witness it and also fill with all that energy. ”

Although Jenderson Guerrera is Colombian, he has a marked Italian accent. He was adopted at age eight by an Italian family and, since then, has lived in Rome. Although I would never have imagined it, it is part of the 55 fixed volunteers of the Jubileo de la Esperanza, divided in turn into tomorrow or afternoon shifts.

“I was away from faith for years. I was close, but for certain things I walked away. With this volunteer call I am no longer as far as before. My life of faith is like the path of Via della Conciliationday after day I am closer. I am aware that I might not have a family, to be in Colombia, and this path is like my life in a small, the more I approach Pedro, the more my heart touches, ”he said.

He also remarked that, although sometimes the work becomes heavy, he always tries to do it with joy: “I have to give the same indications every day, but I try to maintain the illusion.”

Like Agustin, Jenderson accompanies the pilgrims who travel the great avenue to San Pedro. Most of the time you have to open the fences for people to pass, but as soon as they arrive, it says it is as if the time stops. “It is as if only that group of pilgrims existed despite tourists, you forget what is in the street,” he adds.

For their part, Agustin emphasizes that despite the fact that many tourists “do not understand what happens, they know it is something important. There is a lot of respect. When we pass with the cross, they move to give way. They help with silence, there is something special that is breathed, and that faith in a day -to -day basis is super important. ”

Jenderson coincides with his partner that all have formed “a small family” in which the age difference does not feel and where they help each other, offering advice especially to newcomers.

With his experience in Argentina, together with the Salesian young people, Agustin expresses his desire to also participate in the jubilee of young people at the end of July. “People make an incredible effort to come from all over the world, and I think that in that intimacy of the encounter is Jesus,” he said.

“In a time where there is misinformation, individualism and people do not trust each other, here is the message of Pope Francis explicitly: we are all in the same boat, and it is a way of saying ‘here I am, this is my faith, this is my flag,'” said Agustin.

Both claim that Pope Francis’s delicate health was devastating news, especially at the beginning. However, they do not lose confidence: “We have seen how people continue to pilgrimage and continue to come to the prayer of the Rosary every day, even if it rains. It is a way of telling the Pope that we are close to his illness. ”