October 1998

In Rome, the grandmothers of the Argentine "Desaparecidos" of Italian origine, have started proceedings against the Argentine Generals responsible for the murder of their daughters and for the kidnapping of their grandchildren. As is known, the pregnant women who were arrested were not killed immediately but some months after the birth of their children; the babies were usually adopted by the families of the soldiers themselves.
Today the grandmothers of the children who had disappeared are trying to get into contact with their grandchildren and, in at least 56 or the more than 2.000 cases, they have succeeded.
Similar proceedings are taking place in Germany and Spain.
In Rome the proceedings have been started with the aid of the League of Human Rights and Freedom of the Peoples, which provides free legal counsel. The OPM project is to refund the travelling expenses and to pay the cost of the stay in Italy of the Argentine lawyers and witnesses.The Italian State is seeking civil remedy.
Mrs.Carlotto,president of the Association of Grandmothers, told us,"Many churches,including the Vatican,have welcomed and encouraged us, but only the modest Waldensian church has given us a tangible help,not just kind words." The ammount coming from OPM for the introductory phase of the proceedings in 1998 was 20 million lire; 60 million are estimated for the court hearing of 1999.

The nursery and primary schools of the Servizio Cristiano of Riesi represent a social ministry for that part of the population which is the poorest economically and also culturally and socially; the schools work in close co-operation with the team from the Servizio Cristiano Family Advisory Centre.
The school syllabus emphasizes respect for legality and discourages violent solutions to conflicts;it encourages co-operation in every form, enhances the children's capabilities, teaches respect for the environment and health care and fosters a multicultural sensitivity.
In 1997, 54 children attended the nursery school and 56 the primary school. The scholarship project has given the opportunity to 34 children coming from very needy families to attend the schools, most of them getting very good scholastic results.Their families have been visited regularly by the team from the Family Advisory Centre, thus integrating the educational work with help for the family.The primary school has 5 teachers and 3 voluntary helpers for the music, French and German workrooms.The nursery school has 2 teachers and 3 voluntary helpers. The support given by OPM was 170 million lire both in 1997 and 1998.
The Family Advisory centre offers services to a considerable number of users coming from different age groups and social classes and having very different needs. Social and health consultations were more than 200; psychological consultations 120; more than 300 gynaecological visits were given and all the children (more than 150) had health checks ; the 34 families whose children received scholarship grants were visited in their homes.The team is made up of a full-time social worker, a psychologist (8 hours a week) and a gynaecologist, plus the services of a medical practitioner.It is the only service centre of its kind in Riesi and the 10 million lire received from OPM in 1997 enabled the centre to maintain a high quality level in all its interventions.The same project will be carried out in 1998.