Mine was not a childhood, but an early struggle for survival. Born into a family marked by poverty, the memory of the early years is one of renunciation and the constant lack of necessities. My grandparents' house soon became our refuge, a place where, amidst hardships, we tried to find some stability, soon shattered by my father's arrest for a horrible crime that scarred my family forever.

From then on, our life was a succession of closed doors and hostile hands. The nuns' home, which should have been a place of protection, turned into another source of pain and mistreatment. Fostering a new family soon turned out to be a nightmare of beatings and fear, forcing us to run away again, a desperate return to the only semblance of home we knew: our grandparents.

Adolescence brought with it a new, lacerating grief: the loss of my grandfather. At the tender age of 14, I was faced not only with grief, but also with the burden of debt that weighed on our fragile existence. Without hesitation, I started working, gritting my teeth and trying to build a future on such an unstable foundation.

For a while, it seemed that tenacity and sacrifice were about to pay off. But the pandemic swept everything away. My grandmother's illness forced me to quit my job to take care of her, and since then recovery has been a mirage. Today, work is precarious, earnings meagre and I live in the house that was my grandmother's, a roof that her children are now threatening to take away from us.

But my struggle is not just for me. I host my sister and her two children, who fled from an abusive partner. The greatest fear is that, without a safe house, social services may take them away from us. Those innocent children, already scarred by suffering, deserve a peaceful future, a place to truly call home.

Today, I turn to you with my heart in my hand. Each of your donations, even the smallest, can make the difference between despair and hope. Your help can offer us a roof, a safe haven for these children, and a chance to rebuild our lives. Please open your hearts and extend a helping hand. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity.