Twenty -five years of “there are no bad guys. Twenty -five years of falls and restarts. Twenty -five years of heated hopes and silences loaded with waiting. Twenty -five years of listening, dedicated time, without ever giving up. Twenty -five years of Kayròs: the right time to start again», He says with the gaze that enters the folds of memories Don Claudio Burgiochaplain of the Beccaria juvenile prison in Milan and founder of the Kayos community.
But how do you measure an appropriate time? In the regained smiles, in the gestures of trust, in the defeats faced with their heads held high. In the thousand activities proposed as spirals of possibilities: a musical recording room, a trip to the zoo, sport as a growth discipline, the staging of a theatrical show. Different roads for a single goal: to offer children a new opportunity.
«Having walked 25 years together with these guys made us grow too. We have become a point of reference, but with discretion and humility, because entering the hearts of these guys is difficult. Every story, even the most wrong one, is sacred. We have always lived it like that»Says Don Claudio.
The community was born almost by chance, from a welcome experience in a Vimodrone oratory, in the Milanese hinterland. “We welcomed the first boy, an unaccompanied foreign minor from Cameroon. The families of the parish offered themselves to host him in turn in their homes. From that informal welcome was the need to structure a place, a real house. Thus began the adventure, thanks also to the support of many people, professionals, volunteers, friends ».
Today, after 25 years, the stories of the Kayros boys intertwine with those of those who, like Don Burgio, have chosen to dedicate time and hope. «Fashions change, the narratives as well, but the heart of man is always the same. In boys there is always a great desire for life, often braked by many factors, by painful stories. But the hope of a better future is the engine that has guided us in all these years ».
@credit Photo: Gianmarco Maraviglia
The prison is not the solution
In the child prison Beccaria Don Burgio meets kids of every origin and situation daily. «In prison at least 80 percent of prisoners are unaccompanied foreign minors, especially North Africans. They arrive without a project, run away from difficult situations, transgress to contain anger and to make easy money. The other 20 percent are Italian or second and third generation guys, detained for more serious crimes. They are often alone, isolated, at risk of extreme gestures, tormented by guilt feelings».
Don Claudio Burgio with Daniel Zaccaro, today educator of the Kayròs community after having been a guest
But prison is not an effective response. «I have never seen a young man only change thanks to a cell or a restrictive measure. The real engine that keeps hope on is the company outside. If the prison remains a closed microcosm, there is no redemption. When instead a boy finds in the world of work and in civil society real opportunities, he can really change».
Don Claudio insists on the need for a different approach: «We must take our responsibilities as an adult community. A society is no longer safe if those boys remain inside. He is sure if we can recover them and reintegrate them. The prison alone produces only malaise and violence. Even the best possible prison remains a context of extreme suffering ».
It is not about goodism: “It does not mean being indulgent, but remaining in dialogue with the world of prison. Understanding where violence and youth discomfort arise is a fundamental step. In some neighborhoods the inequalities are exponentials: it is necessary to understand these roots to improve the quality of life of all ».
The boys tell that in communities, but above all in prisons, the times of justice are always long: “Two years to 17-18 years are not the same two years as an adult, they are 55 to 57. Furthermore, violence and use of substances to keep them more peaceful hinder recovery”. With his vision, is there something that from the inside, can from the community change this situation? «Certainly inside the prison who is inside you ask many questions, but it is not a context that opens a real reflection. Also because the educational figures are really limited, so the comparison takes place more among prisoners than with educators. The real engine that keeps hope on is the company outside. If prison becomes a closed, waterproof microcosm, there is no redemption, there is no possibility of change. On the other hand, when a person finds in civil society, in the world of work, of the real, concrete opportunities, then it can finally be carried out ».
@credit Photo: Gianmarco Maraviglia
Kayros: an opportunity for redemption
«In Kayros we try to guarantee the boys moments of leisure and reflection, through sport, music and meetings. These opportunities reduce anxiety, but the community is not a childhood garden: here too there are logic of abuse “. The growth path does not follow the times of justice. “I saw guys change in ten years, perhaps passing two or three times from prison. But it takes time».
Time that flows differently in prison. «Inside the prison the boys ask questions, but often there is no real comparison. The educators are few and prisoners confront each other more than with reference figures ».
A crucial element would be the introduction of a religious figure of reference for young Muslims: “The vast majority of prisoners is of Islamic faith. I have been asking for some time that an imam supports my work, because the search for meaning also passes through faith. At the moment there is only one volunteerbut a stable figure would be fundamental ».
@credit Photo: Gianmarco Maraviglia
An exhibition to tell 25 years of stories
To celebrate this milestone, the photographic exhibition “Spavaldi e Fragili” was created, curated by Chiara Oggioni Tiepolo and with the photographs of Gianmarco Maraviglia.
«Maraville spent time with the children of the community. What is needed to no longer be a stranger, the time necessary to become part of the group. He told an idea, a philosophy, a thought for images. Not only portraits, but suggestions, references. The light is the protagonist, almost as if it were a person, ethereal but present ». «People are not always seen clearly, to emphasize that here the individual has a universal value. There is no judgment, nor a sweetened story ».
There exhibition will remain open until 27 June At the EMUSEUM and the exhibition area can be visited independently on the days and opening hours of the AEM Foundation headquarters (from Monday to Thursday from 9.00 to 17.30 and Friday from 9.00 to 13.00
