Open_Homes_Els_Long_Form_v3.2_REF

[Hosting a refugee is not about what you give] [It's about what you gain] [Els and Fode's Open Homes story] There were lots of people who lost their relatives, their family, their friends, but also their homes. So for me, that was like ‘yes’, I have the space, I’m here, let them come over. The day we come to Rome I remember that day. That day, Els was outside until they called her. She came and smiled to me. We greet each other. I just put in my mind: my life is already safe. Because I’m far from guns and all the dangerous things. It was a great day. I’m a foreigner as well here in Italy, so that helped now make kind of a first link between us. Els is a great person for me. She helped me a lot because she take me to her friends and tell them that, “he’s staying in my house, he’s from Mali.” And tell them my age and describe me as a good person. He was answering to all the questions they would ask about his country, his mother, his father, his family, and that really made him open up. I’ve been really very cautious and feel very reserved at the beginning. After that, it was easier for me to have real conversations. If not to me, to who could he go and really tell his story? I have good friends, Italians. The neighbors, they are Maria Pierre and Carlos. We cook together and eat together. They adore him. They love him. I can say it is like my own family. And Els, also She treats me like her own son. At the end, he has the age of my son. And that has brought me to that feeling of a mother. That is a feeling that I got, which I was not expecting at all. I wanted to give something back and I think I got much more back myself. [Join Els and thousand of others providing safe spaces.] [Visit airbnb.com/openhomes]