COURAGE

On International Women's Day last Saturday a 67-year-old Sicilian woman was received by President Napolitano at the Quirinale [the President of the Republic's official residence] and invested with the honour of the Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana.

The woman was Franca Viola, a tenant farmer's daughter from Alcamo [Trapani]. At the age of 17, Franca was kidnapped by her former fiancé, Filippo Melodia and some of his friends. Franca's father had ended the betrothal because Melodia was a member of a Mafia gang. The Viola family home had already been burned down as a reprisal.

Franca was held for eight days and repeatedly raped. Her father pretended to be cooperating with Melodia's gang but actually he was helping the police, who on the eighth day found and released Franca. Her kidnappers were jailed.

In those days, rape in Italy was regarded as an offence against public morality rather than an offence against the person and a man who had raped a woman could be absolved of the crime if he married his victim. The woman would agree to the marriage to save her reputation. 

Franca, however, refused to marry Melodia and her father supported her. This took incredible courage amid the threats that the family received and in the cultural climate of the time but both were determined.

The story has a happy ending, for Franca married her childhood sweetheart in 1968 and had two children. She is now a proud grandmother.

The law whereby a rapist could be absolved of his crime by marrying the victim was abolished in 1981 and Franca Viola was instrumental in bringing about the change. Rape was not designated an offence against the person in Italy until 1996. 

On International Women's Day 2014 the Quirinale was bathed in red light in remembrance of victims of femicide in Italy.

Franca Viola

THE HEROINE OF SANT'ANTONIO

Today some people in Sardinia have been able to return to their devastated homes as the clear-up operation continues. There are conflicting reports about the number of dead - some newspapers say 18, others 16 - and at least one person is still missing.

From the Sant'Antonio district of the badly hit town of Olbia comes a tale of bravery and friendship, among many others which will emerge in the coming days, I am sure: A young German hairdresser called Martina Feick, who has been living in Sardinia for seven years, did not hesitate, when what has been described as "the water bomb" arrived, to swim across her street in order to rescue an elderly lady who lived opposite her with her dog.  Having rescued both the lady and her beloved canine companion, who had been at risk of being drowned in their home, Martina took them into her own house, where the three spent Monday night together.

To the people of Sant'Antonio, Martina is a heroine and I am happy to be able to bring you this story of hands literally reaching out across cultures in a time of great danger.

Update, 22.11.13:  The final death toll is 16 but one person is still missing.

THE WILL TO CHANGE

Paolo Borsellino

19 January 1940 - 19 July 1992

"Palermo non mi piaceva, per questo ho imparato ad amarla. Perché il vero amore consiste nell'amore di ciò che non ci piace per poterlo cambiare."

"I didn't like Palermo, so I learned to love it. Real love is loving what we don't like in order to be able to change it."

"IDEAS LIVE ON"

 Giovanni Falcone
Image: Wikipedia Italia

"Gli uomini passano, le idee restano. Restano le loro tensioni morali 

e continueranno a camminare sulle gambe di altri uomini."

"Men die but ideas live on. Their moral power remains and they walk

 forward on the legs of other men."

- Judge Giovanni Falcone, 18 May 1939 - 23 May 1992

ADDIO, SIGNORA AGNESE

News of the death today of Life Senator and former Prime Minister of Italy Giulio Andreotti has gone around the world but I wonder how many of you have read or heard of the death yesterday of a quiet and courageous woman? Agnese Borsellino, widow of the anti-Mafia judge Paolo Borsellino, murdered in 1992, died in Palermo at the age of 71 after a long illness which she bore with dignity and acceptance.

Agnese Borsellino never wavered in her fight to find out the truth about her husband's murder and, when ill health prevented her from attending some of the demonstartions organised in support of her cause, she chose to send a message to young people, saying that, despite all that had happened and some moments of doubt, she continued to believe in the democratic institutions of her country, as had her husband. In a rare interview which she gave to ANSA last year, signora Borsellino remembered that her husband's sense of duty had led him to ask himself, every evening, whether he had earned his state salary that day. His conscientiousness, sadly, cost him his life.

Mourners in Palermo applauded Agnese Borsellino's coffin as it was carried from the church of Santa Luisa di Marillac this morning and the service was attended by both national and regional government representatives.  Governor of Sicily Rosario Crocetta said that signora Borsellino, who had been deeply aware of the injustices which exist in Italian society, had been an example of courage, strength and values. He said that she and her husband belonged to all who believe in justice.

A MIRACLE IN THE RUBBLE

If the fates were not smiling upon Italy this weekend, someone or something was looking out for little Vittoria Vultaggio from Obici, a hamlet of Finale Emilia [Province of Modena], yesterday:  At 4.04 am, when the quake struck, the five-year-old was sleeping in her room in a house which comprised some restored seventeenth century structures, including a tower. As the tower collapsed onto the roof of Vittoria's room, it seems that two beams protected the little girl's body.  

Vittoria's father, who, with her mother and two-year-old brother, had been able to exit the house, searched for her frantically with the help of neighbours, among them a Mr Ziosi.  Mr Vultaggio climbed onto the remains of the roof, calling Vittoria's name all the time.  Suddenly he heard her respond.  He and Mr Ziosi managed to locate her and remove rubble from her face but they could not free her body.  

Power lines were down and cellphones were not working so the family were unable to contact the emergency services but Vittoria's mother,  hardly aware of what she was doing in her anxiety and distress, kept tapping numbers on her cellphone. At last, a call somehow got through and was answered by a doctor she knew. Unbeknown to Vittoria's mother, the doctor was on a trip to New York but he immediately grasped the situation and called the emergency services in Rome, who in turn passed on the information to their colleagues in Modena.  Thus the rescue and ambulance teams knew exactly where to go and within another half an hour they managed to pull Vittoria out of the rubble.

In the meantime, Mr Ziosi's son Marcello, who was also in New York, had called his father to find out if he had been injured and for a little while, in the confusion, the Vultaggio family thought that it was Marcello who had made that vital call to Rome.  But Marcello said later that the fact that he had called from New York was just a coincidence and that it was definitely the good doctor, whose name Mr and Mrs Vultaggio cannot quite recall, who had made the call.

Vittoria has suffered some injuries to a leg and is obviously still very frightened but has no fractures.

Today we are thinking of all who have been affected by the two terrible events in Italy over the weekend and of the members of the emergency services, hospital staff and others who are helping them.  Let us also salute the courage of the students of the Istituto Morvillo Falcone in Brindisi, who went back to school this morning, two days after a bomb outside the building killed one of their fellow-students and injured ten others.  Like Vittoria's father, the neighbours who came to his aid and our as yet unnamed doctor, these are the people who represent the real Italy.

GERMAN WOMAN AMONG MIGRANTS FLEEING TUNISIA

As the mass migration from North Africa to the shores of Europe at Lampedusa continues, you may imagine the astonishment of the Italian authorities on Sunday - Monday night when an elegantly dressed, obviously Western woman stepped off one of the boats with her nine-year-old daughter.  Tina Rothkamm [41], a teacher from Dusseldorf, says that, following her divorce from her Tunisian husband, she had tried every legal means to bring her daughter from Tunisia to Germany but each time the two tried to leave Tunisia, they were blocked, although all their papers were in order.

Finally Ms Rothkamm, in desperation, bought passages for herself and her daughter on one of the boats carrying migrants from Tunisia to Lampedusa.  Even her lawyer had told her that there was no other way.  Ms Rothkamm  and her daughter travelled with around 100 North African migrants and she says that they were all very kind during the twenty-hour sea voyage.  The German Embassy in Italy is now helping the pair.

Ms Rothkamm called upon Europeans to show compassion for the migrants, who are only seeking a better life, and in the video clip she says she is now embarking on a new path - that of rediscovering hope in the future.

Ms Rothkamm and her daughter were among 1,005 arrivals on Lampedusa on Sunday - Monday night.  There were 400 new arrivals last night. 

Late note, 10.3.11: The video clip has been removed from youtube.

A QUICK SEASONAL ROUND-UP

There are so many wonderful seasonal posts out there but tonight I want to tell you about two that made me laugh a lot and also draw your attention to two that are, quite simply, lessons in courage.

Fullet's post about the Catalan "shitting log" tradition first had me worried, then fascinated and finally roaring with laughter. I recommend it, especially if you have the post -Christmas blues.

The Devonshire Dumpling's self-deprecating humour over at NoClue always cheers me up and her eclectic tales of Christmas goings-on down in deepest Devonshire are first class. I particularly liked her "It's Been Sunday for the last 10 Days" post and her follow-up today is a gem. Thank you for the gong too, DD, even if it is aimed directly at my head!

My friend Maria from across the pond was a very sad lady this time last year but if anyone is living proof that we can bounce back after seemingly insurmountable difficulties, it is Maria. The path back that she has chosen would not be mine but I admire her for finding it in the tangled jungle of this life and I am so happy for her. Maria has been a loyal follower of this blog from the beginning and I want to thank her for that, too. Do take a look at her new blog, Gratitude Café, the title of which reflects her positive attitude

Finally I can only urge you to read this post by Betty of Daydreamn World for she and her son, Reid, are examples to us all. My thoughts are with you both, Betty and I'm sure other readers here will join me in wishing Reid a full recovery in 2010.