For many, Christmas is marked by convivial moments with the family, but for those who are alone or are going through a period of hardship, the suffering is amplified. To confirm it is Monica Petrapresident of Telefono Amico Italia, who declares “last year, for the second Christmas in the pandemic, we received over 640 requests for help, but 2022 is also proving to be a very difficult year from an emotional point of view. We expect a another Christmas period with record calls”.
In fact, for the ninth consecutive year, the voluntary organization is ready to offer its emotional support services even during holidays. From 10 am on 24 December to midnight on 26 December, the Christmas Non-stop, a real listening marathon, will involve around 300 volunteers.
Among these is Stefano, a 55-year-old from Padua, who joined the Telefono Amico team at a delicate moment in his life. “I have been suffering from dilated myocarditis for many years, but in 2019 my health conditions worsened and I was forced to drastically reduce my professional activity. My life has been turned upside down, I am on the waiting list for a transplant, but I can still help others.” In fact, although he lives with the knowledge that every day could be his last, 3 years ago he attended the training course and chose to dedicate his time to listening to unknown people in difficulty, to offer them help and support.
“I was educated to be useful to those in need. Through the daily confrontation with the problems and difficulties of the appellants, I learned to listen – we often mistakenly take it for granted – but also to scrutinize the world with a more attentive gaze. Every time I start a listening service I remind myself: we who listen are no different from the people who call. We’re just on the other side of the phone,” he says.
This year, Stefano has also decided to make himself available for the Christmas Non-stop: “I have my family waiting for me at home, but I want to donate a few hours to those who, during the holidays, find themselves with the echo of their loneliness even stronger”.
As President Petra reiterates, thanks to volunteers like Stefano, by calling the single national number (02 2327 2327) or writing on the WhatsApp Amico chat (324 011 7252), those who feel alone or in difficulty even during the holidays can find a friendly voice, ready to listen and hearten without judging.
There are many phone calls that have affected the Paduan volunteer during his listening activity. He often works the evening/night shift, where the busiest calls come in. In particular, he recalls a long phone call with a single mother worried about the pandemic and with important relationship problems: “I was now nearing the end of my shift when this very tried young woman called, but slowly I perceived that the weight of her suffering was lightening, word after word, until I even managed to get her to laugh. I stayed on the phone with her until 2 and, unlike many other occasions when I come home heavy, that evening I felt really useful, I was happy” . Not all calls are that tough. Among his memories is also a phone call with a 94-year-old, moved by the desire for company: “in that case it was she who brought us a breath of energy. She simply had no one to tell her day to and she wanted to thank us for the service” .
There are countless problems reported by those who turn to Telephone Amico: from the mere need for company to existential and relational difficulties up to an increase in youth depression and social discomfort following the pandemic.
Each call is totally anonymous. It is an “encounter” between a person who needs to be listened to and another suitably trained person who makes himself available to listen to him. Neither knows who he is talking to, for each the other is a voice.
“In this way, despite the limitations to which I am forced, I am able to make myself useful by investing my time in the best way, with a good dose of empathy” concludes Stefano, ready to handle calls during the next holidays, while waiting for the call most important of his life, the one for the heart transplant.