マンディ・パティンキンさんのインスタグラム写真 - (マンディ・パティンキンInstagram)「While in Palermo, the capital of Sicily, Italy with @theirc, I had the honor and pleasure of meeting Lino, the Ombudsman in Palermo and an Italian man who has dedicated his entire life to children. He’s been a volunteer for 45 years and, every day, he meets around 50 children. Lino told us it’s “his daily medicine to keep going.” Lino unfortunately didn’t have a childhood. He was born in post World War II in Naples and had to start working at age seven. Years later, when he became a father, he learned the importance of play and dedicated his life to making sure all children have a childhood. He calls himself a “child with white hair.” Ultimately, he believes his job is to protect the rights of children. For him, it’s simple: ALL children have the same rights. No matter religion or color of skin. Refugee or not. I couldn’t agree more. Sicily hosts around 40% of Italy’s unaccompanied children. Lino worked to build what he called an “army” of volunteers— Italian citizens— to stand up for their rights. When refugees, asylum seekers and migrants do arrive to Italy, one of the greatest challenges are documents. Processes can take up to 2-3 years and often times are denied, tearing their hopes and dreams. We need to work to change these impediments to offering these wonderful human beings a new beginning. Lino’s message to the world: “It’s not human and not fair to break hopes and dreams of kids. We gave kids hopes and dreams and tore them down.” Lino is an inspiration and he demonstrated to us what we all have the capacity to do: Welcome the most vulnerable. 📷: @vignetteglobal」6月7日 15時49分