“We are a Gaber family. With the doors open ». Marina Salamon who leaves his theology books (he is studying for a master’s degree in Religious Sciences) to pick up his mobile phone and send a whatsapp to an entrepreneur friend. A few simple words. “How can I help?” And that in a few days requisitions the children’s rooms, abroad for study and finds himself at the table sharing borsch with a mother and her two girls fleeing first from the Donbass and then from Kiev, while ten other people are welcomed in one villa owned, quickly furnished to meet the needs.
Entrepreneur and company captain, mother of four children (Brando, born from a long relationship with Luciano Benetton, Lupo, Jacopo and Francesco with her current husband Paolo Gradnik), Salamon is not new to experiences of foster care and hospitality. For this it was therefore natural to call the professional friend who first moved for host families fleeing the war. «Sandro Bottega, entrepreneur of wine is also an entrepreneur of good. But the mayor of Venice Luigi Brugnaro is also hosting. He is normal, he is right, he is human ». So in a few days his two houses in Verona have become a refuge for those who no longer have a home.
It is certainly not the first time for her.
“My father and mother have always had foster children. I myself had two girls in foster care and I opened my home to a Bosnian lawyer in 1992 ».
His parents were Istrians, known in Trieste. Who knows maybe the idea of the diaspora was part of their stories …
«Certainly part of the stories of Italian families is a piece of what is happening in Ukraine. We all have a grandfather who told us about bombings, makeshift shelters, refugees. It comes naturally to adhere to their pain so deeply. And there is not only this. Bombs fall on the margins of Europe, people on the run are not only physically similar to us, but they have lives that could be our photocopy ».
How many people are you hosting?
“We have a mother and her two girls at home with us. They flew from Kiev by car, but had already moved from Donbass in 2014. The grandparents are still there, in the cellars under the bombs. They visited Italy as tourists last year. Today they come as refugees ».
You and your husband Paolo Gradnik have also provided a villa in the city.
«We had destined Villa Buri for the scouts, but today there is this need. We already have about ten people there, but we can equip ourselves to accommodate eight more. Meanwhile, for those who are already with us, we have arranged health cards, made the recognition and we have already almost managed to place all the children in school. We have guests from first grade to university, there is also a 16-year-old boy who was a hotel school. The two little girls from us practice rhythmic gymnastics at a competitive level, we are trying to relocate them. Professors and principals are proving extraordinary. There is a world of solidarity and love around this tragedy ».
Did you eat borsch the other night?
“They wanted to cook for us. It was very nice. Unfortunately not all evenings go the same way, it depends on the bombing from the affected areas. All our guests have family members still in Ukraine ».
What do your children say about the expropriation of their rooms?
“Proud”.
What is the winning reception model in this emergency?
«Undoubtedly the widespread reception. With all due respect, I don’t think that arranging those arriving in disused hospitals is the best way to welcome these people today. “
Why do you think Europe mobilized for the Ukrainian tragedy?
«Because in Syria and perhaps also in the Balkans the European citizen felt and feels a sort of strangeness given by customs, religion, traditions. As if to say: but what do I have to do with it… Here it is quite another thing. They are like us. And we could be them ».
But she welcomed a Bosnian woman.
«It was 1992. I was leaving my company on the outskirts of Treviso and we went to eat at the spaghetti club. I know this girl: she was a waitress but she was a lawyer. She fled Mostar with a six-month-old baby. Her husband had stayed in Bosnia to defend their restaurants, he would die shortly thereafter. She came to me, we have been friends for thirty years and her son is now in the police and plays in the Italian rugby team ».
Source: Vanity Fair
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
