I met Valentina in 2008 at the João Batista Scalabrini orphanage, where I was living. She was an AGAPE volunteer and immediately told me about the association. At the time I was little, I only knew that AGAPE was made up of many donors, our godfathers and godmothers, to whom we children and teens would send thank-you letters and drawings. In return, we often received gifts offered by the donors, such as shoes or jerseys so we could all play soccer together…every time Valentina came back we were so happy! We sang many welcome songs to her!

In 2017 I received a call from Sister Lisete, the Scalabrinian Sister who ran the Center and who had been in Ressano Garcia for over 15 years, who had watched me grow up and cared for me all the years I lived there. She told me that AGAPE wanted to fund a scholarship and that I was the boy who had been chosen! For me, it was the best call I could have received: going to college after high school had always been my dream, and thanks to AGAPE donors, this dream was coming true!

After the call, there was a meeting with Valentina, where we talked a lot, both about the courses I could take and the university I could choose. In Mozambique it is very difficult to get into public universities because there are very few places, so I had to choose from private universities in Maputo. Eventually we came to the conclusion that the course in which I could give my all was Environmental Engineering.

In the same year I received another call from Valentina, in which she told me about a course in gelateria and pastry making that I should come to Italy to do. In February 2018 I left and in that month in Italy I learned so many things about ice cream, but especially about the maintenance of the machinery, which thanks to the project “Cremedoce de Fronteira” today are in Ressano Garcia and produce so many flavors of ice cream every week. I go every month to do the cleaning and evaluate if everything continues to work well.

Today thanks to AGAPE I am at the end of my four-year degree and I have to find a good place to do my internship and write my thesis. In addition, every week I dedicate a few hours of my time to the projects that the association has in Maputo: I accompany the volunteers around the city, especially when they have just arrived, and help them with Portuguese, I give my support whenever it is needed at the ice cream shop, and I always try to help when Valentina needs me. I cannot say thank you enough times to the association for everything it has done for me, and I am very happy to wish them well for these 25 years of history, in which they have shown so many kids that there can be good development in our country too, and that this starts with education and training. That is why I also try to do my part, to give back at least in part what has been given to me. Thank you AGAPE.

José Maria Chicuarimba