We were going down a dirt road and a squirrel crossed. “Look Yuri, a squirrel!” He didn’t have time to see it-“I missed it!” It made me think: experiences like these rekindle the desire to see things. That ‘I missed it’ is not a usual phrase for him in the community; he often remains a bit detached from things around him.” Yuri is one of the people with disabilities at the L’arcobaleno community in Quarto Inferiore (Bologna), the second of the three Arche realities in Italy by seniority; Stefano, who recounts the episode, is one of the caregivers. The experience that is lived at Arche, residential or laboratory, constantly puts people at the center: each one of them – guest, operator or volunteer, “none perfect, but unique and unrepeatable, with its history and its being here and now” – is “fundamental to build, day after day, an experience of welcoming and sharing, a ferment of growth for everyone.”
Growth that is experienced in everyday adventures but also in some decidedly extraordinary ones: the one in the second week of October is an example. The dirt road where Yuri lost the squirrel is a stretch of Francigena traveled in tandem by a community group: left Bologna, destination Rome in 8 days to celebrate L’Arcobaleno’s 20th anniversary and reach the Chicco community in Ciampino, the first Italian reality of the international association born in France.
There are so many commonplaces, we see it when we pass with tandems. Many are amazed: how many limitations in our way of thinking!
The “surreal idea” of a tandem vacation trip was born a couple of years ago when Luca and his daughter Chiara, both part of the community, participated in a bike trip with other people with disabilities (more or less visible): a ride around Emilia Romagna on wheels (a hand bike, assisted tandems and regular bikes) to the unusual discovery of interesting places, documented in the beautiful film Tanta Strada (directed by Lorenzo K. Stanzani, it can be found on Rai Play). The experience was so good for both of them that Luca came up with the idea of expanding it to part of the community. “We understood,” Errani explains in one of the moments filmed during the tour by Stanzani, “that some people don’t care about the vacation and are happy where they are. But there are those who instead need a little something more and it is right to try to give it.”
Organizing the trip was not easy. Recovering pedal-assisted tandems; training; involving partners sensitive to the project; planning fundraising to allow the caravan to move safely; accommodating about 20 people accompanied by Matteo, a guide specializing in bicycle travel (from the Silvia Parente Foundation along with Davide); planning the individual stages and choosing them according to each person’s ability. Sara, Steve, Antonia, Gianluca, Davide, Federico and Alessandra, Chiara and Yuri took turns in the individual stages so as not to get too tired. Some, from Quarto, joined the main roped party for day-long stages. Like Bianca who, in a wheelchair, followed her companions on the final one to Rome on a modified cargobike provided by Aspassobike. Or young Federico who, accompanied by his mother, experienced a day in a tandem behind Stefano: “It’s his first time sleeping out alone! He may be sleeping, we are a little bit more restless. It’s okay for him to do his own thing, though. A few years ago we wouldn’t have expected him to be able to do something like this, and instead it happened!”
Visualizza questo post su Instagram
The planned stages underwent some changes, but in the end the feeling of arriving in Rome (with the last difficult leg in the chaos of the center, among unreasonable architectural barriers) gave everyone great satisfaction. Antonio included: one of the guys from Faith and Light (the younger sister of Arche in the World, with its 1,500 meeting communities) joined, along with other friends, on the final leg and was so happy that he cried with emotion upon arrival at the U.S. Notre Dame University (which, with lecturer, friend and former operator Michael Driessen, opened the doors of its premises near the Colosseum for the reception and refreshment of the cyclists).
Even by those who were less familiar with intellectual disability, the trip was experienced as a true discovery: the listening, trust, necessary rests and breaks that in other situations are taken for granted, here were not. “There is always the relationship. You are in the world in a different way, I learned the emotional side, what a real hug means, to trust the other,” emphasizes one of the aggregate riders. And the tandem is a vehicle that perfectly conveys this experience. Above all, however, the tour wanted to be – and was – a real vacation. And a different way to get recognized, including through word-of-mouth media. “What these people experience,” Luca explained during the tour, “is unlikely to be experienced by others, instead I would like to expand this possibility. There are so many clichés… We see this when we pass with tandems: many people are amazed, they never thought that something like this could happen. There are so many limitations in our thinking! I hope next year the adventure will be repeated because, together, they are good times for everyone.”
Translation from Italian to English by Jenna De Pasquale (JFR)
