Diary from L'Aquila

As with the earthquake angels, every place in Abruzzo and Italy has sent volunteers and supplies. The whole community of Roseto have opened their houses to thousands of displaced. In these first days shops refused payments, locals offered beers and pizzas to Aquilan young people at night, clothes factories sent cases of gym suits and shoes, and whatever might be necessary. Doctors are coming regularly, dentists are available for the old people who escaped without their teeth. Next week buses will come to take children and teenagers to sports lessons.

Easter today. My mind goes back to past Easters, when I had bought chocolate eggs for my young nieces and nephews, prepared lasagna the day before, bought arrosticini for the day after, Easter monday. This year Roseto has prepared refreshments in the area of the sports palace - they have a national level basket team - and there will be street artists and entertainments for our children. All the Rosetani have taken charge of us. They want to give us some festive moments. And as the Rosetani, so many other communities are taking care of other thousands of displaced.

Volunteers of the Protezione Civile have left their families and children, and are spending Easter here. They are cleaning chemical toilets, cooking, speaking with people, digging and opening roads, bringing supplies to isolated tent dwellers, guarding our houses for us against scavengers. We can only say thank you, and this seems too little, so it is repeated, again and again. I still hear the words of a girl students extracted a couple of days after the earthquake to her rescuers "grazie ragazzi, grazie, grazie, grazie".