Instead of dancing and toasting, there are shovels and rubber boots, but no one complains about that. On the contrary. Among the thousands of volunteers who came to the Emilia-Romagna region to help clean streets and houses, Italian journalists spotted two groups of men who had changed their plans due to the flooding. – We didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. We thought that we would spend this trip in an alternative, more useful way – report the participants of the mud “stag parties” in an interview with the local portal.
Volunteers from all over Italy come to the Emilia-Romagna region. It is hard to say how many there are, the Italian media say that people who travel to areas affected by the flood and volunteer to help clean the streets and houses can be counted in the thousands. Last weekend, the attention of a journalist from the village of Forli was attracted by a group of men wearing characteristic peaked caps. Each of them had the words “Make Celibate Great Again” written on it.
Thanks and congratulations
It turned out to be a group of six friends of Piergiorgio – a resident of Forli, a bachelor who is getting married at the beginning of June. In the photo below, he has a blue cap, his colleagues – red.
The future groom and his colleagues spent a bachelor party in an unusual wayforlitoday.it
– Bearing in mind what has happened in our region, a few days before last weekend, Piergiorgio asked if we could do something to help the city and the residents in need. That is why we agreed that the whole group will spend our trip in an alternative, more useful way – says Stefano, a friend of the future groom, in an interview with a journalist of the portal forlitoday.it.
So everyone willingly put on work clothes, equipped with shovels and went to work. – Our hats made some residents think we were a specialized group, but when we explained to them where this common element came from, they reacted very warmly, thanked and congratulated the future groom – adds Francesco, another colleague of Piergiorgio.
“We’d feel weird playing in a traditional way”
Friends of 42-year-old Marcello, a bank employee in Rimini, who is due to change his marital status on June 10, came up with a similar idea. He and eight of his colleagues also canceled the party they planned to throw last weekend. Instead, they rolled up their sleeves and helped the people of Cesena. – We didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. Many people are currently helping in the flooded areas, they report to the journalist of “Il Resto del Carlino”.
– We had a date for a joint trip for a long time, but for a long time we did not know what exactly we were going to do. Finally, one of us suggested: “Maybe we should go and help the flood victims?”. Everyone reacted very enthusiastically, including the groom-to-be, says Massimo. – In our hometown, the losses were much smaller, but we would feel strange playing in a traditional way – he added.
A group of volunteers in RavennaFABRIZIO ZANI, PAP/ EPA
Fighting mud and time
About 20,000 people are still being evacuated from Emilia-Romagna, affected by the floods, the head of the Italian region, Stefano Bonaccini, said on Wednesday. He added that 15,000 residents have already returned to their homes.
In an interview with Sky Tg 24, Bonaccini spoke of the urgent need to appoint an extraordinary commissioner for the reconstruction of damaged areas. As he pointed out, the first stage of providing the necessary assistance should be overcome as soon as possible in order to proceed to reconstruction.
You have to quickly shovel the mud and remove it from the flooded buildings, basements and roads, because in the sun it hardens and becomes almost like cement, say the residents of Forli, volunteers and service workers repairing the damage after the catastrophic flood. As the water subsides, you can see the true scale of the damage.
Il Resto del Carlino, Forli Today, PAP
Main photo source: forlitoday.it