On several occasions I have defined Portacomaro as my soul place“the country that doesn’t exist” in provocative contrast to the overused Pavesian quotes of “we need a country” because it would stay there “waiting for you” and would “never leave you alone”.
The “country” that the Turin writer born by chance in Santo Stefano Belbo described more than 70 years ago no longer exists. In fact, perhaps he never really existed.
And Portacomaro, I have been saying it for at least twenty years, is no longer a “town” but a “suburb” with two faces: the hill dotted with prestigious residences (including quite a few dreamlike ones) and a center that is partially and desolately empty and in a state of decay, like the central street (“su dal Pozzetto”) where dozens of activities pulsated which made it a true ” village”.
The drama of loneliness and inability to communicate these days has given rise to general reflections useful that should not be dropped at a local level because the topic has an importance that goes far beyond the serious specific episode.
At the risk of repeating myself, I often say and write that we need to rediscover a sense of community, we need to go back to talking to each other in person.
We have to recover relationships that are human, rebuild real relationships. We cannot live on contacts mediated by technology.
We need to give meaning back to dialogue with each other and at a time that cannot be marked by rhythms dictated by the mobile phone.
And where do we start from to turn a suburb into a town? From the creation of human relationships around aggregation poles giving soul back to administrations and offices that cannot live only on bureaucracy and technicalities.
Unfortunately, from this point of view, Portacomaro is a place in a strong identity crisis that can only be overcome with a collective effort involving those who always live there and those who maintain emotional ties, those who arrived yesterday and those who have never left.
Population and generational turnover, weighed down by the serious damage of the pandemic, are certainly among the causes of the current difficulties.
But a place inhabited by two thousand people must know how to find human resources to recreate aggregation centers, naturally with the help of the institutions. The containers are there. Content is missing.
And people who want to get involved with a constructive spirit and desire to interact to experience truer relationships and dialogue between generations. The elderly transferred the desire to do things to mine: sports facilities, the oratory, the Pro loco, the Library, the Retirement Home were born. To bring young people together and not leave our elderly alone. If we succeeded, it means it can be done.
