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NATTY PETROSINO |
Natty Hollmann grew up in a weahlty family of White-Russian origin in Argentina. In her twenties, she became a fashion model, nothing unusual at the time for a pretty girl of a prominent family living in the province of Buenos Aires. She married a well-off business man from Bahia Blanca, who gave her a new name, Natty Petrosino, and two sons, Jorge and Fabian. When talking about those years, Natty becomes very critical of herself. She admits that she has never been a famous model, but she was good looking and at the same time frivolous, superficial and spoilt. She was used to be served, never had to help around the house and believed herself to be a good Christian because she was nice to her maid.  Natty's course of life changed completely in the operating room of a hospital some thirty years ago after a life-threatening illness and operation. Her close escape from death and a near-death experience made her decide to renounce to all material possessions and devote her life entirely to the poor, sick and needy. At first, she started filling her own very elegant house with tramps and afflicted persons whom she had picked up from the streets of Bahia Blanca, this during a period of eight years. At that time, her husband as well as the neighbours made her understand that they were becoming weary of all these strange people wandering around the Petrosino's home, situated in the best neighbourhood of the city. She then left her own home to found single-handedly the " Hogar Peregrino San Francisco de Asis " in the outskirts of Bahia Blanca. There, she took care of about thirty mentally and physically handicapped boys, as well as old vagabonds, often very ill and at the end of their lives, single mothers and beaten women. For many years, she distributed daily up to 7'000 meals to hungry people. In the winter of 1998, Natty gave her home - her life's work of thirty years - to the able hands of an order of catholic nuns who continue running this place in her spirit. She had decided that the time had come for her to devote herself entirely to bringing help to extremely poor people living in remote areas of Argentina. On top of the work at the " Hogar ", she had been regularly going on these trips for over 15 years already, driving a truck for thousands of kilometers to bring her to provinces such as Mendoza, Jujuy, Formosa and Chaco. There, she would distribute medication, food and clothes, along with lots of personal warmth and love. Human aid rarely gets to these regions as their access is difficult. The roads very often are untarred and dusty, becoming impracticable after a rainfall. Some places can be reached by horseback only. However, Natty, who is considered to be the Argentinian "Mother Teresa ", does not shy away from any difficulties. Her principal purpose in life is to help fellow human beings to ease their suffering. Her work is founded on noble and Christian motivation, all her actions are out of love for her fellow humans. She wants to stay independent and refuses to get involved in politics, competition or prestige. Natty's motto is to bring help wherever it is needed. A couple of years ago she went as far as Russia, and the year before last, after the terrible hurricane " Mitch ", she was among the first helpers to arrive in Nicaragua. A couple of months before, she had helped in the very badly flooded areas in the province of Entre dos Rios (Argentina), bringing with her three trucks full of food, blankets and clothes. She personally saw to it that the goods were distributed properly, rowing a boat herself to bring relief to people who were trapped in their houses by the floods. She is often seen to be a mediator when there are prison upheavals. This year, one of her top priorities was directed at the resource-poor inhabitants of an Indio community in the northern state of Formosa, leading them step by step on the path of self-sufficiency. It is a wonderful experience to be with a person like Natty who, through her total confidence and trust in God, fearlessly tackles any task, no matter how impossible or difficult it may seem at first. Her faith gives her so much inner peace, harmony, joy, courage and energy that she invites other people to have similar ambitions and the willingness to bring help to fellow humans in a selfless way. This certainly is true for all of us who have had the privilege of working for Natty on various occasions. We hope that just by looking at her photo you will let yourselves be inspired by her too ! If this cause touches your heart, your donations are extremely welcome and can be paid to the below-mentioned account. As all the administrative costs are covered by us, every single donated dollar goes into Natty's project which at the time is for the construction of houses for the Witchi Indios, in the State of Formosa, Argentina. Tom & Susan Berna |
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