Grazia DeIonno |
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Grazia Benvenuto was born in a little Italian village near Napoli called San Giorgio La Molara on 23rd of January 1931. She grew up in San Giorgio and lived there with her mother and father. Her mother had also given birth to two boys and two girls, but they all died at a young age. Grazia's childhood was beautiful. She remembers going to school with all her friends wearing black skirts and white shirts. She grew up in a safe environment. Most people in the village were not very rich but they were all happy. Everything was lovely. There was no drugs and no violence. Unfortunately, however, there was a war. Grazia's dad went to war, leaving Grazia's mother a single parent to look after her and teach her the way of life. After 11 years at war, Grazia's father finally returned. Grazia's memory of her country and village are all good ones. She loved the place she lived in, loved her family and friends and was comfortable with her life. She loved going to church, praying, reading and sewing with her cousins. In one way or another, she was always active. In between all the hard word and praying, she met a handsome, young man by the name of Giorgio DeIonno. While they were becoming acquainted, Giorgio was part of the military. A war began during this time and Giorgio had to leave the country. After two years had gone by, Grazia was still waiting for the man she loved to return. The people around her weren't very supportive and kept telling her to give up. Although she had no support, Grazia kept her hopes up and four years after he left, much to everyone's surprise, Giorgio came back to Italy. As Giorgio had been a prisoner in England, he had learnt to speak the language and thought it would be a good experience to go to Australia with all the migrants who were leaving at the time. He felt that Australia would give him a new perspective of life. Giorgio ended up staying in Australia for nine years. During this whole time, he and Grazia stayed in touch by mail and Giorgio asked to marry Grazia by an arranged proxy marriage. Grazia's mum would not allow this therefore it did not happen. After buying a house in Australia, Giorgio finally returned to Italy hoping Grazia would join him in Australia as his wife. On the 15th July 1962, Grazia and Giorgio became Mr and Mrs DeIonno in Italy. At first Grazia refused to go to Australia with Giorgio as she did not want to leave her friends and family behind. After realising that the future for herself and her husband and any children to come would be very restricted in Italy, she agreed to go along to see what Australia had to offer. At the time when Grazia was leaving to go to Australia, not many Italians were going anymore as a lot of them had already left Italy a few year earlier. Grazia knew nothing of the English language. She knew very little about Australia, only what her husband had told her. Although it was a journey towards an unknown land, with unknown people, she was never afraid as she knew she had her husband right beside her. On the 1st of November, Grazia and Giorgio climbed onboard the ship "Sydney" and began their journey to Australia. Once aboard the ship, Grazia got very sick and nearly lost her first unborn child. On the 28th of November, Grazia and Giorgio arrived in Melbourne and found Giorgio's uncle waiting for them. After visiting a doctor, Grazia felt much better and was happy to find out her baby was safe. On the 29th November, Grazia and Giorgio caught a train to Adelaide. They adapted very easily to their new way of life. On the 2nd of June 1963, Grazia and Giorgio's first daughter Carmelina was born. On the 8th of September 1964 Angela was born. On the 6th March 1966 their first and only son Angelo was born and on the 24th February 1969, their last child Antonietta was born. The DeIonno's first home in Adelaide was a small house in Norwood. There were lots of Italians and some friends in the same street and suburb. Grazia never worked as she had a great, hard-working husband who provided the family with everything they needed. Grazia was always home teaching them how to speak Italian. Grazia went to school for a little while to try to learn to speak English, but she was too devoted to her four children therefore she never learnt the language. In Australia she was treated very well and go help by people that lived in the area. Everyone was friendly and generous. Slowly Grazia made friends and adapted to the lifestyle in Australia. Grazia was happy to be living in Australia as she became convinved that there were more opportunities and a better future for her children. In 1972, Giorgio decided to open up his own bakery. The bakery was called "St George Cakes and Gelati" and the business was great. Grazia helped clean the place. As Giorgio now had his own business, Grazia had the money to take all her kids for a holiday to Italy. When Grazia returned to Italy, it had changed in many ways. However, as she now knew how life was in Australia, she could see that her family was much better off, and after a few months they returned to Adelaide. When living in Australia, Grazia didn't change any of the things she did. She stuck to her traditions and beliefs and lived her life exactly the same way she was living in Italy. She always kept in contact with her family and friends and missed them dearly. Although she loved Italy, she knew Australia was where she could give her children a better future. Although Grazia doesn't want to live in Italy, she will continue to visit her home country but appreciates that her family lives in Australia. She does not regret coming to Adelaide with her husband, on the contrary, she is very grateful to be living in a free country. If she was still living in Italy now she would be working in a more populated city and her children would be struggling to find work. If she had to migrate from Italy to Australia in 2006, it would be a lot easier and quicker. During her lifetime, Grazia has gone through a lot of experiences, good ones and bad ones but with every challenge life threw her way, she learnt and showed everyone that knows her what a strong and amazing woman she is. She sacrificed a lot so her children could have a better future and she loved her husband with all her heart and soul. Grazia DeIonno is living proof that if you have faith and never give up on your hopes, dreams can come true. L'emigrazione e' il fenomeno che porta le persone in condizioni di spostarsi dal paese nativo a posti dove avranno la possibilita' di migliorare la propria condizione economica e sociale. Le necessita' sono di riuscire a inserirsi in un sistema lavorativo che gli consente di avere profitti migliori di quelli che avevano prima di spostarsi. Le cose che possono migliorare le persone stesse sono: spostandosi significa andare incontro a nuove conoscenze e se questo si verifica, spostandosi in paesi diversi significa riuscire ad esprimersi in una lingua divera da quella del proprio paese. Tutto questo significa stimolarsi oltre a lavorare e a migliorare la propria situazione economica anche riuscire ad imparare lingue diverse per comunicare con le persone con cui dovrai vivere e lavorare. Le cose perse, per quanto riguarga questo fenomeno (l'emigrazione), sono: il distacco dalle proprie origini e dalle proprie tradizioni, ma sopratutto e' perdere il contatto con i propri famigliari che possono essere (genitori, fratelli, sorelle, cognati, nipoti) ed perdere il rapporto sociale con i propri amici e paesani. Quindi, all'arivo nel nuovo paese, soffrirebbero la nostalgia. March 2009 |
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