Samuel is only 12 years old, but when he enters the paediatric department of a hospital he doesn't come empty-handed. Bring with it something that has cultivated, collected and built personally thinking about children who are going through difficult days.
He lives in Brusque, in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, and had begun, when he was even smaller, to visit the young patients of the Azambuja hospital. At first he was wearing guitar and playing for them. Then he had another idea: to leave the children something that could remain even after the end of the visit.
In the house garden Samuel cultivates some plants whose seeds are commonly known as “Lacrime della Madonna”. She collects them, prepares them and, with the help of the family, she realizes by hand small rosaries. He doesn't sell them. It brings them free to children admitted, accompanying visits with music, prayers and words of encouragement.
With time, what had begun as a simple gesture has become an ever greater commitment. In 2026 Samuel arrived to prepare and send 100 rosaries destined for a mission in the State of Bahia, bringing much further what had begun in the courtyard of the house.
But perhaps the most beautiful part of his story remains the simplest: a 12-year-old boy who devotes his time to building something with his hands for people who often never met before.
He cannot take away the disease to children, nor make the days spent in the hospital shorter. However, you can enter a room, play some notes, leave a small object built for them and give a moment to feel accompanied.
Sometimes making a difference in someone's life doesn't mean you can solve your problem.
It means choosing to be there while he's facing him.