Just mentioning the word "children" is enough to bring tears to her eyes. After all, over the course of 40 years, she's seen and cuddled hundreds of them. Many of them are now grown, but the affection she feels for them all hasn't changed, despite the passing of time. For Rita Pau, tomorrow will be a significant day: it's not her birthday, but perhaps it feels as if it were. The town's historic municipal nursery school, which she founded in 1986 with other members of the Insieme Social Cooperative, which still manages the educational service today, is turning 40. And to mark the occasion, the Municipality of Cabras has decided to organize a big celebration.

The story

Rita Pau, retired last October and president of the cooperative for thirty years, doesn't forget what was done to provide a nursery school in Cabras. "First, we created our own cooperative, then we started visiting every home in town. We had to understand, in short, whether the nursery was actually necessary or not. We organized a petition, which we then delivered to the municipality. The community's response was positive, which is why the administrators at the time decided to entrust us with managing the service. Initially, we were given the facility for just two months. A sort of trial. They gave us access to a small section of the building on Via Amsicora, which still houses the nursery. We began our adventure with about 15 children; it was wonderful."

But the teachers weren't alone: "The same building," Rita Pau explains, "also housed the family counseling center and the emergency medical service, as well as the Sacred Heart parish, in a small room." It wasn't easy for the Cooperative's members at first: "For the first few months, we couldn't earn a penny," she recounts with nostalgia and a hint of emotion. "The expenses were too many. First, we had to pay for the canteen, which was essential to maintain the service. Those were wonderful years, filled with joy and excitement, but also with responsibility, fear, and anxiety. Every time the contract expired, there was always the fear of not being able to manage the service."