What we are doing in Rome

Angelo Conti

2000 people live in the former Bastogi residence, which officially isn’t even certified for residential use: mainly Italian families in conditions of fragility and economic difficulty. It is estimated that at least 300 children and adolescents are growing up in these buildings on the outskirts of Rome, many of whom have never gone to lessons. In these houses, we are facing Specchio d’Italia’s most complicated challenge: the fight against early school abandonment, micro and baby crime. Poverty, social hardship, abuse, violation of school obligations must be defeated in order to give dozens of children a more peaceful future, within the law.

To be close to these young people we distributed 60 backpacks with stationery products and books to read. Then we obtained, created and furnished a classroom to host four afternoons of homework assistance per week. The project started in the spring of 2020, with the precious logistics of the Rome association Amici dei Bimbi Onlus of Stefano Santini. It is beginning to give important results.

Also in the Bastogi area we supported the elderly in difficulty with the Thirteenth Salary of Friendship, a historic initiative with which we offer financial aid to the loneliest and poorest elderly people. A commitment that will now continue with the “Support the Elderly” programme.

At the same time as the intervention in Bastogi, two other projects were financed in the capital: a pet therapy activity for disabled children in primary schools (with Antas Onlus) and a programme for donating hairpieces to women undergoing chemotherapy in the Tor Vergata hospital (with the Arcobaleno della Speranza Onlus).