Projects 2004-2010
In 2004 the Foundation started to take its first steps into the field of solidarity. Initially it was set up as a distributing organisation, whilst expanding and gaining more experience in the project field. In the two-year period 2004-2005 it moved towards underpriviledged people. It distributed funds for the purchase of medical equipment for the First Aid department of the De Marchi Pediatric Clinic in Milan and, together with other Associations, created a centre for underprivileged children between 12 months and 3 years old.
In 2006, parallel to the start of its own project in India (Vanaprastha), the Foundation undertook the restructuring of an orphanage in Belarus and an urban recovery operation in Florence, intended for the elderly.
In 2007 the aim of the Foundation was definitively confirmed. Besides initiatives such as the creation of a medical centre inside San Patrignano - Italy (rehab center for serious drug abuse), the allocation of funds to Educatori Senza Frontiere (Teachers Without Borders) for the opening of an infant school in Ethiopia and the setting up of a major burns unit at the Saint Jean De Dieu Tanguietà hospital in Benin. The Foundation also has a three-year plan of its own projects in Europe, India and Africa and has given many children the chance of a better future.
In 2008/2009 the Foundation started up 3 new projects in Africa consisting of 2 new schools - one in Burkina Faso and one in Mali – and a special project for women in Burkina Faso, to enable them to be financially independent by setting up a tomato sauce business.
This year 2010 the WOMEN to be projects were set up. Initiatives aimed towards the economic, social and cultural growth in the world of women. Not assistance but a concrete effort to supply know-how and more possibilities for a true development.
WOMEN to be is also an on-line magazine, written by female Afghan students, with the aim to show the current situation of women in that country.
To draw even more attention to these projects, Katia Figini has been chosen as a testimonial – she is an athlete who in the attempt to make a world record will contribute to the situation of most women who still have no say in the matter.