Italian
The new project together with Fondazione Burlo Garofolo and the aeronautics.
ROME (RM). It’s called ‘Space for the little ones’ and it’s made “with the head and with the heart.” After the copy of the Gutenberg Bible, the new project of the Fondazione Scriptorium Foroiuliense takes the drawings of the children hospitalized at the Burlo Garofolo pediatric hospital in Trieste into orbit. Thanks to the now established collaboration with the Italian Air Force and the agreement with the Burlo Garofolo Foundation and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, the Scriptorium has realized the dreams of peace of the little ones by sending their creations into space.
‘Space for the little ones’ was presented in Rome at the press room of the Chamber of Deputies, where also the Minister for Disabilities, Alessandra Locatelli, intervened. “I thank those who participated in this project for being able to network around the youngest children who are experiencing very complex hospitalizations, giving value to their actions with this book that will fly into Space. These are very important paths of social inclusion for the country, I believe this is the right way. I want to encourage you to do more and more in this direction. Reading, culture, and writing are precious assets, and donating them to everyone is something extraordinary,” said the minister in a video message.
The idea, which has obtained the Patronage of the Presidency of the Council, was born “from a simple question, that only children know how to ask: why can’t we live in peace? Why do wars exist? Here – said the president of the Burlo Garofolo Foundation, Gabriele Cont – this booklet created by hospitalized children wants to be a way in which children tell us what they really need. They drew it and told us that it is important to be in peace, to be together, to share. This is what we wanted to build together with the Scriptorium. The children drew without filters, without boundaries. Many did not put their name: there is no possession, there is no ‘mine’ and ‘yours’. It is not just a collection of drawings, but a universal message of peace that starts from a pediatric hospital on Earth and reaches high, into Space.”
Born in 1856, the Burlo Garofolo was recognized as Irccs in 1968, a Scientific Institute for Research. “Conducting research in the pediatric field is more challenging and requires a different form of responsibility. The Irccs, and this is a source of pride, has established a structure that has been able to provide care before treatment. When a child is sick, they do not grasp the severity of their illness. Parents do. And a project like this benefits the whole family,” said the director of the Institute, Francesca Tosolini.
The Regional Councillor for Health of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Riccardo Riccardi, also sent his support, speaking live at the conference. “It is an important experience that the Region recognizes the value of. Thanks to the Air Force for accompanying an initiative that represents the dream of these children on this occasion as well. Without dreams, health becomes even harder. If we don’t put everything else around health, the healing process becomes more difficult. These initiatives are also extremely important,” said the Councillor.
The dream comes true when Burlo Garofolo meets Scriptorium. The Foundation’s story was born in San Daniele del Friuli from a banquet that turned the art of calligraphy into an opportunity for the local area’s growth. A growth that is always sustainable and inclusive. “Gabriele Cont came to see me and said ‘we have to do something for the children.’ And I immediately thought of the Space. For us, it has become normal that dreams can become reality,” said the president of the Scriptorium Foroiuliense Foundation, Roberto Giurano, who turned to the Air Force to make this new space magic happen. “It is beautiful to know that a thought of peace is being carried forward by the military,” he said.
The Scriptorium has obtained from the hospital the paper that was supposed to be thrown away. With his workshop, he turned it into recycled paper on which the children made their drawings enclosed in a small book. “But we will also organize a traveling exhibition of the original drawings to bring them to the squares and important buildings in Italy, but maybe even abroad,” said Giurano, who is already thinking ahead. “The idea that came to me is to contact the Expo in Osaka, it would be nice to show this side of the country in the Italian Pavilion,” he said, not without emotion: “These are projects that enrich us. They don’t give us money, but we use our funds to make ideas known and dreams come true.”
And this time the dreams are those of the children that will end up in space. “We are happy to have been called to receive this beautiful book that will carry a message not only outside, but also inside the spacecraft. The armed forces over the years have established themselves as a gateway to Space. Acting as a courier and bringing this excellence there is only a pleasure for us. This adventure will continue with a thousand other projects that will be realized,” said the Air Force General, Urbano Floriani, right after receiving the book that the Scriptorium donated to those present, among whom were also the Friulian deputy Isabella De Monte and the mayor of San Daniele del Friuli, Pietro Valent: “I am proud to be here to tell a project that originates in San Daniele, I am proud to have a Foundation there that always says yes to those who ask for help to realize an idea and I am proud that the Region is represented with these projects that can have a great effect even for inclusion.”
