Orto Insieme

2007 saw the start of the wonderful project of Giuseppe Pellegrini (TNT Italia): Orto Insieme (garden together). After working as a School Feeding volunteer in The Gambia, Giuseppe set up a project to share his experiences, raise awareness of poverty among the young, and raise money for schools in the Gambia.

Last year, Giuseppe visited numerous classrooms of primary and secondary schools in Genoa to tell children about his time as a TNT/WFP volunteer in The Gambia. He talked with more than 650 children about world hunger, poverty, and the differences between countries and cultures. He tried to make them aware of the children of their age at the other side of the world who live in poverty and go to school hungry. Through drawing, theatre, songs, stories and discussion the children tried to find an answer to the all-important question: How to make the world a better place for everybody and defeat poverty?

Apart from acquainting school children with the harsh reality of hunger and poverty, Orto Insieme runs a Twinning Garden Project between schools in The Gambia and Genoa. The aim is to create gardens in Genoa as well as in The Gambia and to bring the children of both countries in contact with each other to exchange ideas, drawings, and plant- and vegetable seeds.

The project also raises money for the Gambian schools to build gardens, buy seeds and gardening tools, and to build new wells or repair the old ones.

In 2007, Orto Insieme joined with Caruggincursa, an important local running race in Genoa. They held a "children competition" at the day of the race and raised € 1.440. This money, together with the almost 2000 euros given by several associations, friends and colleagues, and the € 500 donated by three participating schools is going to be used to build a well at the Tankular School and to repair the pump at the Burrong school. The shortage of €1,500 to carry out these plans has been donated by Moving the World at the end of the year.

In 2008, Giuseppe will continue with his project. He will talk with a lot of other children about hunger and poverty, proceed with the Twinning Garden project, and try to raise more money for the school in The Gambia.

At the beginning of this year, Giuseppe Pellegrini published his book ABARAKA BAKE Gambia: Il sorriso e la speranze (The smile and the hope). In this book he describes his experience in The Gambia and his project Orto Insieme. The proceeds of the book will be used for the schools in The Gambia.