Running to Africa
The press conference for the presentation of the project “A school of life” took place this afternoon at the PalaWhirlpool Press Room in the presence of the CEO of Cimberio S.p.A. Roberto Cimberio, the president of the Varese nel Cuore Consortium (Varese in your Heart) Michele Lo Nero, the director of VISPE Antonio Caccini and the Assistant Coach of Varese Basketball Stefano Bizzozi.
Cimberio S.p.A. and the Varese nel Cuore Consortium have decided to follow the same path which will allow them to complete a project, through different stages, that will benefit one of the poorest areas in the world. The final objective is to build a school in the Bugenyuzi province of Burundi (Africa). The realization of the project will be followed by VISPE, an Italian NPO that has been working in this African country for a year.
The voyage that will lead to the realization of the project will occur over various stages: the first took place a few weeks ago when a group of runners marked Cimberio and Varese nel Cuore, were in New York to take part in the traditional marathon. Their participation in the most most famous marathon in the world was connected to the “A school of life” project through the charity mechanism. In fact, every runner had invited friends and acquaintances to bet on them by making a donation (through the website www.cimberiorun4africa.it). The events related to Hurricane Sandy, which hit the city of New York hard in the days just before the marathon, led to the cancelling of the race. Despite this setback, a total of € 11,350 was still collected from the first stage.
The next stages will take place in the schools across our province, with the traditional “A school for life” project, and be enriched by Varese Basketball which over the past few years has brought its series A players into the classrooms of the schools throughout the province. The topic of multicultural aspects and sport as a way of coming together will be covered in the next meetings. A VISPE volunteer will be on hand during these occasions to present the “Basketball: a school of life” project, in order to make students and teachers aware of the importance of schooling in emerging countries like Burundi. The host schools will also be given the opportunity to collect pencils and notebooks to bring to the new school in Burundi. From “A school for life” to “A school of life”.
The game between Cimberio Varese and Trenkwalder Reggio Emilia on November 25 will be dedicated to the project, with a series of other initiatives that are designed to inform the Varese fans about the initiative and to help collect funds.
Stefano Bizzozi, Vitucci’s assistant on the Varese bench, then spoke of his experiences in African countries where he has built sports structures (basketball and volleyball courts, football pitches) for local children through his association.
Roberto Cimberio – CEO of Cimberio S.p.A.: “It all began a year ago when we started the adventure of preparing for the New York City Marathon: a personal venture shared with many other people. Michele Lo Nero and I gave it a face, we threw the stone and something moved. In June our delegation will inaugurate the school that we will be building in Africa. This project is currently making its way around the globe and we are continually receiving donations through our suppliers and our channels.”
Michele Lo Nero – president of the Varese nel Cuore Consortium: “These are some of the stages that we have set: besides collecting money for the construction of the school, we have another objective which is to collect school supplies like pencils and notebooks which are fundamental in the schooling of African children.”
Antonio Caccini – director of VISPE: “Burundi is one of the few countries in the world where the hunger and poverty situation is getting worse. As of today, the activities that we have performed have led to the building of 3 shopping centres in the capital. This will be the 15th school that we will build: by October 2013 the building will be able to hold 350 children. We are proud to be able to work alongside two important companies like Cimberio S.p.A. and the Varese nel Cuore Consortium.”
Stefano Bizzozi – Assistant Coach of Varese Basketball: “Our idea was to help Italian kids become more aware. Basketball is not only that which you play on a court, but the values that it stands for. We wanted to find an important example for them so they could know what it means to play a sport. Our activity was created with this purpose and it then grew by bringing sports projects to Africa. Besides school, sport can be an educational path for children.”