The Elena Trevisanato Foundation continues its efforts , bringing aid from Venice to Gode for more than 3,800 beneficiaries. New projects are also getting underway in Hosana. Donations totaling over 30,000 euros were collected thanks to the 700 participants at the event on the island of Certosa, titled “The Road to School,” organized by the Elena Trevisanato Foundation, a nonprofit organization operating in Ethiopia and founded in memory of Elena, a young woman from Venice who passed away prematurely.
By participating in the festival—organized thanks to some 80 volunteers, half of whom were young people— the participants contributed to the project “Empowering Women and Youth Through Sustainable Waste Management and Education,” aimed at supporting initiatives currently underway in Gode, in Ethiopia’s Somali Region. The project involves building restrooms, water tanks, and waste collection points, as well as arranging for the distribution of menstrual health kits and the creation of school clubs dedicated to hygiene and environmental protection.
The project, which involves more than 3,800 beneficiaries, aims to promote hygiene and health practices that encourage school attendance and, above all, the well-being of girls: “We will organize "We’re providing educational sessions on the menstrual cycle so that the topic is no longer taboo, and the latrines will be particularly useful for girls to maintain hygiene during their periods. Work has begun, and toward the end of the year we’ll be monitoring the results," says Elisa Andreoli, the Foundation’s representative, explaining that the project is being carried out in collaboration with local partners such as Arche Nova and OWDA, which provide operational assistance, and with the support of the L’Oréal Fund for Women, which is contributing 21,000 euros to the project.
«Many young people, especially high school and college students, attended the party. It was great to help them understand that by participating, they would be helping other students ". In addition, the finalist works for the Baruffi Prize were on display throughout the day. Students from the “Marco Polo” art high school participated in the competition, exploring the theme of celebration: “We wanted to showcase the talent of Venetian students specifically on the theme to which our project in Ethiopia is dedicated.”
Other projects. In Gode, in the Somali Region, the focus is specifically on women. Another environmental protection project involves about twenty women who have been trained to collect plastic in a context where waste management is still largely informal and relies on open dumps and open burning. The tree nursery project—also aimed at fostering independence among women—continues in the villages of Gode and Denan, following the successful initiative in Kayane and Kunka.
“Last December, we had already seen the nurseries up and running and the first seedlings sprouting; we were just waiting for them to grow so we could start selling them,” explains Andreoli.
Support for the Darwanaji health center continues for the sixth consecutive year, taking the form of training for midwives and in neonatal and childbirth-related emergencies. In addition, support continues for the outlying health posts around the facility—which have increased this year from 5 to 9—and for three villages where, every month, a nurse and a midwife travel in a medical vehicle to provide checkups, vaccinations, nutritional screenings, and educational sessions for pregnant women.
New projects connecting Africa and Venice. Together with the Capuchin Sisters, we are also in the process of planning a maternity clinic in Hosana, about a 5-hour drive southwest of Addis Ababa. “It’s an ambitious initiative that will require a great deal of our commitment and take us to a different part of Ethiopia, outside the Somali Region. For us, working with the Capuchin Sisters is a guarantee. Years ago, in Jijiga, we built a school together that is still active and well-maintained,” explains Elisa Andreoli, who traveled with the Foundation in July to visit the site and the land designated for the project. “By the end of the year, we should already be starting to dig the well.”
Activities are also continuing in the Venice area, where—for the third consecutive year—five third-grade classes at the “Giulio Cesare” elementary school in Mestre will participate in a singing course using the Kodály method; meanwhile, in collaboration with the Diocesan Caritas and Casa di Amadou, the Foundation has begun supporting a project aimed at migrants on the Balkan route.
Francesca Catalano
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