ROM

Visits in some Gipsy camps

'To portray the everyday life of someone means clustering to speak with the people and to hear Their feelings. To look at the events That occur on a daily basis help us truly Should Realize That we are not exempt from what Seems to only happen to others' (Father Ibrahim Faltas, Director of the School of the Holy Land). These words help everybody to be curious, to be 'contaminated', over the Prejudices and real problems, to enrich ourselves and better understand. These words are useful to prepare ourselves to be curious, to the idea of 'being contaminated', beyond the prejudices and the real difficulties, to be enriched and better understand. Aided by a step in a course of photographic reportage held by the school 'Graffiti' in Rome, I went to a gipsy camp on the borders of the city where I live (Via Candoni), and I had the opportunity to come into direct contact, almost physical, with children and adults (mothers in particular) of this camp. Before the meeting I had always wondered about the story of these people who has always been the last places in our social ranking. I always had the curiosity to go over the prejudice; to better understand the origin of this strong identity based generally in non-integration: positive, in having maintained a culture and tradition, and in the negative, in not being able to talk and therefore, integrate within the rules of the countries that are hosting them. The occasion was perfect, but until a second before my belly did come out with fears and concerns, such as being in a dirty camp, with touchy and sometimes aggressive people. Well, for about a couple of hours children literally assaulted me to be photographed. The use of a wide angle necessitated and facilitated direct interaction, almost physical with the kids, it almost helped to eliminate immediate barriers. 'Almost' because, among the photographers present that day (the other students of the course), I was the only one targeted by one of the people in the camp who attacked me because he did not want anything to be phographed. Only after some discussion, along with a cultural mediator present in the camp, I clarified my friendly intentions and I could start my humanity and knowledge experience. At that point my stomach ache was instantly dissolved. I went back to the camp of Via Candoni several times, in order to give the prints of photos taken, to take some other pictures, to explain the purpose of the use of these photos for Save The Children printings, to make friends and establish connections. Here, photography was a means to satisfy my curiosity but also to get to interact with a rich and problematic world. In particular, the whole thing was facilitated by the extraordinary ability of children to communicate and interact with their spontaneity and candor. I started attending also another big camp, Castel Romano. I always hope to keep alive the fire of these relationships. My photos have been used to:

Civic Zero A structure in Rome, near Termini Railwayy Station, to help unaccompanied children to reintegrated, thus removing them from the clutches of the exploitation. This is ''Civic zero', the project of Save the Children presented these days along with the dossier on the living conditions of migrant children in Italy.

  • Reportage of my exibition in Lecce 'The kids lower the defences', photos of the photos.

From 19 to November 21, 2008 was held the event controcielo in Lecce, Salento days of childhood and adolescence, with the participation of Save The Children and the setting of a photo exhibition related to a Gipsy coomunity (the kids lower the defences) beside the Apollo Theatre in via Trinchese. Download the program. The exhibition was inaugurated on November 20, 2008. The exhibition presented in the press 1 and 2

    • Study on maternal and child health in the Roma community. The case of Rome - 05/2008 upload img publications Save report moms romupload img pubblicazioni Save rapporto mamme rom

A qualitative research by Save The Children, the result of interviews with Roman women living in settlements, well equipped or not, in Rome.
Download the report with pictures (in italian) - 3.1 Mb

    • Colourful Horizons 2008rom.ht1

2nd Report Update on the Colourful Horizons project, interventions for the prevention of deviance and social reintegration of foreign children involved in criminal proceedings.
Download the report (in italian) - 2.2 Mb

    • Opportunities and challenges for social intervention aimed to help migrant childrenrom.ht2

The research is part of the 'Colourful Horizons', sponsored by Save the Children Italy, with the support and funding of the Foundation Vodafone Italy. The project aims to reduce the number of foreign children exploited and involved in illegal activities and promote social rehabilitation and integration. The study analyzes the relationship between the migratory path of minors Romanian migrants who are in Rome, their involvement in illegal activities and their experience in social intervention initiatives. The goal is to identify effective methods of intervention for the prevention of delinquency and reintegration of foreign children involved in criminal proceedings
Download the report in English - 2.9 Mb

    • Project 'Colourful Horizons' - Final reportrom.ht1

The project aimed to promote the integration into Italian society of foreign minors involved in criminal proceedings across the street education, cultural mediation service at the Juvenile Justice and the host communities, the testing of the methodology of peer education, the legal advisory service, operator training, the development of research on the topic and presentation conferences services
Download the report in English - 3.12 MB