Social activity

The figures of our social activities

One of the aims of Progetto Sorriso is to recognize the dignity of the children and of the families that benefit of the services of the Association. In order to realize this goal, we have sustained some projects of a social nature addressed to children.

We sustained the project “A home for homeless children” in collaboration with the Tokai House of Khulna, Bangladesh. The structure welcomes, feeds and takes care of about 50 children who had been abandoned and were forced to make a living out of begging, illegal dealing or worse. The only obligation of the inhabitants of the Tokai house is to attend school.

We financed the project “Itinerant Medicine” in collaboration with the Association KhuDA of Khulna. The project aims to provide medical assistance to 3000 children every year by intervening directly in the most destitute and most secluded Bengali villages.

We are sustaining the restructuring of the Hospital of Mymensingh. The latter is now a small medical centre located in northern Bangladesh, but is destined to become a hospital equipped for the realization of highly specialized procedures, for instance for the correction of facial disfigurements and the treatment of burns, and for long stays in hospital. It also promises to become a centre of reference for the training of local medic and paramedic personnel. Like the other surgical centers set up by the Association in Bangladesh, Congo and Guatemala, the aim is to realize a health centre well integrated with the local resources. This is possible thanks to the installation of equipment that functions with the resources available in these countries. Indeed, whenever possible, we purchased anaesthesiological and surgical instruments in loco, choosing those whose maintenance could be performed by local technicians. Moreover, a low energy consumption lighting system was installed. The latter is connected, wherever possible, to photovoltaic systems. We also paid attention in choosing our consumption goods, in order to avoid having to dispose of polluting and toxic waste, and created adequate spaces for the management, storage and, in part, disposal of waste.

We sustained the realization of two nursery schools in particularly poor areas in Bangladesh, like Savar, a suburb of Dhaka, and the area near the railway station of the capital. In these overpopulated areas, children live abandoned to themselves, without points of reference or protection. For this reason the nursery schools will not only be recreational places for kids otherwise adrift during the day, but they will also be night refuges for orphans. Moreover, a daily meal will be granted, complete of all nutrients, together with a service of outpatient medicine.

In Italy, we have organized the library service “Books in the Ward” at the Hospital Sant’Anna of Como.

Again in Italy, we are promoting the informative campaign “Folic acid: a vitamin to smile”. This campaign encourages taking folic acid for the prevention of congenital malformations and illnesses.