Armani's final gift to the children of Thailand, Bangladesh and the Philippines
To mark the 50th anniversary of his fashion house, the great Italian designer, who died on 4 September, wanted to create Casa Mariù, a solidarity initiative for educational facilities in some of the poorest areas of the world. Among the eight projects supported are a centre for the disabled in Phrae and two schools in Suihari and Taytay promoted by PIME missionaries and Caritas.
Milan (AsiaNews) - A better future for some children and young people in Asia, as well as for their peers in Africa and Latin America. In one of his last gestures of solidarity, the great Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who passed away on 4 September at the age of 91, turned his attention to educational activities in some of the poorest areas of the world.
Three projects in Thailand, Bangladesh and the Philippines, respectively run by PIME missionaries and Caritas, are among the eight initiatives that the Armani Foundation - in accordance with the wishes of its founder - will support through Casa Mariù, an ad hoc initiative named in memory of Maria Raimondi, the designer's mother.
Armani had conceived it as a gesture to mark the 50th anniversary of his fashion house, which is being celebrated these days during the Milan fashion shows. “A better future starts with a childhood that, if not as happy as all children deserve, is at least peaceful and formative, with the family and school at its centre,” he explained in a statement released by the Armani Foundation as a presentation of Casa Mariù.
'In such an important year for me, I feel a particularly strong urge to give back the good I have received. I thought back to my childhood, to how much my mother protected and supported us, and that is why I wanted to dedicate this initiative, which is so meaningful to me, to her, through which I hope to have a concrete and positive impact on the lives of many children and their families."
At the request of the Milanese designer, Caritas of the Archdiocese of Milan proposed to the Armani Foundation the individual projects to be supported through Casa Mariù in Asia, Africa and Latin America, which were announced during the celebrations held over the last few days.
Two of the projects in Asia are promoted by the PIME Foundation, part of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions. In Chiang Rai, Thailand, Casa Mariù will offer support to provide specialised staff, medicines, healthcare, physiotherapy and scholarships to the St Joseph Centre, which welcomes and supports children and young people with disabilities in the north of the country on a human and social level.
In Suihari, Bangladesh, Casa Mariù's collaboration will enable the facility, which welcomes around 160 children, to complete the renovation of its school and dormitory premises and provide 25 children with disabilities with adequate educational, social and healthcare assistance.
The other project in Asia is a Caritas initiative in the Philippines: in Taytay, in the province of Palawan, Casa Mariù will collaborate with the school that welcomes the poorest children from the small islands of the surrounding archipelago, contributing to their education.
As for other projects, Casa Mariù will also support a project by the PIME missionaries in Africa: in Mouda, Cameroon, it will support the reception and care of orphaned and/or abandoned newborns at the Crèche (nursery) of the Bethlehem Foundation, providing 60 children (aged 0-3) with healthcare and nutritional assistance and medical care to more than 2,000 patients per year.
Finally, in Latin America, in Ciudad Sandino in Nicaragua, in the difficult neighbourhood of Nueva Vida, it will help the Redes de Solidaridad nursery and primary school (run by the local Caritas), which offers around 230 children a safe environment in which to grow and learn.
Meanwhile, in Peru, Casa Mariù will support Operazione Mato Grosso – the NGO founded by Salesian missionary Don Ugo De Censi – by backing three projects in Yanama, Tauca and the Nuevo Chimbote shanty town, one of the largest and poorest in the country, with the aim of providing basic education to young children and offering them a safe and welcoming environment.
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14/06/2018 11:57
