A safe harbor on the roofs

12.50pm. The sound of the school bell gets stuck in your head. It marks the boundary between closed and open spaces, between duty and leisure. Paola, Fatouh, Jasmine, Aleandro, Luming, Angelica, Senadi, Jimmy pawing and screaming at the Giano Grillo elementary school gates in Genoa. Three educators of the Centro Storico Ragazzi await them. The project launched in 2008 by Father Andrea De Caroli in collaboration with sixteen parishes and charities faces the educational emergency of minors living in the historic center of Genoa.

The maze of “carruggi” has always been a melting pot of languages and cultures. There are no parks or open places where young people can spend time together. Many of them were born in Italy, but they are children of immigrants. Parents do not have time to go to school, prepare lunch or follow them in their homework. Grandparents are far away. The association set up a support network where children find a safe haven, where integration is born between school desks and cultural, linguistic and religious differences do not count.