A virtual meeting took place between italiani.it and the Consul of Italy a Buenos Aires, Dr. Antonio Puggioni. The whole project was presented by its founder, Gerard Ferlaino. From the other side of the world, Amira Judge, coordinator of italiani.it for Latinoamerica e Juliet Mollo, assistant general of the sites of Latinoamerica. We talked a little aboutorigin of the network and of the different projects which are being carried out mainly overseas.
The mission of promoting Italy in the world
To start this exciting virtual meeting, Amira talked about the moment in which she met Gerardo and his wife, Paola and, consequently, the whole project of italiani.it. Then, Gerardo himself made a short summary how the idea for this actually came about network, about twenty years ago in Italy.
Gerardo explained it spirit, the mission of italiani.it. “I wanted to create a network for promote Italy". “About twenty years ago, through e-mails, Italians abroad began to get in touch with italiani.it. But the times were not ripe and that was not the moment, at least for me, to devote a lot of energy and resources and carry out an idea that was not yet sustainable even because it was expensive ". "However, the thought was not to abandon the project".
Gerardo also explained to the Consul the double soul that characterizes italiani.it. “There are itCity in Italy who want to talk about the Italian countries. And then, there are the itWorld, which instead represent the communities of Italians in the world that they are promoters of Italy abroad". “The project is the meeting point between those who live in Italy and tell about their country and those who are abroad ".
Italian language scholarships for the Latin American area
The second major topic that was discussed at this meeting was the project of Italian language scholarships for the Latin American area. One of the many projects that are being developed. As Amira explained well during the meeting, the goal is not just to strengthen the bond with Italy, but also the fact of being able to involve most of the people in the knowledge of the Italian language. The project it is born from this desire to transmit the Italian culture, mostly through the tongue.
The opportunity to get closer to the sweetest language in the world
So here we have thought of those people who have never studied Italian before and that perhaps for various reasons they cannot afford the costs of a course. THE rewarded, which will be people from all over the Latin American area, will have the opportunity, through the famous "Calabrian Association of Buenos Aires, Mutual and Cultural", to attend a course online of Italian language (level A1) financed entirely by Foundation italiani.it.
One big family
Gerardo said he is trying to get other scholarships because the requests, over 2000, were more than we expected. We would like to involve other associations, other companies, other Italians around the world they want finance other scholarships. Because in the end, as Gerardo argued, we are all a large Italian family, beyond the country of residence.
Virtual meeting: the Consul's word
“It looks like one to me beautiful initiative”, Argued Dr. Puggioni after listening to the entire project. “There is so much to do - he said - regarding the study of the Italian language specifically in Buenos Aires. “We just signed a agreement with the city of Buenos Aires for Italian in 63 Argentine schools. It is one of three fundamental axes on which we will dedicate ourselves as a consulate in the coming years. We are now at third generations of immigrants. So these kind of projects be it linguistic is cultural need bond with other Italian associations abroad it is essential. All initiatives are welcome and we are available ".
An encounter that leaves the door open to collaboration
Obviously we talked about other projects some of which related to root tourism, which will surely carry on when this pandemic is effectively over. In this sense, the possibility of futures was envisaged collaborations between italiani.it and the same Consulate of Buenos Aires.
"If we talk about Italian culture, Buenos Aires does not lag behind". Dr. Puggioni has no doubts: "Italy is everywhere here. There is a feeling of familiarity in this city that is nowhere to be found. The city is very large, there is so much to know and discover ”.
We wish the Consul a period full of developments e satisfactions. We strongly care about this mutual collaboration to continue to promote the Italian spirit all over the world.
