Education, training, rehabilitation and social inclusion: these are the key words of the 2017 solidarity campaign of the Tender to Nave Italia Foundation, the non-profit organization founded in the 2007 by the Italian Navy and the Italian Yacht Club. 22 protagonists “special” crews coming from all over Italy, as well as a group of boys from Prague, who in turn will sail aboard Nave Italia with a single great goal: to reduce the prejudice on disability and social exclusion through sea life and navigation.
An initiative that is part of the community services that the Navy has been pursuing for decades now and which is positively reflected in the numbers: 33.381 the miles traveled by the 2007, 214 the completed projects, 1.204 the professionals and volunteers involved and 4.205 the beneficiaries embarked, among children, adolescents and adults, of which 304 only in 2016: 155 for the disability area, 30 for the mental health area, 119 for that family and school discomfort. A unique model of great commitment and civil solidarity, in which the culture of the sea and navigation, of which the Navy is the guardian, become instruments of education, rehabilitation, inclusion and therapy of people with disabilities and discomforts.
61 meters: many are enough to make Nave Italia the largest brigantine in the world, but also the symbol of a possible coexistence, a school of life that promotes development and integration, without excluding anyone: on board there are no differences and every person enriches the another with its own originality. Sea life as the ideal environment to bring out unexpressed personal resources, experience adventure as learning, learn through experience and shared rules, learn about your limits and the strength of the group, improve your skills to be able to face the life and keeping alive an indelible memory, as Martina testifies, a girl of 15 years who says: "Thank you for giving us so many smiles and for having realized dreams that we will never forget".
To learn about 2017 projects and participate in the 2018 call, visit the site: www.naveitalia.org
(Photo: Marina Military)
