Connecting children of the world

From Nepal to Mexico, obviously starting from Italy. We connect the children of the world is the project designed to bring together the 26 schools that Specchio dei tempi has rebuilt in the world. The goal is to create a virtual network in which children can get to know each other and make friends with young people of their own age from other continents. The Pertini Institute of Turin is involved in the initiative, to which the foundation has donated a highly advanced “digital class”. Also involved is the Specchio dei tempi school of Arquata del Tronto, just rebuilt after the 2016 earthquake, fully wired and equipped with a computer room.

In the network there is also the last building inaugurated by Specchio after a disaster, the school of Santa Caterina, in Mexico. This school is located under an active volcano, in an area where there was no telephone coverage before the 2017 earthquake and of our intervention. So we took the Internet connection up there and gave the children particular “rugged” notebooks, capable of withstanding severe climates and blows and falls. The same devices were given to students of our school in Nepal, at 4000 meters, and to those of the school of Negombo, in Sri Lanka, which we are supporting after the Islamic attacks of Easter 2019.

In online meetings, the children of each country tell about their traditions and share dreams and curiosities with friends abroad. For weeks they prepare with the help of their teachers, and then, when the web cam is turned on, the magic begins: unique moments like when the little Piedmontese children and the little Nepalese children started singing their hymns live, from Turin to Everest.