Supporting the “European year” are the Ticino Olona and Intercultura Foundation
Legnano – The Ticino Olona Community Foundation supported the project proposed by Intercultura which, thanks to this collaboration, reserved a contribution for a study abroad program to a particularly deserving young person, resident in the territory to which the foundation itself refers, namely Legnanese, Magentino, Abbiatense and Castanese.
In the press conference in the Coat of Arms Hall of the Town Hall, the president Salvatore Forte he explained how Fcto, alongside the usual aid for the various fragilities “We considered it important to promote tenders dedicated to culture, always attentive to what is happening in our territory, from people to the environment, to their expectations, including social and cultural ones, not just needs”. Attention towards students is already evident “with the scholarships of the Legnanese Family to which we have been giving our contribution for some time”.
“We accepted Intercultura’s collaboration proposal – continues Forte – because we appreciate this ‘need for exchange’ inherent in the project”.
Two councilors from Legnano, the one for Education Ilaria Maffei and that to Culture Guido Bragato they reiterated the honor and pleasure of hosting the award ceremony for the student from Magento in the prestigious municipal hall, by virtue of the deep bond between the Administration and the Foundation, a fundamental partner in many initiatives in favor of the area in which it operates, with its own epicenter in Legnano where it is based.
For its part, Daniele Petronea Legnano volunteer from Intercultura (which has been working for more than a hundred years for dialogue between cultures and international youth exchanges) congratulated the young student and thanked the Ticino Olona Foundation for the realization of the project relating to scholarships abroad for the 2024-2025 school year “To the most deserving students, identified based on the outcome of an online suitability test, interviews held with Association volunteers, and the school average of the last two years”.
Michele Franchifrom the Quasimodo institute in Magenta, winner of the scholarship which he will benefit from by enrolling next year, his fourth, in a Belgian school, tells us his opinion.
Why this choice?
Because Belgium, at the center of the continent, well represents the European Community, peace, a beautiful country that I am very curious to discover.
Do you already know where you are going to study?
Yes, probably in Maaseik, on the border with Holland, a fairly large city, with twenty-seven thousand inhabitants.
What pushed you to want to go elsewhere?
The desire to know something that is outside of my daily life, therefore to leave one’s comfort zone, find new stimuli, passions, a new life and family, community.
You will be hosted by a local family…
Yes, mum, dad and two children aged fourteen and sixteen, like I have, I met them through social media and they are waiting for me, we will get to know each other better when I join them in August.
What do you think you can give of yourself to them, to the school, to the community that will host you?
My determination to know the language and culture, my kindness and my smile and the desire to live and learn.
Speaking of language, which one is spoken in the school where you will go?
Certainly Flemish, because it is the language of those parts, but also French and German, I believe they want to overcome the ancient divisions between Walloons and Flemish and find themselves in common European roots.
What do you expect to take home?
I expect to mature a lot, to grow and discover something that will help me in the future, such as the Belgian universities, their system and the European one, and even the world one.
Are you about to graduate in…
Economics and languages, after having attended the fourth year in Belgium I will return to Italy for my high school diploma.
Gigi Marinoni
Gigi Marinoni
He has worked for years in the publishing and information field. He directed series and musical magazines. He collaborates with the bookshop/publisher La Memoria del Mondo of Magenta. Passionate about history, he follows what happens in the area with pleasure.
