These are the last days as President. The last hours after 21 years of uninterrupted driving. This weekend the Varese Committee of the Red Cross will vote to elect the new board. There is only one list, Angelo Bianchi’s successor has already been decided will be Simone Filippi.
For a presidency that opens, there is one that closes.
A long story that of Dr. Bianchi at the helm of the Varese committee since 2003, two intense decades in which the Red Cross has changed profoundly: from a public body it became private and then a third sector body. There have been natural disasters in Italy and abroad where the Varese volunteers have made their contribution.
There was a pandemic with a two-year emergency to manage.
« We have always done what was necessary. The strength and ability to observe the territory and understand the need have always inspired our actions. This is how we have changed: Croce Rossa has a history that dates back to the battle of Solferino. But the road we have traveled has forced us to change our skin. Because we are at service, in need and listening. We never wanted to be the best, the most beautiful, but the ones present, together with other groups, to achieve the result. In Varese, as in Valtellina, in Haiti as in L’Aquila.”
How did you join the Red Cross?
I was a scout and that experience is a school of life and teaches you values that you always carry with you. Shortly after graduating in medicine, in addition to working as a volunteer in the emergency room, I became aware of this environment during shifts in the Emergency Medical Service. My new professional life, marriage and the arrival of my children had forced me to abandon the scouts, but I felt I had to do something for others, to reciprocate what I received. So I joined the Red Cross: it was the 80s and I’m still here.
It was a different environment than today
In those days the Red Cross had local committees. Those were the years in which Giuseppe Zamberletti gave life to the Civil Protection: a very stimulating and profitable collaboration for everyone was born. It was then that in Varese we started the “triage” to define the rescue priorities. Today it is a widespread practice, adopted at all levels of the emergency, but at that time it was us, in the province of Varese, who imported a model that was practiced experimentally by groups in the Bologna area based on an experience in the United States. With Zamberletti we formed the first mobile Civil Protection column.
Rescue in the last century was very different
Certainly, it was not organized like today with Areu and the emergency emergency system. There were still private individuals who used the white handkerchief outside the window and honked the horn. In the 1980s the Red Cross had 5 employees and only one emergency vehicle.
Then it was decided to structure an organized emergency system and the Red Cross made itself available: just as we had committed ourselves to the campaign against tuberculosis, both with vaccinations and with treatment in our sanatorium hospital in Cuasso al Monte, which was later confiscated. with the health reform, we have built a specialized rescue section that works in agreement with 118 and 112. Today we also do secondary medical transport, for those who have to undergo treatment and need to be accompanied. We recently started a nursing clinic where previously there was continuity of care. This choice also came from a local need. Here small medications and punctures are done
But healthcare is only one of your tasks
The headquarters in via Dunant is the heart of our history. It was built by the will of the lawyer Zecchino to have a space large enough for our emergency vehicles. It was inaugurated in 1997 with president Giuseppe Venino. The space immediately proved insufficient to accommodate the social activities which were constantly increasing. With the then councilor of the Municipality of Varese Angelini we began the construction of the second block, the one which today houses the canteen for those in disadvantaged conditions. A service we offer, together with food parcels delivered to families in difficulty. The canteen is open but vulnerable people get meal vouchers so, when it comes time to line up, it is not clear who is helped and who is not. Attention to protecting dignity.
How many Red Cross volunteers are there today?
Today this committee has around thirty employees and around 700 volunteers divided among the many tasks and services. In addition to the health emergency, we have a very large social area. There are those who deal with training, also going to schools to provide prevention and education on sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases, correct lifestyles, first aid courses. We also manage a reception center for migrants on a property owned by the Comboni friars in Scrive. Our role is both to welcome and to accompany them to enter society
And are your volunteers able to respond to all the different and complex needs?
When we do training courses, we present the many activities we have and so you choose the one that is closest to your expectations and capabilities. We have many volunteers but also a high turnover. Today the average length of stay is 3/4 years, then the difficulties of reconciling free time with the many tasks of life lead to abandoning this commitment. I am part of the old school, of the retired section which is abundant in the Red Cross
Has Varese changed in 40 years?
Very. When I started the city was closed, then the University arrived, there was the European center of Ispra. Society has become larger, more diverse, different cultures, different traditions, non-uniform expectations and ways of thinking. And this was a value even if, on the other hand, it distorted the personality of the city.
Today its appearance has also changed: many historic shops have been lost, supermarkets and shopping centers have increased. We are always Milan dependent and this idea of the metropolis being so close has dampened any local enthusiasm, desire to invest and innovate. We have become impoverished but I see new proposals, such as cycling, rowing, new projects which, however, at the moment remain “hit and run”, unstructured. We are no longer the city of shoe factories, mechanics, flights and the alternatives, at the moment, are marginal.
What were the most difficult moments?
It was an experience that required many sacrifices from me. My family was of great help to me because I had to spend a lot of time away, busy with emergencies that the Varese Red Cross had to respond to. From the landslide in Valtellina to the earthquake in Haiti, from the humanitarian crisis in Baghdad to the destruction in Emilia Romagna. The Red Cross was there at the time of the emergency but also during the reconstruction: the school in Haiti, a piece of the grandstand and the changing rooms in the football field in a town in Emilia, the refugee camp in Iraq, the school in Navelli. And then, recently, the covid emergency when we opened an office in Gazzada Schianno to be close to the population, especially those who were alone. And then millions of swabs, 80,000 vaccinations, the first aid hospital in the ATS park. Hard and difficult moments but those who participated always returned enriched, rewarding experiences for the social value of the mission
What does it mean to be a volunteer?
To be available. Today there is a widespread problem and it is the self. It is difficult to overcome this attention to oneself. Even if the experience pays off, sooner or later that preeminent ego thought emerges, especially when the situation becomes difficult or overthinking. This is why we have a high turnover. My commitment, today more than ever, is to build collaborations and networks to help each other. First of all, the Red Cross must be available: sharing values and objectives to achieve results.
What will his successor find and what will he tell him?
He will certainly find a Committee that is in place, with its accounts, and fully functional. A solid committee in which to work with serenity. And I will tell him to continue to keep his eyes open, to watch what happens, to intercept and interpret needs and be ready to change. Continuing a story of help and relief, whatever it may be.
And what will he do from Monday?
The volunteer. I’m already on parcel distribution shifts…
