CIVITAVECCHIA – Nave Italia, one of the largest sailing brigs in the world, will set sail from Civitavecchia on Tuesday 11 June to bring on board for 5 days the young people of the “Saliamo a Riva” project, proposed by I.Ri.Fo.R. – CR Lazio ONLUS (Institute for Research, Training and Rehabilitation – Regional Council of Lazio ONLUS).
This is the seventh stop for the Tender to Nave Italia Foundation brig on which, in the company of the Navy crew and the Foundation’s scientific staff, this year 21 third sector associations and non-profit organizations from all over Italy will board and one from South Africa, to experience the benefits of the Nave Italia method, visiting 9 Italian ports and 1 abroad in approximately 6 months.
«Now in its second edition and wanted by I.Ri.Fo.R Lazio Onlus – Institute for Research, Training and Rehabilitation of Lazio, – comments Claudio Cola President of I.Ri.Fo.R. Lazio – the project involves the collaboration of multiple entities such as I.Ri.Fo.R. National Presidency, the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired of Lazio, the public body ASP S. Alessio Margherita di Savoia, the Association Con I Miei Occhi and the Association Una Macchia per Tutti”.
«The “Saliamo a Riva” project – says Simona Fanini, Director of I.Ri.Fo.R. Lazio – involves a group of ten young people with visual impairments aged 14 to 35 who will have the opportunity to participate in an individualized, personalized and group growth path thanks to the three phases of pre-boarding, boarding and post-boarding activities typical of the method Ship Italy. Teamwork on board the brig, made up of shared rules and responsibilities, and a series of targeted activities, carried out on land and then on board, will allow them to acquire the security and self-esteem necessary to achieve greater autonomy. New to this edition is the involvement of the RM5 Independent Living Agency which will be able to provide an important contribution in the development of Independent Living projects for the beneficiaries”.
«On board the children will have the opportunity to explore an unknown and large environment like that of the brig Nave Italia – comments Massimo De Felice, project leader “Saliamo a Riva”. – Taking advantage of this condition, we will carry out a series of activities, tactile and auditory in particular, which will allow them to refine some skills useful for recognizing the surrounding spaces, perceiving movements, listening to movements, such as the waves of the sea or the blowing of the wind. These exercises, also accompanied by more playful activities, such as the maritime knots workshop and the creation of rap songs in which they can express the sensations felt on board, will be an indispensable starting point for the development of skills that will be fundamental on land. We bring with us the learning and tangible results of last year’s experience – continues De Felice – in the children we have in fact found a significant increase in self-esteem, the discovery or re-discovery of new skills, the recognition of the importance of work of team, the desire to overcome one’s limits, not only physical, but also characterological. Nave Italia is a well-established scientific method for us which benefits not only the children, but also us operators. An experience that enriches us every year not only professionally, but also and above all humanly and which we are extremely happy to repeat.”
«Nave Italia – comments the Scientific Director Paolo Cornaglia Ferraris – is a training ship dedicated to disabilities. Unique tool in the world, thanks to which a rehabilitation method tested by 18 years of experience has proven to be extraordinarily effective. The brigantine of the Tender to Nave Italia Foundation is the place where the “Nave Italia Method” reveals its strength, for its ability to place every person faced with a sudden “change of direction” in their existence. No one will be a prisoner of their own discomfort after getting on board. He will be involved in an exciting, joyful adventure, which will lead him to a life different from the previous one, outside the limits of the disease. In a few days, a team that shares values made of hierarchy and military discipline, proximity, inclusion, valorization of each, offers a treatment of freedom. Every year, at least 300 people divided into dozens of projects, in complete safety, open the doors of the prison in which their disability had locked them up. Educational and rehabilitative values shared by people who believe that every fragility can be overcome by the strength of the group, unfurling great sails that become a metaphor for new and exciting horizons.”
Nave Italia will then continue its solidarity journey from Gaeta on 18 June with the “Il Giardino Sul Mare” project, aimed at the bees of the Santa Rita da Cascia hive, girls from families in difficulty who, thanks to a series of targeted activities on board, they will work on achieving their well-being and self-care.
