Clementina and Federico, from Lake Victoria to Via Dante
"I've always thought that my life needed a change," says Clementina Chiari. No sooner said than done: she packed a suitcase and the twenty-three-year-old Master of Science student found herself on the banks of Lake Victoria in Africa. "When I told Federico," she says, "he took me seriously: so in a flash we left for Kenya." Federico Scotton is the same age as Clementina and is also in the Master of Science in Economics and Management of Public Administration and International Institutions, the same MSc as Clementina.
"It all started last July, when we talked to Professor Eduardo Missoni," explains Clementina. "We knew that his opinion would be useful, but we didn't know that after two weeks we would meet Antonio and we would find ourselves in Kenya," she says. Antonio Labate is the director of the non-profit organization, Brownsea Onlus, a foundation that has been promoting educational and development projects in Kenya for 50 years. In 1983 it activated the Harambee Project in the town of Nyandiwa. "In Swahili, harambee means working together," explains Clementina. "Help from volunteers is educational, not assistance, so it aims to promote self-development in the local community."
 Federico Scotton and Clementina Chiari with children from the village of Nyandiwa, in Kenya |
Once they arrived at the center, the two students started working: "One of our main tasks," says Clementina, "was to provide management consulting to the staff that supervises the college, which is now the most important and expensive activity. We created a sort of ad hoc accounting system using Excel and we taught the staff how to input old hand-written balance sheets." Then the two students interviewed the village Chief to draw up a report on the conduct of the non-profit organization: "Now many of the activities in the center are self-financed, for example with proceeds from IT courses or food trade," explains Clementina. "And just think that when the village started selling milk, there weren't any buyers because no one believed that their cows could produce any milk!" she says.
Now, back in Milan, Clementina and Federico don't want to let their experience in Kenya become an isolated incident. "We're dreaming about changing the world!" she says enthusiastically. "Our objective is a very concrete one: We need to share this experience with as many people as possible, and let them know about the great projects that Brownsea Onlus is achieving." This is why Clementina and Federico have organized a fundraising evening that everyone is invited to participate in: "We're going to set up a sales exhibit of photographs that depict our summer in the village of Nyandiwa," she explains. During the evening event, Professor Missoni will also speak, and he will present a new collaboration with Brownsea Onlus.
The appointment is scheduled for Monday 3 December at 7:00pm, at Via Dante 14 in Milan.