On August 29, the day of the thirty-fifth anniversary of the death of Libero Grassi, Addiopizzo and the Lega Navale Italiana organized the tenth edition of the initiative “Sailing for social inclusion.”
The sailing outing, aboard offshore boats including Azimut, a two-masted sailboat over 12 meters long seized by the Guardia di Finanza during an operation against illegal immigration trafficking, involved young people from the Kalsa neighborhood, who Addiopizzo’s educators work with throughout the year.
This year’s sailing outing symbolically set off from Sferracavallo, thanks also to the valuable collaboration of the Circolo Velico Sferracavallo, as a sign of solidarity with the borgata that has been the target of extortion and intimidation.
The initiative involved 25 boys and girls, accompanied by Addiopizzo’s educators and by Lega Navale members and boat owners. The boat trip is part of a broader effort — a series of activities and interventions to combat educational poverty and deviance — that Addiopizzo has long carried out in Palermo’s historic center.
It is not, in fact, enough to accompany and support shopkeepers and business owners in reporting intimidation and extortion if we do not also take responsibility for removing the pockets of urban and social decay that help fuel deviance and organized crime. In particular, since 2015 in the Kalsa neighborhood, where Addiopizzo’s headquarters are located, the Association’s volunteers and staff work to facilitate access to moments and spaces of social life, as well as to fundamental rights such as education, health, housing and employment.
School support programs at Addiopizzo’s headquarters, medical check-ups, and moments of sports inclusion at the San Basilio gym made available by the “Rita Borsellino” comprehensive school, aimed at keeping those who live around Piazza Magione away from a life of crime.
Urban regeneration and exploration projects and inclusion activities that capture the need and desire to change perspective, to move beyond the boundaries of a space that is a source of joy and pride, but that can sometimes turn into a maze with no way out for the young people who grow up in the Kalsa and find themselves having to live alongside neglect and abandonment.
