“From Piazza Magione, soaring above the barriers, flying over Palermo” captures both the need and the desire to shift perspective—to rise beyond the boundaries of a space that is a source of pride and joy, yet can sometimes feel like a maze with no exit for the youth growing up in the Kalsa. In this very place, they often find themselves navigating a reality marked by decay and social marginalization.
Today, thanks to the valuable collaboration with the Boccadifalco Aeroclub, our social inclusion activities with children and young people from Palermo’s Kalsa district continued with an extraordinary experience: a flight over the city in a small airplane, made possible through the support of the Otto per Mille funding from the Waldensian Church.
“Today in Palermo, it is no longer enough to support shopkeepers and entrepreneurs in reporting extortion if, at the same time, we do not also implement strategies and interventions aimed at addressing the underlying conditions of poverty and degradation that continue to fuel social deviance.”
Fifty children and teenagers—who throughout the year take part in our social engagement programs in Piazza Magione—spent a day full of excitement and light-heartedness at what was once Palermo’s very first airport.
Welcoming them inside the hangar was the president of the Aeroclub, Fabio Giannilivigni, along with other pilots from the sports association, who, with passion and professionalism, took turns at the controls of the planes. From above, the kids got to see a different Palermo—one that offered a new perspective, filled with wonder and possibility.
Leaving one’s own neighborhood, seeing the city from above, and shifting perspective offer a chance to experience and rediscover oneself within a different dimension of Palermo. From the sky, the streets grow smaller, neighborhoods lose their borders, and differences begin to fade. Everything seemed incredibly small, while the smiles of our young protagonists grew bigger and brighter.
When people say that once you “learn to fly high” you start to enjoy it—well, it couldn’t be more true.
