Fundraising by Irene Ciambezi

My reason, to support the development of the "female" workshop Another Skin, is called Edith. When she was 14 years old, she had seen a woman in town sewing clothes for traditional weddings. Many women used a loom, but not her: she had a sewing machine on which she moved her fingers with agility. But she had no money to learn her favourite trade: dressmaking! To pursue her dream, she trusted her sister when she promised her study and work in Europe. To pursue her dream, she resisted the journey of horror that took her among human traffickers along the desert, then among the waves of the Mediterranean. To pursue her dream, she escaped from the clutches of the exploiter who wanted to force her to sell herself in a brothel in northern Europe. In order to pursue her dream, she trusted, even if with difficulty, those who welcomed her, an Italian family - ours - which has accompanied her until today to the goal that has kept her alive: becoming a seamstress. In order to pursue her dream, she had the courage, after several years, to forgive even her sister and to start forgetting those who had shattered her adolescence.

In the workshop in Florence, behind those sewing machines, thanks to those who work alongside them every day, other young women like Edith continue to struggle to be protagonists of a new story, of another skin, of true female empowerment. In order to pursue their dream, they need our help so that from those skins original bags and accessories can be created that give meaning to the lives of many survivors. And that every day they remind us how so many young people, so many young foreigners as well as our daughters and sons - another skin... like mine, like yours, like ours - are a potential for the welfare of our country and an important resource even during the pandemic. Heroines who work tirelessly, without conditioning themselves for the prejudices and uncertainties of our time. Just give them an opportunity of integration and support them when finally a dream is reborn! Let's support them together, are you in?