The president of the Italian charity “Aiutateci a Salvare i Bambini – (which translates as “Help us to save the children”) talks to us about the results and successes achieved by his association which helps children in difficulty in Russia.

Among the various voluntary associations operating in Italy one of them Aiutateci a Salvare i Bambini helps children in the Russian Federation. This is an unusual case for Italian charities… how was this association born?

Back in 1981 I visited Moscow for the first time. The then soviet union was a totally unknown quantity for me, I was culturally, politically and ideologically ignorant. Its was a trip marked by destiny. I didn’t fall in love with Russia, rather I was struck by. I think the best way to describe what happened is to say I felt strong sense of belonging. This sense of belonging struck me the moment I landed in Moscow. The smell of Russia, the Russian sky, the people, their cooking and this unknown language with an Arab-looking alphabet were a fatal attraction for me. Later when our adventure with “Aiutateci a Salvare i Bambini” began realise with great surprise that in 1981 I had stayed in a hotel in the outer suburbs of the city opposite where the paediatric clinic RDKB would be built some years later ….
After that first trip, I often went back to Russia and at the end of the 1980s I witnessed the fall of the Soviet Union. I saw people in the country pushed to extremes: economic, physical and spiritual. The 1990s were a nightmare. Everything disappeared, the certainties of 70 years disappeared overnight, along with an entire economic and social system. And the main victims were young children. It was impossible for me to remain detached from this drama. In 1981 by chance I discovered the site, which was still under construction, of the group of Alexander Men Charity Group in Moscow. This led to an initial collection of funds, a trip to Moscow, a welcome from the late Galina Čalikova , who at that time was vice president of the group and even if I was an unknown quantity for her she put me up in a house with three days. The doors of the RDKB clinic opened and the oncohaematology Department which I still remember as painted white by various hands and black mould… this and other fortuitous moments, the welcome I received all led to the founding of the Association which over the last 12 years has carried out a multitude of initiatives which nobody thought possible.

LA CLINICA RDKB

Could you briefly explain to our readers exactly what “Aiutateci a Salvare i Bambini” does?

Well briefly, the RDKB paediatric clinic was provided with specialist drugs and equipment for its oncohaematology unit. In 2004 an entire working laboratory was donated. In 2005/2006 we provided the clinic with a paediatric guesthouse, the first in the Russian federation. Two years later we provided the equipment for the paediatric reanimation unit and the following year the paediatric oncology unit was completely restructured with our help. Since 2011 we’ve been working in the Archangel area with a special project to provide paediatric help for the area which is called Pronto Soccorso pediatrico e Neonatologia (Paediatric and Infant First Aid). In the field of social psychology a project was set up for training volunteers, doctors and paramedics “Prendersi cura di chi cura: rete d’intervento in psicooncologia pediatrica”. (taking care of those who care network paediatric psycho-oncology). And between 2004 in 2009 a project was set up to provide psychological support for the children of the Beslan for the ex-hostages of the school there. From 2010 another project has been operational which helps the families on a young patients economically when help is needed. The “You are not alone” project is aimed at infant orphans and social orphans with physical limitations who need treatment at the RDKB clinic. Eight hundred children have received treatment with this project and afterwards 100 of them were adopted nationally.
Price transparency is a prime obligation towards donors. Even though it’s not compulsory our accounts undergo auditing and are certified. In addition to this I can say that the association’s costs have never taken more than between 8 and 10 % of our total income.

An impressive number of successful projects. But did all this come about without problems? How have you got along with your partners? Have you had particular problems in Russia?

Our experience wouldn’t have been so positive if it hadn’t been for the contribution of some very special people. Above all the president of the group Lina Z. Saltykova, and father Aleksandr Men’ our partner in Moscow. However even people who do such a lot cannot do everything. I would say our trump card has been our method. We came into Russia politely knocking at the door , always using please and thank you. We have always respected local culture and sensibilities, supporting and sharing the choices and decisions of our partners: the local volunteers and administrators. We have helped our partners to experiment with equipment, organisational models and medical culture and innovation giving them much-needed tranquillity on both financial and other levels. We stood side by side with them during the first steps forward in this innovative experience and to some extent the new Russian paediatric care has reached its current levels in part thanks to our work.

And finally had one last question. In your opinion what affinities unite the history of Russia and Italy? At the first glance they seem to be two very distant peoples with different cultures and traditions but both show and attraction and a certain admiration one for the other…

The relationship between our two peoples is largely unknown in the sense that little is known about the thousands of relationships over the centuries in the fields of culture economics and art etc. During the last number of years political motives have created barriers which, in the interests of some of our “allies”, are always being raised.
Russia is still presented as a “strange” place that isn’t totally acceptable because of its traditions and its culture…. and is often portrayed as something to be feared. In reality the Russians know us better and really love us. They appreciate the various faces of our being without being conditioned by them. I often described the Russians as “Italians into cold”. I think it’s up to those who really love Russia and its people to work to make it more well known and to struggle to bring down the barriers which make us distant one from one the other.

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