FEDERICA ORZATI - PRESIDENT
(Florence - Italy)
In 2010 I decided to go to South-East Asia, where I fell in love with the gentle poverty of the countries, especially with the magic Cambodia. I began to understand how many "voices not heard " exist in the world. People who just survive, pulling a living, people hidden in the darkest corners of the world, which we have barely heard of. So I felt the need to help those people and, when I came back to Italy, I decided to volunteer at the pediatric hospital of Florence Meyer. After that, I decided to go for a volunteer trip in Mother Theresa's orphanage in Kolkata, India; and then I continued to travel and volunteer in many countries around the world. I snatched the positive and negative aspects of the various organizations, realizing that I needed to create my own, which should have beenin line with my virtues and pursued my mission.
I can not stay too long far away from my kids, and I continue to look for others who need our help. That's why I planned my life in a way that it allows me to travel for half a year, thus managing my passion in the best way so that I can always be present in the countries to plan donations and activities.
CLAUDIA ZINI - VICE PRESIDENT
(Bologna - Italy)
Ever since I can remember, I have always tried to be of help to people less fortunate than me. The fact I was born in midst of comforts and the love of my family has developed in me the desire to share love and joy with those who havenever felt these feelings. So, when I was young, I did many experiences with disabled children, and later I supported many Ngos with sponsorships. But it was not enough for me, and slowly the idea of founding an Ngo with my friend Karine came to my mind. The idea was to create something of practical help for children and abused women. We wanted to do it in 5 years. Then, magically, we met Federica and realized our dream with her. We immediately loved her contagious enthusiasm and her experiences around the world. That's why we decided to collaborate in the foundation of SOHO. This finally gave a sense to my mission: to restore peace and smiles in children’s faces, watching them grow safely with joy and guaranteeing them a future.
PIETRO NASTASI - BUSINESS CONSULTANT
(Castelvetrano - Italy)
I was born in a small town in the western Sicily, in one of those places where the problems of the rest of the world seem too far away to be of any interest. In 1989 I took part as an assistant in a camp for children with disabilities. This experience was the beginning of social activism. I specialized in organization, management and direction of events for children with physical and social disabilities. In 2003, with the help of many friends, I created a CD with music of children with disabilities. In 2004 I led a fundraising for the construction of a small school for girls and a feeding center in Congo. In the same year I actively participated in the fundraising of a center specialized in heart diseases in Peru and started a campaign against the phenomenon of child soldiers. In 2002 my passion for off-roads and the desert took me to North Africa where I touched the plight of these children in the desert. In the following years I sent toys and school supplies to the kids I met in North Africa. In 2013, during the planning of my trip in Thailand, I met Federica Orzati, a traveler and dreamer who inspired my enthusiasm and involved me in her SOHO project.
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KARINE DE SOUZA - FUNDRAISER & MANAGER IN BRAZIL
(Rio de Janeiro - Brazil)
II was born in the most beautiful city in the world: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And I immediately experienced poverty on my skin. My father's family is rich, but my mother was very poor, she comes from favelas. She lived the worse psychological abuse ever. This contrast marked me from my childhood. My mother told me often stories about the pain of poverty, thanks to that I got to know the meaning of need. My mother grew up in an orphanage with her sister since their birth. Nowadays they coordinate a team of volunteers who take care of 502 kids in the orphanage where they grew up in Rio de Janiero. Because of my background I always wanted to give love and contribution. When I migrated to Italy I unfortunately knew the physical and psychological violence against women. After this experience I strongly wanted to help women and children to prevent poverty and violence. Thus was born my desire to create a Onlus (no-profit organization) to help the neediest countries but also single mothers around the world who feel lonely and struggle every single day. Since 2010 I have organized various sport events involving VIP players and celebrities for the earthquake in Haiti. Later I did the same for the earthquake in Emilia Romagna (and I personally worked as a volunteer there), and for children in Africa. I have two wonderful children: Noemi and Ernesto, thanks to them I discovered the true meaning of Love and Motherhood and Sharing. My mission is: to be a way of Love, Peace and Joy with God's blessing. Thanks to SOHO this dream is now a reality for me and my children.
FRANCESCA LAI - ADMINISTRATOR
(Cagliari - Italy)
I have always thought that to volunteer for a good cause is one of the most important thing ever. That's why I decided to help people in my life: a few years ago I decided to study at the University of Medicine and Surgery, in Sardinia. In this period I began to support people in need. I collaborated with many Ngos for children who are admitted in the pediatric hospital with rare diseases. Then I volunteered in "Microcitemico Hospital" of Cagliari. After a period of time, while my studies went on, I changed, little by little, the way I see people who need help. Nelson Mandela said: "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear." So I want to emphasize the importance of having concrete projects aimed at eradicating poverty. "These words fully describe my idea of mission that is in line with that of SOHO: helping others concretely with true love.
SARA PORTARENA - VOLUNTEER SUPERVISOR
My name is Sara, I am 27 years old and have always been in love with life, but only recently I fell in love with My Life. That happened when I met some people, great people, who brought me joy. Wonderful people, met by chance, that brought me to smile. People with whom I just had to share a part of my career, and now have become an important part of my life. With them, I rediscovered happiness, and I also deeply understood that happiness is not something concrete, not a collection of objects, and it is a goal to reach... Happiness is to be found only around us, and it is given by the people who surround us... The secret is not to get lost in the routine of life, but to watch into people’s eyes, their smiles and gestures of courtesy, their hands outstretched, the steps of the elderly and those of the children...
the secret is just that...
And since happiness is made by people, I decided that I wanted to be one of those people...
I started volunteering with Altromercato, I got to know various associations and attended courses. Then, again by chance, I met Claudia Zini, and SOHO, and it felt like home... family... These people are amazing, dynamic, and have great ideas and a lot of will power to transform intentions into action, buildings, smiles, hope and a better future for others.
STAFF
NICOLA MORANDIN - SOCIAL MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS
My name is Nicola and I deal with the Social media management for SOHO. Since I was a child, I've always been attracted by the world of volunteering and wanted to donate my time in favor of needy and less fortunate people than me. The various experiences I made as an entertainer, a coach and finally as a volunteer taught me a lot. From them I learned that life is a great gift and that the more we give, the more we receive. For two years I supported through donations a center for the treatment of malnourished children in Bolivia. With SOHO I would like to give a concrete help in improving the living conditions of those seeking help, by raising the money necessary for the establishment and maintenance of facilities that take care of needy families in Ghana, Thailand and Brazil.
ALICE BRUNORO - THAILANDIA SUPERVISOR
My name is Alice, I'm 22 years old. I study psychology at Padova University and I have always tried to do something for those less fortunate than me.
I decided to work with SOHO as a result of my experience as a volunteer in Thailand, where I could see with my eyes a country that seemed to collapse on itself, where everyone thinks only about his own profit. The victims of this system are primarily the children who, instead of receiving the primary care they need, are often victims of violence or total neglect by parents, as long as those parents exist. Living in Thailand a month made me realize that there is much work to be done and that everyone can get involved to change things, in the right spirit, the spirit that SOHO has in abundance.
YLENIA LAZZARINI - GHANA SUPERVISOR
I started to volunteer at the age of 19. I decided to take a year off from my studies to think about what I really wanted to do in my life. Until then I had had only one dream: to become a lawyer. But then I left for Ethiopia where I served in a center for street children. That experience literally changed my life. My dream was another now, I wanted to wrk for a non-profit organization in order to see with my own eyes how it worked from the inside. After another brief stint in Calcutta, at Mother Teresa’s centers, I left for Ghana. At that moment I got to know SOHO, a young non-profit organization that gave me the opportunity to make my dream come true. I strongly believe in our mission, which reflects all my ideals: to be a drop of water in that ocean of children who are not as lucky as we are. Yes, because I've always thought that life is a gift and those lucky enough to live it safely and conveniently must be of help to others. Now I have just begun to study development and international cooperation at University of Bologna, hoping that this will indeed be my future.
CARLOTTA FIUMARA - LEGAL SUPERVISOR
The idea that it is “Destiny” that decides where you will come to life, in a prosperous and peaceful country or in a corner of the world in war and needy, without having any merit in this decision has always made me think.. This thought has always pushed me to look beyond my own little world, to the point that for many years now my dream is to be able to dedicate all of my life and my professionalism to non-profit organizations that take care of poor people and animals in need.And it is for this reason that I have always been working as a volunteer for various organizations to protect homeless people, children, men and women without rights, and abandoned animals.In 2006, after working for several years as a lawyer, I decided , to attend a Master SDA in management of non-profit organizations, in order to be able to operate and be of help to the complex world of the Third Sector in the most effective and appropriate way. And in all my professional experiences, I have always stubbornly tried to bring a change, a small revolution in the situation in which I was involved.I am deeply convinced that helping those who are in a less fortunate situation, and trying to change our imperfect world, is "the" realmeaning of being "human", what really makes everyone capable of being of help.After several years spent in Milan and Rome, I came back to Bologna where I met by chance Claudia Zini and her SOHO.The Happiness that SOHO spreads with great tenacity conquered me: to help children to have a better future, to build tangible projects for them and to follow them step by step with the smile and the strength of those who know that any "drop of the sea" can be important. All these aspects made me realize that I wanted to help SOHO and be part of all its projects full of passion and pragmatism.
