The heroic support Foundation Mahmoodi

The heroic really exist…
Alexander Baez, Foundation Coordinator Fabrizio Meoni Onlus

Humanitarian commitment shared with the "creature to hundreds of wheels" by Andrea Leggieri has a long history…

Tell your friends about the "Eroica" the history of humanitarian work by Fabrizio Meoni is not easy; When I had to and wanted to do for his spiritual guidance Father Arturo Buresti it came out a book of 250 pages. So I want to avoid a history of solidarity and projects to achieve the best what I consider more interesting and more meaning.
Since the 1960s Father Arturo Buresti, religious and a member of the society of Mary, his beloved Congregation, began to strive with all his might to raise money for many South American Mission, managed by his fellow Marist missionaries. Since his youth included his skills as a charismatic figure and passionaria, of great lucidity and determination, full of human warmth and compelling irony.
Year after year Father Buresti sat on the shoulders of hundreds of young students adopted, orphans, women, sick, canteens, schools and facilities of all kinds. Nothing scared him and everyday was friends and benefactors who joined in his work.
Fabrizio since childhood was one of his most loyal acolytes, fascinated by her man's goodness and religious figure. Father Buresti was very attentive even the needs of the local community, and in particular the youth gathering, promoting projects determinants in the history of Castiglion Fiorentino, and just remember the "village of the young". The boys were fascinated by him and learned as well to bear witness to the solidarity, by supporting its efforts with numerous public events and private generosity.

Fabrizio since his youth had always supported the work of father Arturo, like so many other friends. When the sporting successes brought the name of Fabrizio Meoni to international prominence Fabrizio decided to engage more and more: raise money and supporters had easy, There was no sportsman and person who knew him that he had not told the humanitarian efforts of the missionary castiglionese. But Fabrizio was also person with innate sense of responsibility and for him to cross the African deserts, meet children condemned to poverty, see many scenes of poverty, well this doesn't let it quiet. She wanted to do something on that continent crossed by innumerable problems and shoved so Father Buresti, After decades of prevailing commitment in South America and particularly in Peru, to attempt the African adventure. The two intended to perfection and in the second half of the 1990s Father Arturo and Fabrizio Meoni began their work for African children.

It is well known that those of us who, Despite gratuitous, is committed to helping others, well, anyone would expect human gratification, If not by beneficiaries who acts as interlocutor for them. A gesture, a smile, a Thanksgiving made of heat and education, It all pays off for their efforts. Sounds weird but this is not always the case in international solidarity. Cultural differences and communication, local equilibrium in the management of aid, the many difficulties that often seem to be born in poor care of miscellaneous articles or comply with instructions, the time to observe that look including countdown, well all this sometimes leaves a bad taste in my mouth. In our adventure the most important gratification was that of missionaries with whom we work together.

Being a missionary is a lifestyle choice, that is what we wanted but it is a challenging choice, which can lead to enormous hardships and risks for their lives, and not just for their own safety, deprivations and diseases in distant lands.
On the historical experience of the Italian missionaries in the world and in poor countries, there are mountains of stories and reflections to do. The missionaries were not and are not purely the witnesses of a religious belief but they represented in numerous waste lands an outpost of civilization, an example of humanity, intelligence and dedication to a neighbour often unknown. The inclination towards dialogue between religions was mainly in Africa an antidote to social tensions and difficulties in cultural and intellectual modernization. The missionaries are adults from an early age but often remain boys forever, If you don't have a strong family behind the Congregation must always take care of each of them for every material aspect: sustenance, Bless you, old age ...
Nothing to be believers or not, including the many shades of today: the missionaries deserve the admiration of us all. They are the real heroes.

Fabrizio Meoni think so: of course he had in his heart the help the weakest but the spring which gave him the boost was the high esteem for choosing missionary.

Until 2005 projects in Africa were continuing and several, incessant was the passion of the champion Fabrizio Meoni and unflagging desire to Father Buresti to create many small high hopes. The entry in the legend double row victory at Paris Dakar 2001 and 2002 strong benefits brought also to the humanitarian efforts.

"Africa has given me so much and I have to give something back – Fabrizio said –".

So had schools, facilities and service centers; in all a special place deserves the scuola popolare degraded outskirts of Guinaw Rails in Dakar, l'Ecole "Fabrizio Meoni & Friends of Italy ", where there was so much of Fabrizio and a bit for each of the many friends and colleagues involved. How important were the meetings of Fabrizio and Father Buresti with street children of Dakar: teenagers who came from poor families and many of distant villages. Joints in the capital, When they were unable to fulfill the demands of operating systems (panhandling, street sale) they escaped from their captors and took refuge in inaccessible places: landfills, cliffs, glades. A life of animals, eating garbage and enacting any kind of gimmick to survive. This was a project for them, implemented by the fathers and the Marist Missionary Sisters: go with a team (nurses, educators, religious) at youth groups, take them to the mission and try to start them on a path of reintegration into social life, almost always with microcredit in order to initiate the simplest professions. Alternatively implement the reunification by trying to remove the causes of poverty of households. Of great satisfaction for the support to the work of the missionaries of the precious blood in Tanzania and del dear Don Dino Delight, for their challenging modern healthcare system construction in the poorest parts of that State; Thanks to two large structures cost decades of work and sacrifices (Itigi hospital and the village of hope in Dodoma) the Congregation has embodied in the best way the concept of health cooperation with a view to continuity and improvement, still at his best level.

After the incident of that terrible 11 January 2005 that cost the lives of Fabrizio solidarity seemed to the common denominator of what they wanted to keep alive their myth and friend, Unfortunately only in memory. Donations and aid were many and almost all with preference of Senegal and Dakar. It was in that city, in one of the great African capitals, you wanted to continue the efforts of Fabrizio Meoni. In the same period, our religious congregation of reference ( the Marist fathers), due to the non-generational, decreed to deliver the "African District" to young fathers of the continent, planning the return to Italy of the few missionaries present on site. This forced him to give it some time to monitor a new situation and maybe a little iffy. But we used some aid for the continuity of their projects, especially for street children.

At the same time, given the expectations of showing senegalese land and dakariana, We started and look for new partners and met Milanese volunteers of the Association Un Altro Mondo Onlus, Today over the Borders. I was astonished by their approach to projects, modern, mature and aware. As overall to operate fully reflect acted in African countries and the added value of a great love for what they did. We began our collaboration, that in a few weeks helped to renovate three small neighborhood schools attended by children rejected by public school. Schools in a manner of speaking, homeless and often made of walls of drafts at the height of our belt, almost a perimeter with the miserable surroundings. No bathrooms and amenities, one of the three seemed just a morning camp. Lamine Djiba, Senegalese, He was the editor of these schools. His life was about to change with the upcoming project of building a new school in his neighborhood (Well Barack Yembeull, historical slums of Dakar) entitled to Fabrizio Meoni & Cyril Despres and supported with great vigor by the latter. Project that in later years would become the symbol of "after Fabrizio".

In September 2006 the Association "solidarity In good hands Onlus" decided to give life to the Fondazione Fabrizio Meoni Onlus, to strengthen the identity of a journey that unfortunately remained devoid of its creator and promoter. The Foundation became operational since may 2007. Unfortunately, a few months after we leave Father Arturo Buresti, 83 years.

In later years the Foundation puts great effort in projects focusing on the decision to create structures instead of services, ensuring transparency for donors and tangible results. Schools, canteens, extension of wards, ambulances, local host. The list is long.

We come up to the present day; Needless to deny that time decreases arguably the topicality of our route, in times when every day you express new dramas and needs, It puts us in a progressive condition of lesser strength in achieving further objectives. But the Park projects implemented is now larger than our original expectations. About two years ago starts cooperation with the "Eroica" and no one expected that this would become so significant in our history. The first collaboration brings in may 2014 hundreds of bikers from all over Italy to visit the city of Fabrizio, many of them come up at mile Meoni in the locality of Partini (on the mountain between Castiglion Fiorentino and Arezzo) and a generous help allows you to complete a classroom in the new, third, school in Dakar, named after the great friendship between Fabrizio Meoni & Father Arturo Buresti. But it's the year after Andrea Leggieri gives life to a great leap forward, getting by the famous photographer Gigi Soldano engines a rich collection of photos, many unpublished, with which in may 2015 Opens the curtain on the exhibition of photos and memorabilia "Fabrizio Meoni: the giant and the spirit of the Dakar "at the Auditorium of the Santucce in Castiglion Fiorentino. A great success and consensus for an event that will remain in the history of our city. Many photos are sold for the charitable purposes of the Foundation and the money finances a real class "Eroica" in new school of the orionine mission led by Don Pasquale Poggiali, in the suburbs of the capital of Côte d'Ivoire. A result of great satisfaction that immediately makes the tour of Italy. In 2021 is ready for his daily work the school bus “Meoni (Italy) / Ullevalseter”, purchased for Malika school ( Pikine – Senegal ).
This is, in a nutshell, our history. At this point valorizziamola with a nice acceleration and give further moral strength and grit brand motorcycle.
Together we can do.