Thursday,
March 06, 2008
Italian Peace Keepers Capture Hearts of
"Special Needs" Kids in
The
ANNOTICO Report
The
Italian Blue Helmets are military through and through, but their
Every
Wednesday theTroops spend the day with 100
children with
"special needs."at the
The article
will wring your heart as you read about kids who blossom from
deeply withdrawn and fearful...... to boisterous and joyful.
This was
all accomplished by the Italians teaching the Kids how to make Pizza on their
own, and then after learning to Sing Italian popular songs, literally gulp
the Pizzas down,
"I'd
like them to come every day," says 16-year-old Mustapha, a football
fanatic. "The Italians are the world champions,"
"They
give us a lot of love -- I adore them," says young Maysam,
her eyes sparkling.
The Art of Preparing Pizza: Italians Delight Handicapped Lebanese
Naharnet Newsdesk
February 21, 2008
Ali kneads
pizza dough under the watchful eye of Corporal Domenico Magliocca,
a U.N. peacekeeper and head chef teaching handicapped Lebanese the art of
preparing the Italian specialty.
The pizza apprentice is among some
100 youngsters aged between four and 25 who, suffering from Downs
Syndrome, autism or multiple handicaps, have been trained since late 2006
by the
Each Wednesday they have a
party when the Italian Blue Helmets bring along not only their culinary skills but also their
sense of fun to a group of young people otherwise largely isolated from the
outside world.
Ali, 25, follows to the letter
the instructions from Magliocca and his colleagues
Vincenzo Schettino and Basilio
Sudano, who in turn are teaching him how to measure
out the ingredients, garnish the dough and cook the pizza.
"Yalla! yalla!"
-- "Go on!" in Arabic -- one of them calls to Ali,
amid applause.
The Italians are members of
the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which was charged with monitoring
the truce between Israel and Hizbullah after the end
of the 34-day July-August 2006 war.
"When they see us the
young ones cry out that the pizza men have arrived. This fills us with real joy. Our
visits have become a tradition and created a special link between us,"
says Lieutenant Colonel Edi Codarin, head of the
logistics brigade in the Italian UNIFIL contingent.
"Those suffering from
autism blossom in contact with these soldiers. It's very gratifying,"
adds the center's deputy director, Ria
Berreti.
"Each time you can see
an improvement. At
first when they saw strangers they would withdraw into themselves and try to
hide. Now they no longer fear new faces."
It is not just p izza that is on the menu on Wednesdays, as boisterous singing from
the center's garden testifies.
There the very young,
carried away by the music, add their own cries to the voices and guitars of
soldiers singing "Volare, Cantare" and other popular Italian songs.
Young Hussein's face lights
up when a soldier
places his blue beret on the child's head. The tiny four-year-old, stricken
with cerebral palsy, snaps a military salute and unleashes a round of
clapping.
"I'd like them to come
every day,"
says 16-year-old Mustapha, a football fanatic. "The Italians are the world
champions," he adds to approving nods and looks from the Italian troops.
"They give us a lot of
love -- I adore them," says young Maysam, her eyes sparkling.
Songs apart, the
Youngsters and staff from the
center sit together with the Italians in the large dining room where the pizzas
are literally gulped down.
"It's very touching to
see these little ones devour the pizzas with so much pleasure and joke with my
colleagues,"
an emotional Captain Gianni Salvatore says.
"In the present context,
and with all the problems which
http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/0/C06EB8B4DE8E05C4C22573F40021D1B2?OpenDocument
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