Fondazione RUT - “NISIDA: A meeting between research and territory for social regeneration”

1 July 2022

NISIDA, 1 July 2022: “NISIDA: A meeting between research and territory for social regeneration” is the title of the initiative, sponsored by the Municipality of Naples, promoted and organized by the Rut Foundation and the Opera Don Calabria Study Center.

The central objective was to involve the boys and girls of the Penal Institute in a meeting/confrontation with the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza and the Mayor of Naples Gaetano Manfredi following a workshop carried out in the previous weeks. Health, absence of disease or better quality of life? This is the theme on which the reflection of the children of Nisida was focused.

The objective of the two days was to involve young people in a path based on the different aspects of health: physical, mental and social.

In the first meeting, through group work based on stimulus images, the children defined their personal concept of health and brought out the experiences and emotions linked to this topic. For each photo chosen they associated a word that expressed their personal point of view. The final work was to create collages and panels with photos and words and organize them in an exhibition space. On the second day the children collected their reflections, ideas and final proposals developed during the workshop. On the last day the kids played a role-play and were asked to be the minister of health for a day.

The question asked was:“If you were the Minister of Health and/or the Mayor of Naples, what would you do to improve your health and that of your community?”

Among the proposals and reflections of the children:

Reduction of penalties to improve health understood as psychophysical balance;
The diseases they fear most: mental insanity and becoming paraplegic;
They recognize the psychologist as a healthcare figure;
Encourage at least one conjugal visit per month in prison facilities (this is not possible in Nisida due to lack of adequate space);
Being able to receive treatment in Campania without having to go to another region;
Legalize soft drugs;
More money for public hospitals;
The more I work, the more I earn – “Without money you can’t get treatment anywhere”.

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Finally, they elaborated in order of importance what the ideal concept of well-being represents for them:

Happiness
Freedom
Family
Gym (body care)
Money

The reflections and documents produced were then presented to the Minister of Health Roberto Speranza and the Mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi during the initiative held on 1 July 2022 at the Penal Institute for Minors.

An experience that I will never forget [..] Everyone has the right to a second chance and in their eyes I saw a great desire for redemption. Our detention facilities must increasingly have a re-education function as written in our Constitution. This is how the Minister of Health, Speranza, commented on the meeting.

During the day, the research project “Ethical Charter: Good practices of social regeneration in the context of educational poverty, support for women and reception in a post-pandemic scenario” was also presented, created together with the Opera Don Calabria Study Center with the participation of local partners Dedalus, Third World Laity Group, EVA Cooperative, Savio Condemi Association. The research will be aimed at analyzing good practices and significant territorial experiences on cohesion and social inclusion projects in the Metropolitan City of Naples and in particular with respect to the themes of reception, educational poverty and female protagonism.

The Councilor for Welfare of the Municipality of Naples, Luca Trapanese, the General Director of Personnel for Resources and for the implementation of the provisions of the Juvenile Judge, Luca Trapanese, brought their contribution to the presentation of the project. strong>Giuseppe Cacciapuoti, the Director of the Penal Institute of Nisida, Gianluca Guida.

Also present were the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Rav Riccardo Di Segni who wanted to send a video contribution and the Minister of University and Research, Maria Cristina Messa, who in a letter sent underlined the centrality, within penitentiaries, of the role played by school and training in building new opportunities for boys and girls.