Paolo Gardino and other Rotarians from Genova (Italy) and Rabat have been working now for 5 years on an admirable project to support screening and treatment of thalassemia in Morocco. We met up with Paolo in Casablanca on the morning of May 27 and went to Hôpital 20 Août, a major hospital in Casablanca, where we met Professor Said Benchekroun, Head of Hematology, and Professor Asma Quessar, Haematologist and Vice Dean of the Medical School. I know Asma as she is very active in international seminars on the web organized by St. Jude ‘s Hospital in Memphis (Cure4Kids). The department is modern and clean, it treats many patients, including young children with leukemia, thalassemia and sickle cell disease. They began with autologous transplantation in 2004 and three months ago the first allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in a child with severe congenital immune deficiency took place. We also go to the transfusion service, which is very well equipped. The initial impression is that Morocco is not only a beautiful country, but that there is an advanced healthcare system capable of providing complex services such as bone marrow transplantation. In the afternoon we travel to Rabat where dinner is organized by the local Rotary Club. The next morning we join the delegation of the Thalassemia International Federation (TIF) Panos Englezos (President and father of a boy who died of thalassemia, Cyprus), Andreulla Eleftheriou (Executive Director, Cyprus), D. Loukopoulos (Greece), M. Angastiniotis (Cyprus), M. El Hazmi (Saudi Arabia), Abdul Basit Mohd. Merdas and Jaafar Al Saeed Awadh (President and Treasurer Association of Thalassemia in the UAE) and Loris Brunetta (President of the Association of Thalassemia, Liguria, Italy). We visited the children’s hospital in Rabat where we met Dr. Linda Alami, Medical Director, and Professor Mohammad Khatab, Head of Hematology-Oncology. In the afternoon a visit to the Moroccan Ministry of Health and a meeting with Secretary General Rahhal El Makkaoui , the Head of the World Health Organization for Morocco is also present. We address the challenge of screening and prevention of thalassemia as well as access to care for affected children. TIF and the Ministry of Health undertake to define a strategic plan.

The Moroccan Thalassemia Association together with Rotary have organized a Symposium on Thalassemia on May 29 with presentations from the different representative from TIF, I present our results in Pakistan. There is a large group of Moroccan professionals taking part as well as a strong representation of parents many of whom participate with questions and interventions. I get the feeling of participating in an historic event that will impact on the suffering of hundreds of children and Moroccan families. In the evening we are invited for a social dinner in a beautiful restaurant in the historic city center. Rabat is a beautiful city full of life and young people. In these days, there is an international music festival being held with the participation of artists such as Sting, Carlos Santana and Elton John. I hope to return soon.

Press releases

I’m  in contact almost daily with Bardhyl and the others in the team in Pristina,  but I haven’t been back to Kosovo for several months.  This visit coincided with the Symposium of the Kosovar Society of Oncology,   where I’ll present the Cure2Children experience in developing services for bone marrow transplantation in low and middle income environments.
On Thursday morning, 20 May  waiting for me in Pediatric Hematology / Oncology,  Bardhyl  greets me along with other colleagues, as well as Gresa  and Leonora (our Data Manager and Family Support Coordinator). We do a quick tour of the department, and  I see again with much pleasure, the first two children with leukemia  ever treated in Kosovo and who’ve  almost completed their treatment.  At about 10:30 we meet with Dr. Fisnik Kurshumliu, a young and energetic pathologist, who speaks excellent english  and is a specialist in cancer diagnostic methods.   Ilir meets us, the local Parents Association Coordinator for children with cancer (NKF-KS-www.nfk ks.org), and  together with the doctors we discuss how to proceed with the funding and needed equipment for the department for the  method of diagnosis and treatment of leukemia:  cytometry.   Today it is run on compassionate grounds from the Policlinico Gemelli in Rome, but naturally it requires that the department, which now follows  about 70 children (almost one third of the cases  of the pediatric population of Kosovo), to become independent with an international accreditation. We discussed a plan that would enable the department to offer the test on a non-profit and social responsibility basis, but also providing a perspective of financial self-sufficiency.  This method in fact doesn’t cost much more than what parents spend to send samples to  Italy, and is therefore likely to generate sufficient resources needed to become autonomous.

The next morning I give my report, I was given a place of honor in the Scientific Committee of the 10th Symposium of the Kosovar Oncology Society and sit at the table together with Professors  Besim Sllamniku (President), Suzana Manxhuka-Kerliu (Vice President),  Behxhet Osmani (Deputy Chairman) and  Frederik Cuperjani (Secretary General).  The sSmposium is organized very well but unfortunately for me, being that the official language is  Albanian,  I’m not able to follow all of the presentations.   In the afternoon a meeting organized by Ilir at the Kosovo Ministry of Health with Doctors  Isa Zymberi and  Lulzim Cela, Principal Advisor of the Minister of Health.  Both very professional, they gave me the impression that they  really appreciated the work done by the colleagues of  Pediatric Hematology / Oncology,  the importance of the project and its potential to reduce infant mortality in Kosovo, limiting migration and the financial hemorrhage for health professionals  and Kosovo.  Ilir tells his story, how his wife Dua and son  bounced back and forwards for two months between Pristina and Belgrade without a diagnosis,  finally going to Graz (Austria), but when it was too late.  They spent €300,000 euro  to care for their child who had a curable disease (lymphoma) without being able to save him.   Dr. Cela, very taken aback by this, has pledged not only to become a member of the Parents Association, but to convince the Minister of Health to visit the department of Pediatric Hematology / Oncology.  It would be a wonderful recognition and a very important opportunity.

In the evening a social dinner with the Oncology Society in a pleasant downtown restaurant.  Pristina is a city full of life and the young, I don’t think the average age exceeds 20 years old.  It’s Saturday morning,  and the turn of the Physicians of the Pediatric Hematology /Ooncology, for the first time to present  their experience to the  Kosovar  Oncology Symposium,  they appear very happy and very proud, and so am I.
That evening, Bardhyl  takes me to a place where we have dinner together while watching the  Champions League Final:  Bayern-Inter.

I should have left for Islamabad via London on Sunday the 9th May, but the Icelandic volcano had other ideas!   I had almost given up but by the afternoon the level of ash seemed to reduce so I booked a new flight the next day via Rome Fiumicino.  Excellent decision, I arrived in Karachi via Dubai on Tuesday the 11th at 4.30 in the morning, a car from the hotel was waiting for me.  I slept for a couple of hours, then I met Sadaf at the hotel to go to meet Tahir Shamsi and his colleagues at the National Institute for Blood Diseases.  We spoke of the various patients and future prospects, very interesting, we are all thrilled with the results.  All of the children who have received  transplants are doing very well. I met with a family of a child with low risk  thalassemia and a matched donor, they are rich and want to go to Italy,  I try to convince them that there is no reason for them to do this, I don’t know if I have succeeded.

In the early afternoon a meeting with Ali J Siddiqui, a brilliant young Pakistani and a Director of a large company, the JS Group, and member of the Board of Directors of the Acumen Fund.  He seems very interested in our activities and is sensitive to this issue.    I will present a brief proposal, which he has pledged to consider carefully.   Acumen Fund is a large non-profit organization geared to support projects that have a high probability of financial autonomy in the long term, their tools are loans and partnerships in projects geared towards social enterprise. The meeting was very interesting, so much so  that  I missed the plane to Islamabad.

The next morning I awoke at 5am and again to the airport, off to Islamabad for a same day to meeting, firstly to meet with the Directors of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and then in the afternoon, with the Italian Ambassador Vincenzo Prati, who is always very helpful and hospitable. The doctors and nurses of the bone marrow transplant unit  “Simone Montomoli” appear to be very happy and very motivated. They have good reason to be, I am very proud of what we are doing together and especially how we have used the donations and the trust of our many supporters.

Together with the administration of PIMS we discuss a plan to gradually make them independent, financially and professionally, the  bone marrow transplant service that is now running with 12 transplants already performed.  On Saturday morning a small symposium on  thalassemia and transplants involving many people including coordinators from thalassemia centers such as doctors Atifa Shuaib and Tahira Zafar, the latter had worked earlier in PIMS and has seen the birth of our project.
In the evening we are invited to dinner by Sara Rezoagli, head the Italian delegation in Pakistan (Deputy Ambassador), where we spend a pleasant evening getting to know other Italians who were in Islamabad for different reasons.

During this visit I am even more motivated, I go back with new ideas and plans for the next step. Whilst travelling I read the new book by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, “Building Social Business”, in which which he has devoted an entire chapter to Cure2Children, I still can not believe it!

In order to change the world for the better, it is crucial to influence thinking in universities, suggesting to young people the alternatives to traditional models.   Grameen Creative Lab and Professor Yunus devote a lot of energy to establish relationships with leading universities around the world.

I am therefore particularly pleased that James Bartolini, a student at the Bocconi University, Faculty of Economics, Bachelor in Business Administration and Management (CLEAM) has decided to write his thesis not only on social business, but particularly on Cure2Children. The name of the course is “Social responsibility in enterprises, public sector and non-profit taking” by Francesco Perrini and the title of the thesis is ” The application of the Grameen model in Social Business: The case of Cure2Children ”

Giacomo listened to my speech on the 8th March at the Bocconi University, during the Social Business Lab, he was impressed, and then contacted me to tell me that he wanted to write his thesis on these topics, I gave him my availability, indicating book titles and websites, as well as continuous exchange of emails and some phone calls.

Congratulations to Giacomo and to the initiative of Prof. Perrini, which I hope will be imitated in Italy and abroad from other students.

For my part, I am doubly pleased to see that my testimony has been able to make someone reflect, and who then decided to write a thesis, apart from the fact that, the Social Business for the cure of  Thalassemia we are doing together with Grameen in Bangladesh and Prof. Yunus, has been able to attract the attention of such a prestigious university.

On 8th May, I attended the Klassentreffen (Social Business Lab) organized by Grameen Creative Lab in Wiesbaden (Germany), with over 200 people from across Europe.

I moderated the session  on “Healthcare & Social Business“, on how to use the model of social business to improve healthcare in both poor countries and in the West, I also followed all of the other sessions (I particularly liked the one on “Social Media & Social Business).  I did some networking getting to know so many interesting people who have the same passion for social business designed by Prof. Yunus.

I again wish to thank all the staff at the Grameen Creative Lab (starting with Hans Reitz and Saskia Bruysten) that have given me the opportunity  to share my experience and to make many new contacts for the development of Social Business in the cure of  Thalassemia, which sees Cure2Children as a world leader.

In his new book, just released,  “Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity’s Most Pressing Needs“, the Nobel laureate Yunus  has dedicated a whole chapter of 15 pages to Cure2Chlidren on the social business we’re doing together with Grameen in Bangladesh and  the treatment of thalassemia by Bone Marrow Transplantation.

They cited several times Lawrence Faulkner, Peter Sodani, Eugenio La Mesa, Sadaf Khalid and Prof. Guido Lucarelli.

A huge thanks to Professor Yunus and Karl Weber.

Luca Zoccoli Roma per due

Skipper Luca Zoccoli arrived at the port of Riva Traiano - Civitavecchia, Rome, awaiting the regatta Rome for Two from the 18th to 25th April.

The racing name is Cure2Children and he is competing together with Giovanni Sanfelice in the Loa classes where you race in real time.

Thank you Luca for your generosity.

by Eugenio La Mesa

(photo)
In the beautiful surroundings of the Stadio dei Marmi in Rome on Sunday, March 7th, the first mini-rugby tournament “Sport Against Drugs” was held.  It was organized by the Italian Committee for Sport against Drugs – Association Benemerita of the National Olympic Committee, National Federation of Rugby, Regional  Rugby  Committee of Lazio, U.S. Primavera Rugby and the Italian Federation of Sports Medicine.

The purpose of the tournament was to confirm that sport is a valuable intervention for the prevention of adolescent non acceptable behavior and drug use.  To this end, rugby was chosen as an example and model of a sport that helps to create a very strong spirit of cooperation and unity, sacrifice and dedication, the sense of implementing rules, respect for opponents, team mates, coaches and referees, in a framework of loyalty and commitment.
The tournament saw the participation of 22 teams in the “Under 6″, “Under 8″ and “Under 10″.

Cure2Children was present at the stand of the Italian Committee for  Sport  Against  Drugs, and I had the opportunity to make a short speech over the microphone before the tournament began, talking about the foundation, how to help with birthday solidarity and wedding and party favors.   Every parent was handed a Cure2Children brochure.

I also was able to meet
- Ambassador Alberto Schepisi, President of the Italian Committee for Sport Against Drugs
- Giulia Rhone, Assessore for Culture, Entertainment and Sport for the Lazio Region
- Lorenzo Zileri, U.S. President Primavera Rugby
- Giuliano D’Ambrosio, Director U.S. Primavera Rugby Federation and member of Lazio Regional Rugby

It was a great day of sport, and to see hundreds of children playing rugby in the setting of the Stadio dei Marmi, was an incredible spectacle.

We will also be present at the end of May in Rome at the Peppe Brucato tournament, with 1,700 children from all over Italy.

Our thanks to Raffaella Calabretta for this opportunity.

Pietro Sodani- Eugenio La Mesa-Lawrence Faulkner

A few days ago it was my birthday,  Monica and some other friends organized a surprise birthday party for me, in solidarity!

Obviously I was very emotional when I saw all the friends who were waiting for me, as I arrived at the home of Enza.   Lawrence and Laura had also come from Florence, and they went back the same evening.

Last year I had the idea of launching solidarity birthdays (I was the first one to do it for my birthday) and I am pleased that the idea is spreading even to surprise parties, which is really great.
We also collected a significant amount, and I sincerely want to thank all of my friends for their generosity and support for Cure2Children.

There are things that you can’t buy, but for everything else there is ‘Mastercard!

As already communicated, on the 8th  of March at the Bocconi University in Milan, a Lab on Social Business was held, organized by the Grameen Creative Lab, Bocconi University and the City of Milan, in order to spread  knowledge on the concept of social business designed by Prof . Yunus.   I was invited and I offered as a testimonial, given that  Cure2Children is making a social business with Grameen in Bangladesh for the treatment of thalassemia.

The morning following the presentation of Milan’s Mayor Letizia Moratti, the Rector of Bocconi, Guido Tabellini and Hans Reitz (founder of Grameen Creative Lab and creative director of the Yunus Center), I spoke for 10 minutes and, just before the end of my speech , something happened that I really did not expect.

Spontaneous applause that can change your life.

museum of thalassemia

I showed the dedication that Professor Yunus had written in my copy of his book “A World Without Poverty” when I was in Bangladesh, in which he says we can all reduce this terrible disease, I titled the slide “Museum of Thalassemia” , inspired by his idea of the Museum of Poverty of which he speaks in the book.
When I said those words, I was interrupted by an intense, warm and spontaneous applause, which lasted a long time, to the point that I had to stop my speech.  I was very surprised, as well as very happy, because  I never imagined such a reaction.
This incident once again made me realize how important the work that Professor Yunus is doing is, and the hold it has on so many people, even in Italy.

Later,  several people came to talk to me, giving me compliments, wanting to learn more and to propose possible collaborations, meetings, etc.  Among them:
- Prof. Francesco Perrini of the Bocconi asked me to return in September to make a testimony with the students, and of course I’ll do this with pleasure .
- Ariana Cela, Economic Adviser to the Albanian Prime Minister, said she would consider making a social business in Albania for the treatment of thalassemia, and we have already initiated contact
- Marianna Benatti invited me to dinner  for ‘Make A Change’ next month

In the afternoon I moderated a workshop of 2 hours devoted to social business.

Again I thank Prof. Yunus and Hans Reitz for their confidence and the opportunity, I am totally committed to the idea of the social business