The poster is already up in the school, the Leonardo da Vinci Scientific Lyceum, as well as in the elderly centres. The posters show two faces, those of Dino, 83, and his young tutor Sandra, 16. They are the testimonials for the local Grandparents on the Internet Project, that will kick-off next week.
Dino and Sandra volunteered, but a choice would have proven no better. They are both perfect to embody the social alterations that have taken place and a concrete expression of the new needs.
If, in fact, the Marche citizens older than 65 represent 22.4% of the regional population, in Jesi this figure rises to 24.3%, while the National average is 20.1%.
In the region with Italy’s most long-lived citizens, it is the over-eighties, like Dino, 83 in July, who are on the rise. During the course of the last year, the number of citizens between the ages of 86 and 95 increased by over 30%. Dino, like many other elders, wants to lead an active life and cultivate old and new interests. Above all, however, he wants to continue to learn and face new challenges. When he was asked if he wanted to go back to school, to learn about new technologies, he didn’t think about it twice …
Foreigners account for more than 8% of the citizens of Jesi and represent 77 different nationalities. The largest community is that of Sandra, the Romanians, which account for 23.48% of the foreign population. Sandra arrived in Italy at the beginning of the year. Notwithstanding the difficulties experienced during the first weeks, her report card shows many points of excellence. While, in theory, Sandra should be the beneficiary of integration policy as a new immigrant, in reality, she has immediately become an active subject, capable of participating in initiatives for the inclusion of other weak population categories, such as the elderly.
Sandra and her story seem to fully confirm the data provided by the Sixth Cnel-Caritas Report on the integration indices of immigrants in Italy. The Report, in fact, places the Marche first in terms of social insertion.
The audio clip provides salient parts of the presentation of the Grandparents on the Internet Programme at the Da Vinci Lyceum. Professor Mazzarini invites Mr. Dino, the testimonial grandparent, to speak. Sandra speaks next about adoptive and natural grandparents.
