Riccardo Pasquarelli, 80 years old, has discovered that volunteering has no age limits thanks to Project Teo – Third Age Online. Riccardo, who oversees the “Primo Maggio” Elder Centre in the Pietralata neighbourhood, attended the digital literacy course held at the IIS Sibilla Aleramo School and immediately become a perfect Knowledge Volunteer.
Here is how Roberta Poli, the course coordinator, describes him: “Riccardo is a true old-fashioned gentleman. He is courteous, diplomatic and always ready to help and learn. Indeed, he has been the director of the “Primo Maggio” Elder Centre for the last four years.
Riccardo was a student during the very first course and he immediately espoused the philosophy of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale and participated with great enthusiasm in all the initiatives. Together with his wife, Carla, he also helped out with some of our “special” students, including a fantastic night organized at a pub with a student suffering from Tourettes. Moreover, he also organised a Christmas party at the Elderly Centre, bringing three generations together of students together and a Worker’s Day Celebration with elders, students and children for a day of outdoor games. Not enough? He was involved in the opening of a TEO office that is still active – cost free – thanks to his work and that of my students. Indeed he was awarded a prize by the province at the end of 2013. Now, he is experimenting with tablets and helping to make his peers feel younger thanks to technology!
Riccardo established great relations with the tutors. “He’s like a grandfather to me,” says Nicola, a tutor and TEO volunteer. "He’s wonderful and knows how to help and when to listen. I really admire him.”
Inseparable from his wife Carla, they have adopted a number of “specials” students that the school in Aleramo has turned over to their loving guide over the course of the years.
“Last, but not least, Riccardo is interested in everything that his IT tutors introduce to the school and the TEO Office,” explains Prof. Roberta Poli. “He has helped transform some of their passions into a profession, a rare and precious talent these days.”
