Corporate - Tue Mar 15 2022

Fantini for Africa: The School at Bujumbura

“ I think that if we take small steps for good and talk about them, someone may use our ideas to do something even bigger and better.”

Daniela Fantini

Fantini’s commitment in Burundi continues with new initiatives after the “100 Fontane Fantini for Africa” project to build an aqueduct in the Masango area, which was completed in late 2014 after two years of hard work, and now brings clean water to about 25,000 people. In 2020, the building that houses the mission’s Sisters was built in the central part of Masango in a strategic gathering place for the entire local community. It will also serve as a guest house for doctors, operators and volunteers, who until then had no available long-term accommodations. The company also committed to building a school in Bujumbura on the outskirts of Buterere near the airport, a vital step for any future new cooperation developments, while launching educational programs for the local population with the involvement of other organizations and companies.

The school was built on the site of an earlier school, which was expanded and completely refurbished using local materials and labor under the supervision of surveyor Mauro Zonca, who directed the work. Recently completed and opened, the school is operated by the local Congregation of the Sisters of Charity. It accommodates a total of 350 pre-school, grade school and secondary school pupils. The students include 35 girls from the street, aged 5 to 18, who have lived and studied here for ten months, remaining within their community, while in July and August they are hosted by outside family-type homes. The new school in Buterere also accommodates a number of children from the orphanage in Masango. This way, they can take the next step in their studies after elementary school.

The images of the children and young people who have become students at the new school exude joy and happiness, and this is a good foundation for the education provided by both the Sisters and outside teachers.

The drawings by the smaller children show a simple world of feelings and hopes, where the school is the center of their world and their future. The company’s special commitment in African now focuses on education and studies. After dealing with a primary need like bringing clean water to the population of the Masango community, offering the opportunity to study is a means of creating the foundation for a sustainable future and to improve living conditions for young people by preparing a new generation who can improve the country’s conditions over the medium to long term.

“Studying is light, not studying is darkness” says a well-known proverb, and aphorisms on the benefits of education and studying run through the literature of all countries in the world.

“Studying is like a lamp to dispel the darkness of benighted ignorance,” said the Dalai Lama. “Your studies are also the supreme possession that thieves and so forth cannot take from you. Study is like a weapon to overcome your enemy, your blindness. Study is also your best friend who will never forsake you in hard times.”
These Corporate Social Responsibility actions are part of the company’s philosophy and business strategy, and Daniela Fantini, promoter and bedrock of all projects and their future developments, has clearly stated this on many occasions.

In Venice, during her speech at the 5th Venetian Water Festival in 2019 at the Fondazione Querini Stampalia cultural institution, Daniela Fantini mentioned two famous sayings that clearly express her thoughts about corporate social responsibility, which she sees as a sort of ethical and moral obligation:

“A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business,” Henry Ford; and

“Doing good should be done well,” Immanuel Kant.