Peter Pat: where children cross barriers and become friends

Non Profit ID card: present your project/organisation/campaign

– Where are you based? The central office of Peter Pat is in Milan, Italy, since 2008, where we were founded and where I live. Our lawyer and accountant also live in Milan. We also have a branch in London where my brother Luca, who is also the co-founder, lives.

– What are you called? The name of Peter Pat was created in my mind while I was thinking of a name which can bring to our minds the world of children, and who better than Peter Pan can do it? I modified it by changing Pan into Pat, which is how usually lots of friends call me. Peter Pat is also an easy name for children to remember and easy to be pronounced in different languages.

– What are you doing and why? Peter Pat is an international, non-governmental, non-religious, non-profit making association founded in 2008 in order to allow children from developing and developed Countries to meet each other. The aim is to promote the understanding and the intercultural solidarity between two Countries through meetings among children, usually 9 and 10 years old, coming respectively from a school in a developing country and from a school in a developed country. A programme will be shared and set up in advance with the support of the respective teachers and the Educational Panel of Peter Pat, always with the direct involvement of the children. Throughout the days of the meeting, the children familiarize to each other through plays, pictures, visits to some surrounding parks, simple lessons of nutrition and education health. After covering the expenses, Peter Pat will buy vaccinations and educational material in the underdeveloped world.

– Do you have a website/email? Our web site address is www.peterpat.org; it is a very colourful and easy web site to navigate. The web site is in Italian and in English; in addition there is a useful web page with a translation of what we do and who we are in several languages (our aim is to have the translation using all the languages). We also have an email, which is info@peterpat.org.

– Do you have a Twitter/facebook link/name We have not done one yet, we are working on it and we will do also with the ideas and suggestions of the children themselves. We are concerned about the use of Social Networks such as Facebook, in particularly related to the young generations and we are thinking about the way to make use of these Social Networks. We are also working on building a forum online.

– What makes you so special? We believe in a future where our children of today live in a better world.

The turning point

– How did you start? I initially contacted all, really all, the Italian Embassies around the world; this enabled us to have a point of contact which could give us suggestions regarding local laws, putting us into contact with local schools potentially interested to take part in the Peter Pat adventure etc. At the same time my brother Luca built the web site and with the help of Laura and a few other volunteers, we contacted Schools and companies that were potentially interested in our project.

– What keeps you going every day? The idea of having children from countries from all over the world in the same classroom sharing their cultures and learning from each other. The fact that a meeting of a few days can change their life creating friendships which can last all their lives is also important.

– Who is your target? Our first targets are the children. Whatever we think, do and organize is done with the aim of giving the children the possibility to meet other children and learn important lessons and enjoy themselves at the same time. For the same reason, we also want to reach out Schools which are interested in Peter Pat’s project and Institutions which can support during the days of the meeting (i.e. museums, parks etc.).

– How are you financed? Institutions potentially interested to support a little a starting adventure like Peter Pat is. That’s our focus at the moment; as you may know trips for the children and the organisation require relevant economic support. Therefore, we are contacting corporate, public and private Institutions and individuals potentially interested to support Peter Pat. So far we have already had several articles which can be read on our web site and I have been interviewed for a couple of television shows.

 

The challenge

 – A proud moment? The moment which…has yet to come.

– A problem you face? The needs to find economic support.

– Your personal motto when things get hard? Things get hard when the solution is close.

– Another cool project/organisation/campaign you would like to recommend? I would recommend all the little but strong organizations which work day by day and silently succeed to give a smile to people who need it.

www.peterpat.org

Go to Vita Europe Non Profit ID card on International Office for Water

Click hereto go to the full list of all our Vita Europe ID cards.