AM 2025 Nurturing the future

CUAMM Annual Meeting was held on Saturday 22, in Padua. The event featured distinguished speakers including the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella. Some 4,000 people attended the meeting held under the theme “Nurturing the future”, an occasion to also commemorate 75 years of commitment to the health of the most vulnerable.

The event was hosted by Giorgia Cardinaletti, Italian journalist and opened by Daniele Silvestri – Italian songwriter performing one of his most famous track.

Sergio Giordani, mayor of Padua brought the greetings of the city of Padua at the beginning of the ceremony:

“Today we celebrate a special anniversary: 75 years of activity is an important milestone, but also the symbol of the mission of justice and peace that Doctors with Africa CUAMM carries out in Africa. Some claim that allocating resources to the poorest countries is a waste; CUAMM, instead, shows us another path: not working for the most needy populations, but working together with them.”

And the president of CUAMM, the bishop of Padua, Monsignor Claudio Cipolla, added:

“CUAMM is a beautiful reality that works with daily commitment so that Africa may grow. This year I was in Ethiopia and met many practitioners and doctors trained with CUAMM: they were all Ethiopians, supported by some young doctors from Italy. The world needs justice; it needs one human family living in equality.”

Moving and heartfelt was the speech by Mario Calabresi, journalist and writer:

“For 75 years, CUAMM has nurtured values that elsewhere seem out of fashion. In a time dominated by speed and urgency, you choose patience; you choose not to tire of looking, listening, being present. For 75 years you have been guided by the idea that things must grow, with that sense of rural time that respects the seasons — necessary for projects to become strong, rooted, and able to walk on their own. Every time I meet CUAMM, you confront me with the effort — but also the responsibility — of speaking about the least, of not letting indifference win, of remembering Africa’s needs and opportunities more than its emergencies. It is ‘a surge of the heart’ that leads so many young doctors to knock on your door.”

“To speak of CUAMM’s motivations means telling the story of women and men who decided to stand by Africa. Seventy years ago, the motivation was radical: to leave and treat the sick where there was nothing,” added Giovanni Putoto, head of Planning and Operational Research. “Today we recognize the value of African professionals and facilities, grown and strengthened over these decades. Tomorrow, motivations will be even more linked to the interconnected world we live in: climate change, conflicts, epidemics, and inequalities remind us that no one can exist alone.”

And the Italian Minister of Universities and Research, Anna Maria Bernini, recalling the collaboration between CUAMM, the Ministry, and the University of Padua, emphasized:

“Investing in Africa is important because it means investing in the lives of all of us. In Mozambique, South Sudan, and Ethiopia, together with CUAMM, we are carrying out concrete projects, but there are still many other challenges to face. We stand with Africa to grow together.”

This collaboration also opens the way to new challenges, such as the one in Ivory Coast supported by the Mattei Plan, as stated by Stefano Gatti, Director General for Development Cooperation:

“With the Mattei Plan we are developing cooperation with Africa. Healthcare is one of the fundamental pillars: together with CUAMM, in Ivory Coast, we are currently working on projects worth over 2 million euros, with the main goal of reducing child mortality. The wonderful CUAMM team carries these projects forward, and we create the conditions needed to foster cooperation and make it effective.”

Speaking on behalf of the banking foundations that support CUAMM in its mission was Gilberto Muraro, president of Fondazione Cariparo, who said from the Padua Fair stage:

“Our Foundation has long stood close to CUAMM. For the efficiency and diligence shown throughout our collaboration, we responded to Don Dante’s appeal on the impact of USAID’s sudden closure, raising 1.5 million euros to mitigate the damage. This represents a renewed sign of trust in CUAMM, which works with competence and passion.”

The CUAMM network is vast and rich in many souls. Among them, the network of medical residents who, together with CUAMM, experience fieldwork. Representing them was Carolina Teston, resident physician in gynecology:

“My experience as a resident in Sierra Leone gave me so much and filled me with gratitude. It was a true privilege, allowing me to grow both professionally and personally.”

On stage next, Alberto Mantovani, president of Humanitas Research Foundation:

“Supporting doctors and health workers in the field means supporting care, but also scientific research. CUAMM conducts high-level research, recognized also through the award from the Accademia dei Lincei. It is research always rooted in fieldwork: research done with passion, with the desire to measure and be measured.”

And together with him, the Dean of Padua University, Daniela Mapelli, added:

“Our residents go there to learn and acquire new skills. Working in poor countries does not mean doing ‘poor medicine’: on the contrary, our young doctors return enriched — in clinical practice, in their ability to work in teams, to handle emergencies, and to pay close attention to listening to patients.”

Songwriter Daniele Silvestri took the stage to speak about his recent trip to informal settlements in Apulia, where the CUAMM Bari Group provides assistance to agricultural workers:

“The Casa Sankara ghetto in the Foggia area is truly a piece of Africa, inhabited by people who, although theoretically seasonal workers, end up staying for years. These worlds and realities are full of wonder: one shouldn’t only talk about hardships and what is lacking, but also about the life created there and the pieces of culture that form. CUAMM manages to interpret its mission with simplicity, recognizing that there is a piece of Africa here as well, and that the work done in Africa can also be done in Italy.”

Paolo Rumiz, journalist and writer, recalled with great emotion and intensity Don Luigi Mazzucato, longtime director of CUAMM:

“He was a man with a modest yet irresistible charisma. A small priest who made me fall in love with Africa. I wonder what he would say about this world drifting away. Africa, once seen as the guilty conscience of colonial Europe, is now ignored.”

“The encounter with CUAMM was one of the most important of my life. This summer I returned to Africa with CUAMM, in the Central African Republic. There was a moment I will never forget: at a crossroads between two dirt roads, in total darkness, Enzo Pisani – CUAMM Doctor asked me: ‘You here — what did you come for?’ And I replied: ‘Because I have to.’ Thinking back on that answer, I realized it contained all the motivations everyone feels: it moves me deeply, as if it were a calling, a hand on my shoulder. But there is also something tied to an inevitable and difficult destiny, linked to the guilt of the privileged Western white man. All these reasons contain great love and deep joy. Thanks to CUAMM, I have known the best part of our country,” said singer-songwriter Niccolò Fabi, a longtime friend of CUAMM.

Bringing Africa’s voice was Lelisa Amanuel Jira from the Ethiopian Ministry of Health:

“We asked CUAMM for help for the Nekemte hospital during an emergency situation. It is located in western Ethiopia, in the Oromia region, about 300 km from Addis Ababa. The hospital was built in 1932 and today serves one and a half million African citizens. Helping this center means supporting people’s health and well-being, ensuring safety for western Ethiopia, and contributing to the well-being of the entire country.”

Don Dante Carraro, Director General of CUAMM took the stage with the representative of the Ethiopian Ministry of Health to announce a new compelling challenge:

“Last year, at the Annual Meeting in Turin, we launched a major challenge: building a School for Nurses and Midwives in Bossangoa, a rural area of the Central African Republic, 80 km from the capital. A few days ago, I was there and we inaugurated it together with the local authorities. It was a great celebration, a wonderful milestone. Next week, the first 30 Central African students will begin their lessons — the beginning of a new future for each of them. But Africa is vast and the needs that call to us are many. The challenge we embrace and relaunch for 2026 is called Nekemte, in Ethiopia. An area that has welcomed nearly 150,000 displaced people. A collapsing health system, an overflowing hospital, a crumbling facility. This is where we want to help and do our part. And this is the commitment we present to the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and to all of Italy. It is our concrete way of giving shape to that ‘vertical continent’ that the President has often invited us to imagine and dream. Thank you to all who will join us!”

Closing the intense morning were the words of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella:

“A warm greeting to the institutional representatives present. A greeting to those here from Ethiopia and Mozambique, and to everyone in attendance. We are here to celebrate CUAMM’s 75 years: a joyful anniversary not only for the value of this endeavor, but also for Padua and for all who have received your care and been trained in your schools. Seventy-five years of community-building in disadvantaged territories of Africa are a value for all of Italy, of which you are extraordinary ambassadors. What CUAMM stands for, in countering wars and conflicts fueled by fear, has great meaning. Your work sends a message of encouragement and challenge, because all are called to build peace, friendship, cooperation. Seventy-five years ago, CUAMM’s story began with its founders, Francesco Canova and Bishop Girolamo Bortignon. Sub-Saharan African countries were still under colonial rule, and in Italy no legal framework for cooperation existed. CUAMM became a pioneer: the challenge was great and the project ambitious, but the energy and tenacity of Don Luigi Mazzucato made the founders’ dream possible, and ten years after his death we remember him with growing affection. He used to say that friendship and community spirit keep CUAMM’s engine running — an engine that has enabled it to navigate decades of change. Every step forward has been anticipated and envisioned through the generosity of CUAMM’s doctors, supporters, and staff. Today more than ever, the future of the two continents and their peoples is increasingly interconnected, and the Mattei Plan is a step toward this cooperation. Solidarity is the antidote to indifference, and CUAMM was the first Italian NGO recognized in the health sector. That law was signed by Aldo Moro, who as a young man said it was important ‘to hunger and thirst for justice’. This is what the women and men of CUAMM teach us — to nurture awareness of the inviolable dignity and respect owed to every person.”

 

BROWSE THE GALLERY

Photo credits: Visual Crew

The Annual Meeting was held under the patronage of: Veneto Region, Municipality of Padua, National Federation of the Orders of Surgeons and Dentists, National Federation of Midwifery Orders.

Media Partners: Rai Radio 2, TV2000, Radio In Blu, Gruppo 24 Ore, Avvenire, Corriere Buone Notizie, Corriere del Veneto, Mattino di Padova, Nuova Venezia, Tribuna di Treviso, Corriere delle Alpi, Radio Vaticana, Vatican News, L’Osservatore Romano, La Difesa del Popolo, Africa Rivista.

In collaboration with: Caffè Diemme, Coldiretti, Trenitalia, Pasticceria Loison, Grafiche Pizzinato, Henoto, Target 2, Back Space, Padova Hall. With the support of: Fondazione Cariparo, Eni, Intesa San Paolo, Poste Italiane, FemoGas, Alì, Chamber of Commerce, Padova Looking and Venicepromex, Banca Etica.

Technical sponsors: CUAMM is a member of Link 2007.