Landing in Freetown, Sierra Leone, you immediately sense a country still living inside its own history. The wounds of the civil war and the devastation of the Ebola epidemic are not closed chapters; they are living marks that continue to shape the everyday reality of the most vulnerable. It is within this complex landscape that FHM Italia, led by clinical psychologist Dr. Roberto Ravera, carries out its groundbreaking work on childhood trauma and mental health.

The purpose of my journey to Lakka was clear: to document the association’s work and support the fundraising needed to build a new centre for the country’s most at-risk children. The need is urgent. The current facility is rented and must soon be vacated, while the number of children requiring protection and care keeps growing. New space is not a luxury; it is a lifeline.

Inside Fragility

In Lakka, I met children abandoned, harmed, and forgotten: little ones found in rubbish dumps, rescued from abuse, or released from juvenile detention. Among them is Daniel, who has just arrived a child one should never meet behind bars. When he first entered the centre, he was quiet and withdrawn, with that guarded gaze belonging to those who have learned far too early not to trust.

Yet within days, Daniel began to adapt. You can see it in the small steps forward: a first game, a shy smile, a spark of curiosity. Much of this progress is thanks to the extraordinary “mothers” the local caregivers who form the emotional backbone of the centre. Strong, warm, and deeply attentive, they offer the children stability, reassurance, and affection. It is from them that Daniel is learning, perhaps for the first time, that the world can be gentle.

Kroo Bay: Where Help Is an Act of Courage

FHM Italia’s work does not end in Lakka. It is the only organization officially authorized to enter Kroo Bay, one of Freetown’s most impoverished and densely populated informal settlements: a maze of tin shacks, mud pathways, and mountains of rubbish. Kroo Bay is home to thousands of people with no access to basic services.

Here, the team delivers medicines, food, and medical assistance to those who would otherwise have none. In this extreme environment, where poverty is absolute, the presence of FHM Italia is not simply important it is vital.

Beyond Care: Education as a Path to Change

One of Dr. Ravera’s most visionary beliefs is that transforming a child’s life means investing in their future. This is why FHM Italia does more than provide psychological and medical care: it ensures the children attend school, supports them academically, and, when possible, accompanies them all the way to university.

The most inspiring example is Samuel, one of the first children taken in many years ago. With determination and with FHM Italia standing beside him he studied, progressed, and has now been awarded a university scholarship. His story is proof that destiny can shift when opportunity finally enters the room.

A New Land, a New Beginning

The association’s current challenge is to move its activities to newly acquired land surrounded by greenery, just outside the city. Here, small houses for the children will be built, along with staff accommodations, a clinic, a vegetable garden for self-sufficiency, and above all light.

Light as in nature, open space, and clean air. But also symbolic light: the possibility of imagining a future.

A Shared Responsibility

Working alongside Dr. Ravera and his daughter Virginia (psychiatrist) are professionals such as Dr. Giovanna Morra, ophthalmologist Ettore Ferrari, Dr. Elisa Ferrari, surgeon Paolo Secondo, and entrepreneur Giacomo Rossetto. Together, they are building a model of care that is competent, ethical, and profoundly human.

I return from Lakka with Daniel’s face in my heart and the conviction that telling these stories is not just testimony it is a call to action. Because building these homes means restoring dignity, safety, and possibility to children who, until yesterday, had only survived.

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Edit by @Alessia Castelli

Editor @Monaco Woman