Not just bricks. We build.

We keep building

We concluded our mission in Mboro sur Mer on November 22, 2024. What brings us back to the platform is a project we closely worked on during October and November, when we spent five weeks at the Casa de Santé in Mboro sur Mer. Thanks to a successful fundraising campaign, the mission was also able to contribute to the start of the works for the maternity wing, an important step to improve healthcare in the region. During the six weeks, we renovated part of the clinic, improving the hygiene conditions and making it a safer and more welcoming place. The project will be continued by Gabriella Cattori Balemi, founder of Amici di Aprosem, the NGO with which we have had the pleasure of collaborating on numerous health and social projects. Gabriella, who has always put her heart and commitment into every initiative, will personally supervise the construction work from January to May 2025, staying on-site to ensure the progress of the mission and the achievement of the set goals.

Our project is special because:

The Casa de Santé in Mboro sur Mer is a crucial point of reference for the entire local community. It is managed with dedication by nurse Thierno, midwife Coumba, and Antha, the pharmacy manager, who work tirelessly every day to provide basic healthcare to the community. However, one of the most urgent needs is the improvement of the maternity area. The small room currently used for deliveries and maternal and infant consultations is no longer sufficient to properly accommodate expectant mothers, putting the quality of care and the well-being of women and newborns at risk.

In October and November 2024, we started the expansion of the facility with the construction of a new maternity wing, specifically designed for deliveries and maternal-infant consultations.

Your support is essential to ensure that this project can continue and that Casa de Santé can finally offer a suitable and dignified space for mothers and their children.

«Alone we can do so little, but together we can do small things with great love.» This is the principle that guides our work. We strongly believe that unity makes the difference, and that even small steps, when done with love, can bring about concrete and meaningful change.

During our 6 weeks of mission in Mboro sur Mer, we worked with passion and dedication to help the local community. From the moment we arrived, we immediately identified one of the main needs of the population: the lack of a proper space for deliveries and maternal-infant consultations. The demand for a more welcoming and functional structure was already strong, and we didn’t hesitate to act.

For this reason, we decided to contribute right away with 1200 francs, dedicated to kickstarting the construction of the maternity wing. These funds were used to purchase the first bricks, symbolizing our commitment to the future of maternal and infant healthcare. But this is just the beginning: the project requires a total of 13,000 francs to be completed and provide a safe and welcoming space for the women and children of Mboro sur Mer.

We know that alone we can do little, but we also know that, with the support of generous people like you, we can make a difference. Every donation, big or small, is a crucial step towards completing this vital project.

We invite you to join us in this mission. Together, we can build not just bricks, but also a safer and more dignified future for the mothers and children of Mboro sur Mer.

6 Wonderful Weeks, Our Mission

Pure Hearts and a House on the Beach From Ticino to Senegal, a wonderful mission: Our journey began in November 2023 when we decided to dedicate our efforts to a fundraising project aimed at financing social and healthcare initiatives to meet the needs of Mboro Sur Mer, a small village three hours from Dakar, Senegal. After a year of preparation, on October 15, 2024, we finally boarded a plane to Africa. The smells of the burnt earth, the sound of the ocean waves, and the noise of the road, experienced in every corner, gave me a welcome to life that I rarely feel in Europe. I am convinced that words, in this context, can never fully do justice to our experience in Africa, but I will try to use them to share with you a fragment of an emotion that we will carry in our hearts forever, just like those we collected during our six weeks in Mboro Sur Mer. My name is Emily Falconi, I am 26 years old, a dreamer with my heart in the right place. I live in Zurich, where I work as a healthcare worker in psychiatry for home care. I split my weeks between Ticino, where I manage my small art studio, teach yoga, and work in the NGO world. In November 2023, I received a call from Asia Magginetti, a dear friend, a beautiful soul of 26 years old, a nurse and department coordinator in a geriatric facility in Biasca. Asia said to me: «Shall we go on a mission? I need a change.» And I, without hesitation: «I will accompany you to Senegal, where I lived for five months in 2022. Are you interested?» Asia: «Let’s buy the tickets and organize the trip!» From this meeting, our wonderful journey was born, and it is still leading us toward infinite horizons. During the preparation phase, we worked hard to organize every detail and be able to work concretely once we arrived in Mboro Sur Mer. Thanks to the generosity of many, we raised 6,000 Swiss francs through a digital platform, in addition to four suitcases of medical and educational material. A donor from Biasca also contributed with about twenty walkers and wheelchairs. We involved many generous hearts who decided to share this experience with us. The beauty of this journey was the result of all the hands that were stretched out to help us make the projects a reality. We launched a spark that spontaneously became a collective dream. We worked at the dispensary on the beach in Mboro Sur Mer, alongside Thierno, the lead nurse, Coumba, the midwife, and Antha, the pharmacy manager, with her little Awa. Our days began early, with a healthy and fun rhythm: wake-up at 6:50, yoga and running on the beach, a shower with water collected in barrels, and breakfast at 8:00. Asia made us a coffee that wrapped the mornings in a scent that immediately lifted our spirits. By 9:00, we started working, full of positive energy, despite the exhausting heat. The work at the dispensary was unpredictable: each day brought new challenges, with no «typical day.» We learned that in Mboro Sur Mer, each day must be faced with courage, a smile, and curiosity, without worrying too much about tomorrow. The role of the nurse is crucial here. There are no doctors, so the nurse must take on a much broader role than what we do in Europe. This reality allowed us to grow in autonomy, both professionally and personally. By around 14:30, we finished our activities at the dispensary and continued with our day, often following more complex cases at home or running errands in the city. The afternoons were also dedicated to the administrative and organizational side of the projects. We visited many health facilities, schools, and reception centers, each filled with extraordinary determination, positivity, and deep love for their land and families. It was extraordinarily touching and profoundly revealing to see how even the simplest activities, which we take for granted in our daily lives, take on an entirely new meaning in such a different world. In the second week, we expanded our «family» for the next ten days. Willy Soer, a wise and big-hearted young physiotherapist, joined us and brought all his energy and knowledge to support the patients in their rehabilitation phases. In the following days, our team grew even more. Sharon Musatti and Tania Balestra, two incredibly bright and radiant souls, nurses at Bellinzona hospital, came to join us. Sharon, specialized in intensive care, and Tania, an expert in clinics, became extraordinary travel companions. With them, we were able to enrich our work and experiences. Sharon Falconi, a social worker, and Davide Zara, a surveyor, guided us with their engaging energy, lighting up each step. Chiara Candolfi and Sara Dipardo, two young girls looking for new experiences, joined the preschool teachers on the beach as volunteers. Chiara Pagnamenta and Nathan Bagutti, two young nursing students, became part of our adventure almost by fate. Their beautiful souls crossed ours during the journey, and with remarkable ease, they integrated into our «family» in Senegal. Their presence brought a breath of fresh air, new emotions, and an incredible energy, adding joy and fun that enriched this unforgettable experience even more. The weeks spent together with all of them painted this experience with magic, lightness, and love. I don’t want to go into the details of the daily situations we faced, but I can testify that, although the culture here is very different from ours, it often put us to the test, asking us to transform every limit and prejudice into a resource for help. We often encountered broken hearts behind those beautiful smiles, bent by pain but also strong, mended by hope and, in part, by God’s will. We chose to live this experience with total honesty, confronting the most sincere reality. We laughed so much that we got cramps in our bellies, we cried so much that the ocean took us by the hand, accompanying us through the brightest and the darkest evenings. Always the ocean, my teacher, who teaches us how everything transforms while staying the same substance. The one who does not judge those who try to ride him in the desperate hope of reaching a better life, and who, unfortunately, sees those fleeing the beach in front of our house, without ever looking back. This mission changed us profoundly, and every step we took on this distant land became part of us. An experience we will never forget. The fragments of «forever» that I keep in my heart are shards of an experience that remind me not of what I want to become, but of what I want to accomplish in life. I am a dreamer in a world where the sky and stars seem far away, but never unreachable. I wish for you to turn fear into courage, to leave behind the reality we have built in our comfort zone, and to flee from prejudice by opening your hearts to that wonderful world that awaits you beyond the head. I want to sincerely thank everyone who contributed to the fundraising, the projects, and the success of the mission, showing us that a common goal makes the journey a magical adventure to live with an open heart. Perhaps I will not always be able to do great things alone, but if we unite our energies, we can do small things with great love. With affection and nostalgia, Emily Aminata Falconi Ka.