History

1980 - Sister Alba Cano begins her mission in the village of Ayamé and, with the support of other Italians, transforms a medicine dispensary into a small health center for assistance especially to mothers and children. Dr. Emilio Bertotti collaborates with it from the beginning and manages to involve friends, especially from Pavia, in fundraising and business stays in Ayamé.

1991 – 50 citizens of Pavia set up Agency no. 1 of Pavia for Ayamé and approve a declaration of intent, for the "adoption" of Ayamé: the "Carta del Ghislieri" (with reference to the prestigious university college where the first meeting of the group takes place).

1992 - Emilio Bertotti, operational agent, carries out a mission of over a month to Ayamé, to start the construction of an analysis laboratory, financed by the Agency, in the Ayamé hospital. The structure is completed in September and set up with materials and equipment sent from Italy in a special container.

1993 - On 11 October, the Ayamé Hospital was inaugurated, now also equipped with a surgery department and a laboratory for medical analysis, created thanks to the contribution of the Agency. The hospital became part of the Ivory Coast health system as Hôpital Général.

1994 – Doctors and professors of the Polyclinic, members of the Agency (Mario Cazzola, Ercole Brusamolino and Carlo Monteforte), join Emilio Bertotti in the missions to Ayamé. Thanks above all to the initiative of Mauro Stronati, even young pediatric specialists will subsequently carry out training stages in the Ivorian hospital in relay, taking advantage of special scholarships granted by the Order of Doctors of the province of Pavia.

1996 – The first agreement is signed between the S. Matteo hospital and the Hôpital Général d'Ayamé in order to facilitate the missions of doctors from Pavia to the same hospital and, in the future, to welcome Ivorian health personnel to Pavia for refresher courses targeted professional at the Polyclinic facilities.

1997 - The Agency is established by public deed as a "Non-profit organization of social utility" (ONLUS). The Municipality of Pavia, on 17 May, celebrates in a solemn open session of the Municipal Council, in the presence of the Undersecretary for Cooperation Sen. Rino Serri and a large Ivorian delegation, the "Constructive Twinning" with the Municipality of Ayamé, signed by the mayors of the two cities. The event is a further coherent step towards that new method of "decentralized cooperation" that inspired the establishment of the Agency.

1998 – The University of Pavia defines and approves the project for testing a "medical teleconsultation" service, via satellite and with IT procedures, between the Hôpital Général d'Ayamé and the San Matteo hospital. The initiative is supported by Telecom Italia and the Bioengineering and Medical Informatics Consortium of Pavia. The first operational connection between the Ayamé Hospital and the San Matteo Pediatric Clinic will take place on 8 June 2000: Elleu Kelly is the name of the girl who benefited from the first teleconsultation.

2000 – Thanks to the contribution of the Municipality of Pavia, the "Twinning House" was created, intended to host the missions of doctors and technicians (not only) from Pavia who go to Ayamé for business trips. The Municipality of Pavia undertakes to annually co-finance the ordinary and extraordinary maintenance and maintenance of the structure.

2001 – The Order of Engineers of Pavia formally joins the Agency, appointing its own representative in the Coordination Committee and establishing, within the Order itself, a working group with the aim of developing projects for technological adaptation and development of the Hospital and to organize technical missions to Ayamé to ensure their implementation.

2002 – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (29 March) recognizes the Agency's suitability as a Non-Governmental Organization (ONG) for the following types of activities: "implementation of short and medium-term programs in developing countries"; “selection, training and employment of volunteers in civil service”.

The young doctor Christophe Saraka, head of the Pediatric Service of the Ayamé Hospital, is hosted by the Giasone del Maino College of the University of Pavia for a training internship at the San Matteo Pediatric Clinic. In the same period, thanks to the "Amici di Ciceri" Association, another Ivorian, Dominique Sankara, an electrician in the Ayamé Hospital, can benefit from a training stay in Pavia with companies to learn the maintenance techniques of the equipment donated to the Hospital by Ayame. In the following year - again thanks to the availability of the University of Pavia and other city institutions - Caroline N'Zue, working at the laboratory of the Ayamé Hospital, was in Pavia for a training internship in clinical analysis at the San Matteo.

2003 – In the municipality of Travacò Siccomario, on 18 April, the "Committee of mayors of small municipalities" of the Province of Pavia was set up, which undertake to support the Agency's initiatives annually and to promote awareness-raising events in the area in favor of cooperation with poor countries and, in particular, with Ayamé. The Committee formally adheres to the Agency, appointing its own representative to the Coordination Committee.

In collaboration with CICOPS of the University of Pavia and with the Community of Sant'Egidio of Rome, the Agency is promoting (30-31 May) at the Ghislieri College the conference "The role of cooperation in poor countries in a state of political crisis: the case of the Ivory Coast". The meeting (which was attended, among others, by Clotilde Ohouochi, Minister of Social Solidarity of the Ivory Coast, Richard Zady, Ivorian Ambassador to Italy, Giuseppe Deodato, Director General of Cooperation, Paolo Sannella, Italian Ambassador to the Côte d' Ivory) represents an important reflection on the pacification of the Ivory Coast hard hit by a bloody internal conflict, still unresolved.

Collaboration begins with the ophthalmologists of the Chirone Association of Messina who have for some time been effectively dedicating themselves to the treatment of typical pathologies of the region such as cataracts, glaucoma ... Caroline N'Zue, laboratory technician of the Ayamé Hospital, is hosted in Pavia for an internship at the Policlinico S. Matteo. The Council of the Municipality of Pavia allocates to the Agency an office in the Broletto, the most important historic building in the city, which is undergoing restoration.

2004 – Thanks to the contribution of the Banca del Monte di Lombardia Foundation, the new analysis laboratory was built in the Ayamé hospital. The Government of the Ivory Coast grants free customs clearance of the technical instruments and medicines sent to the Ayamé hospital. The major strategic cooperation projects in the health and environmental fields are defined with the competent Ivorian authorities. The STOP-AIDS initiative aims to deal with the AIDS emergency in the Ayamé area. To this end, to facilitate the diagnostic tests on the female population and the preventive measures against neonatal HIV positivity, the Agency makes available to all pregnant women of Ayamé a voucher ("bon d'achat") for full access free at birth in the hospital. The visit, in February, of the Minister of Health of the Ivory Coast, dr. Albert Mabri Toikeusse at the San Matteo Polyclinic seals the agreement. The "Ravasi" Foundation of Milan disburses a contribution of 45,000 euros which allows the immediate start of the preparatory phases of the plan.

The environmental reclamation project (P.R.A.) in the Ayamé basin envisages three priority and preliminary interventions: the reclamation of the -Ano-Assué- river which crosses Ayamé, the establishment of an adequate waste disposal system, as well as the restructuring of the sewers of the city, long out of use.

Vcaba Sylla, head nurse of the Pediatrics department of the Ayamé Hospital is a guest in Pavia (in June) to participate in a professional updating internship at the Neonatology Department of the San Matteo Polyclinic.

2005 – The STOP-AIDS project obtains co-financing from the Cariplo Foundation of Milan and can enter the full operational phase: the very expensive laboratory equipment essential for rapid diagnoses is acquired; training and refresher courses are carried out for all hospital staff. Since March, the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of the virus has seen extraordinary support from the women visited in the hospital: as many as 95% of whom have agreed to undergo the tests. Since July, powdered milk has been distributed free of charge to HIV-positive mothers. Starting from September, a mobile team, made up of health personnel and a cultural mediator, travels to the villages and camps in the surroundings of Ayamé, to present the STOP-AIDS program and to invite women to undergo free check-ups in the Hospital. In October a delegation from the UNDP (the UN agency that coordinates interventions in the fight against AIDS in Côte d'Ivoire) positively evaluated the activity carried out by the hospital which, consequently, is also included in the treatment program to HIV-positive adults (PEC).

To give immediate execution to the P.R.A. (the environmental remediation project) an Italian-Ivorian working committee was set up, coordinated on site by Eng. Yao Sabenin, who established the plan of the interventions, divided it into lots. In March work began (co-financed by the Banca del Monte di Lombardia Foundation) aimed at the complete rehabilitation of the Ano-Assue river. At the end of September, a mission of engineers from Pavia (Bracci and Luinetti) proceeded with the first surveys relating to the rearrangement of the Ayamé sewage system.

They adhere to the P.R.A. the ASM of Pavia (which signs a special agreement with the Agency) and the Water Research Center of the University of Pavia, led by prof. Giovanni Iannelli who assumes the scientific coordination of the project.

The initiative for the construction of the new Pouponnière, capable of accommodating at least 40 children, also takes off. The Order of Engineers of the Province of Pavia elaborates the project and the Agency decides to co-finance the work which also commits the NGO A.B.C.S. of Verona and other institutions. The construction site is already open in October.

The Agency signs the agreement on the concession of the new headquarters of the Agency at the Broletto with the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Pavia.

The "Committee of Mayors of small municipalities for Ayamé" is renewed which, on 23 February, appoints Fabio Zucca, Mayor of Belgioioso, as a representative on the Agency's Coordination Committee.

2006 – The Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei awards the Agency with the prestigious “Antonio Feltrinelli'' prize for “an extraordinary enterprise of high moral and humanitarian value”. The sum received helps speed up the construction of the new Pouponnière which is completed in December. The Mayor of Pavia, Piera Capitelli, accompanied by a delegation from the Agency, goes on an official visit to Ayamé and confirms the cooperation commitments between the two municipalities, signed in 1997 with the constructive twinning. Many technical missions take place during the year to carry on the projects in the pipeline. The work trips of young students of the University of Pavia are increasingly frequent, also for the purpose of preparing degree theses on the development of Ayamé. This is the case of Tabata Fioretto who graduated in engineering on 20 July with a dissertation on the town's urban prospects. In the same direction Silvia Stringhini, thanks to a grant from CERVED, begins an internship aimed at carrying out a thesis (in International Economic Integration) on the economic impact of the Ayamé hospital on the local community. United Nations which deals with development in poor countries) expresses, for the second time, a positive evaluation of the STOP-AIDS program underway at the General Hospital of Ayamé (HGA). The regimentation works of the Ano-Assué river are completed; and, again within the framework of the Ayamé environmental rehabilitation project, the on-site surveys and the definition of the plan for a progressive rehabilitation of the municipal sewage network are proceeding, under the guidance of Prof. Gianni Jannelli of the Water Research Center of the University of Pavia. The annual Assembly of the Agency provides for the renewal of the corporate offices for the three-year period 2007-2009.

2007 – On 17 February the new Pouponnière of Ayamé was solemnly inaugurated, hosting 44 children up to three years of age. Very young volunteers of the Agency set up a special Committee to spread the "participatory support" of the young guests of the kindergarten.

Numerous technical and scientific missions to Ayamé to continue the projects in progress: Dr. Chiara Bodini and Serena Venturelli (from the School of Specialization in Infectious Diseases) to oversee the STOP-SIDA Programme; the engineers of the Order of Pavia (Giuseppe Bargigia and Marco Majocchi) and Roberto Rossella to assess the state of the environmental remediation plan (PRA) and to sign (in December) an agreement with the Municipality of Ayamé on its involvement in the refurbishment works of the sewer network. Already in April, Eng. Yao Sabenin (technical coordinator of the PRA) had been in Pavia to define the development of the works.

Also important was the visit to the Ayamé Hospital (HGA) by Prof. Paolo Dionigi to set up a program (for 2008) of professional updating for local surgeons at the San Matteo Polyclinic in Pavia. Prof. Dionigi himself coordinates a group of doctors from San Matteo interested in cooperation with the Ivorian hospital. A series of photovoltaic solar panels (donated by EGEA SPA of Alba) is sent to the Ivory Coast, destined for Diakité Dogou where they will be installed to supply its dispensary (just built, based on a project by engineers from Pavia) with sufficient electricity to power two refrigerators for storing basic medicines and vaccines.

Diakité Dogou is one of the villages in the bush surrounding Ayamé included in another ambitious project that has just started: the "Antennas of the HGA". It is a question of setting up small decentralized health outposts, essential in the fight against AIDS and able to ensure the first urgent care of the rural population, avoiding tiring transfers of the sick to the Ayamé hospital.

As many as four students from the University of Pavia who graduate brilliantly discussing theses on the various aspects of cooperation with Ayamé: Silvia Stringhini (Political science); Viviana Masoero and Giovanna Bucci (Engineering) and Chiara Bodini (Specialization in Infectious Diseases).

2008 – It is the year of the "point to point" missions. As many as 19 volunteers from the Agency have stayed, at various times, in Ayamé as part of the various health, social-welfare and environmental cooperation projects launched some time ago in the Ivorian community. Two surgeons from the HGA (Dr. Bledou Lambert Anoh and Dr. Doua Aime Kouakou) were able to participate, under the guidance of Prof. Paolo Dionigi, in professional updating stages at the IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo in Pavia, thanks to the hospitality of the university colleges of EDISU and with the help of other local institutions. The renewal (in July) of the Agreement between San Matteo di Pavia and the HGA helped to make the links between the two hospitals closer and more effective, precisely in the year in which the 15th anniversary of the inclusion of the Ayamé hospital in the Ivory Coast health system. On May 7, the small dispensary (“Case de Santé”) of Diakité Dougou was solemnly inaugurated, in full bush on the border with Ghana. The structure, equipped with photovoltaic solar panels (which supply sufficient electricity to light the building and to power two refrigerators for storing basic medicines), is the first rural medical outpost which should meet the most urgent health needs of the local population (surveyed, in October, by two volunteers sent by the Agency). At the end of the year, work began (co-financed by the Rotary club of Cremona) for the complete renovation and expansion of the Bianouan health facility. This initiative is also part of the ambitious "Antenne dell'HGA" program for the creation of a ring network of first aid health centers, coordinated by the Ayamé Hospital. The new Pouponnière worked well and at full speed with its magnificent 50 children. In June, the Agency's presidency met with UNICEF officials to obtain their important international patronage as soon as possible. The other activities related to the campaign against AIDS (STOP-AIDS) and the progressive environmental rehabilitation of the Ayamé sewage system have had further development. Finally, the "Microcredit project" was launched (with the contribution of the Camera del Lavoro of Pavia) to create job opportunities (and therefore social reintegration) in favor of the most marginalized women, for health reasons or because they lack family support .

2009 – At the very end of the year, the Agency obtained the “Pavesi nel Mondo” award from the Chamber of Commerce of Pavia. The prestigious award crowns a very intense cooperation activity. The ophthalmologists of the S. Matteo Polyclinic of Pavia, coordinated by the head physician prof. Paolo E. Bianchi, in February, went to Ayamé for their first surgical mission, operating on over 100 patients suffering from cataracts; and creating the conditions for ongoing collaboration. The S. Maugeri Foundation of Pavia contributes to this end with a donation of equipment of considerable value, essential for the creation of an adequate ophthalmic center at the HGA, in the rooms renovated by the Agency in 2008. In the context of health, the "point-to-point" exchanges include the professional updating stages (in July) at the S. Matteo Polyclinic of dott. Djonne Annie Diokuri (pediatrician) and radiologist technician Inza Coulibaly. In October, Drs. Alba Muzzi and Eleonora Scorletti (specializing in hygiene and preventive medicine, supported by two CARIPLO-CICOPS scholarships) and Federico Gatto (graduated in Pharmacy). The purpose of the mission is to evaluate the organization and functionality of the services of the Ayamé Hospital and the STOP-AIDS campaign. During their stay they collect the data necessary for a new project "the fruits of the earth" (presented to the Assembly of the Agency), for a widespread action for a healthy and appropriate diet in the territory of Ayamé and in the neighboring villages. In the social field, the Pouponnière is now fully operational with 53 children happily hosted. An important agreement with the Community of S. Egidio in Rome will make it possible to facilitate the procedures for the international adoption in Italy of children who cannot be reintegrated into their original family communities. The introduction to work of women in difficult conditions extends further with wider access to microcredit at minimum and decreasing rates, reduced during a visit to Ayamé by Ernesto Bettinelli, Alberto Majocchi, Cristina Gallotti (at the end of May). Already in March Patrizia Cogliati can check the progress of the Agency's interventions on site from a managerial and financial point of view. The commitment of the Agency's engineers and technicians is also significant. Giuseppe Bargigia, Filippo Dacarro, Marco Majocchi, Franco Dell'Antonia, Roberto Rossella, Antonio Limanni deal with the works of rearrangement of the local sewer network (in December the last stretch of discharge remains to be completed), together with Francesco Vinco who, since two years, he manages a difficult construction site with competence and patience. In November, as part of the ambitious "HGA antennas" project, the renovation and expansion of the Bianouan hospital was completed, benefiting from significant co-financing from Rotary Cremona. Now it is necessary to provide for the essential water supply of the hospital by connecting to an already identified well. To support and develop the Ayamé hospital and the other projects promoted by the Agency, it sends (in June and November) two containers with various materials (health, technology and construction) of considerable value, collected thanks to the generosity of an ever growing number of donors. Finally, a "great" novelty: an important entrepreneur from Vigevano sets up the "Magni per Ayamé" Foundation, which sets itself objectives of economic development and excellent education in the same locality, in close unity of purpose with the Agency. The Agency's assembly (December 17) elects the corporate offices for the three-year period 2010-2012.

2010 – Thanks to the important co-financing granted by the Italo Monzino Foundation of Milan, the "Antenne dell'HGA" project for the establishment of an efficient network of rural health facilities gravitating in the area served by the General Hospital of Ayamé, has a decisive development . After the Bianouan hospital (inaugurated in June by the president of the Agency Ernesto Bettinelli, accompanied by Alberto Majocchi and Cristina Gallotti) the dispensaries of Songan, Apouasso, Yaou, Kétesso were renovated in record time. And construction sites are opening for those of Diby, Ebikro, Koukourandoumi. Such a result is the result, once again, of the technical and planning commitment of the "group of engineers" of the Order of Pavia, coordinated by Giuseppe Bargigia (at Ayamé in February with Maurizio Mangiarotti and Roberto Rossella), with the supervision field of the young engineer Antonio Limanni and the scientific supervision of Dr. Ercole Brusamolino (in Ayamé in May). In order to be able to cope with the tasks of primary health protection entrusted to them, all the principals have been equipped with the necessary equipment, sent by container. In September, the Minister of Health of Côte d'Ivoire Aka Eugène Aouélé visited the renewed facilities and expressed his country's gratitude for the cooperation activity of the Agency. In the framework of the "point to point" medical missions between Pavia and Ayamé, in January, the team of ophthalmologists of the S. Matteo Polyclinic, led by Prof. Paolo Emilio Bianchi (and made up of Alessio Delfino, Giovanni Furiosi, Marinella Migliavacca, Alessandro Borloni) went to the HGA to proceed to surgery. The collaboration in the ophthalmic field then continued in July with the professional updating stage of dr. Djomoh Thirry Angban (HGA) at St Matthew's Eye Clinic. Other important specialist training and technical assistance missions for the HGA medical and nursing staff, in the obstetrics, pediatrics and neonatology sectors, took place in Ayamé during the year (Prof. Laura Montanari, assisted by Morena Arturi of the 'ASl of Cuneo; Alessandra Rossi Ricci, graduate student and Cariplo scholarship holder who assisted the local pediatrician Dr. Annie Diokouri). In the environmental remediation sector, we note the maintenance of the sewage network (carried out by the Agency in previous years), entrusted to suitably trained local teams and the mission of Eng. Alessandro Bracci (in August) to verify the feasibility of an ambitious program for the collection and treatment of urban solid waste concerning the entire district of Aboisso in which Ayamé is located. The Pouponnière of Ayamé is increasingly alive, animated and at the maximum of its capacity: in December there were 55 little guests. The objectives of economic development in the agricultural field were at the center of the initiatives of the "Magni per Ayamé" Foundation, which acquired new land intended for the cultivation of both medium-term profitable plantations (such as rubber and oil palm) capable of increase employment, both of self-consumption products to promote a balanced diet of the local population. The project has been defined for the construction of a model farmhouse which will also function as a professional educational center and as a residence available to volunteers on a mission to Ayamé and its surroundings.

2011 – The Ivory Coast is afflicted by civil war due to the non-recognition of the election of Alassane Ouattara as President of the Republic by the outgoing president Laurent Gbagbo. The armed confrontation lasts until May when the armed forces supporting the new President enter Abidjan. Thousands of dead and exiles in a situation of growing misery. The political divisions gradually dissolve thanks to the moderation of Ouattara, the huge international aid and the arrest of Gbagbo who is handed over to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to be tried for crimes against humanity. The Agency has to suspend its missions to Ayamé, but it still manages to safeguard all its achievements thanks to the vigilant and charismatic presence of Emi Massignan who has never abandoned the country, even in the most dramatic moments. In particular, the continued operation of the General Hospital of Ayamé, of the Pouponnière (with its 55 children) and of the renovated health facilities in the villages of the bush is ensured. As soon as the situation normalizes, the active cooperation initiatives promoted by the Agency in the various sectors will resume. Staff training: Dr. Djomoh Thierry Angban (HGA ophthalmologist) completes his refresher course in cataract surgery (started in June 2010 at the ophthalmology clinic of the San Matteo hospital in Pavia) by attending a specialization course (funded entirely by the Agency) at a specialist in Accra, Ghana. Technological development of the HGA: work begins on the construction of the second operating block, based on a project by the Order of Engineers of the Province of Pavia. The structure, largely financed by the Agency, will be completed within the first half of 2012. The new operating theater, equipped with suitable equipment (autoclave and UPS donated above all to the Cuneo-1 Local Health Authority), is intended above all for outpatient and eye surgery. "Antenne dell'HGA" project: construction sites open in Ebikro N'Dakro for the renovation of the eighth health facility in the bush, according to a project drawn up by engineers from Pavia. Environmental remediation of Ayamé: the team of 5 maintenance workers, trained in recent years by the Agency's technicians-volunteers, is hired by the Municipality of Ayamé. The Agency insures part of the salary in order to allow continuous maintenance of the Ayamé sewage network, which has been rearranged over the last 5 years. Microcredit for marginalized women: the Agency finances the purchase of equipment for the operation of a food warehouse (granted by the municipality of Ayamé) managed by women who have set up a cooperative and, in this way, have been able to reintegrate into the business commercial. Missions to Ayamé: in order to coordinate the above activities, special missions are carried out in Ayamé in September in which Giuseppe Bargigia and Filippo Dacarro (of the "group of engineers") and Alessio Delfino (of the "Committee of doctors for Ayamé") take part . Also important was the stay at the HGA, which lasted about three months, by Peni Nissani, a medical student at the University of Pavia who was awarded a scholarship (provided by Cariplo) for a research internship on the pathogenesis of anemia in the area by Ayame. The Government of the Ivory Coast officially recognizes the "Punto a Punto" association based in Ayamé and chaired on site by our Emi Massignan. This is an important manifestation of appreciation of the agency's twenty-year active presence in Ayamé and an opportunity to make cooperation projects more shared and effective. The activity of the Magni Foundation is also profitably developing with the acquisition of new farmland. The Agency changes operational headquarters. It is now located in Piazza Petrarca 4 in the historic "Annunziata complex" in a room granted on free loan by the Province of Pavia.

2012 – With the construction of the tenth dispensary in Bilekrou. In the bush surrounding Ayamé, the ambitious "Antenne dell'HGA" program, launched in 2007 with the collaboration of various organizations and, in particular, the Monzino Foundation of Milan, concludes. After the "major works", the Agency decides to concentrate its commitment on training in the health and environmental fields and on incentives for the maintenance of the structures and equipment which, in over twenty years, it has made available to the community of Ayamé. In this perspective, the "Point to Point" missions are carried out during the year: the one at the HGA of the ophthalmologists of the San Matteo Polyclinic, led by prof. Paolo E. Bianchi, dedicated to cataract surgery with the participation of the local ophthalmologist (between January and February), the following one (March) of engineers and technicians (Bargigia, Piccinni, Rossella) who verify the progress of the works in the various sectors in which the Agency cooperates, such as environmental remediation. After the "major works", the Agency decides to concentrate its commitment on training in the health and environmental fields and on incentives for the maintenance of the structures and equipment which, in over twenty years, it has made available to the community of Ayamé. In June, the head of the laboratory services of the HGA, Nathalie Matchum Fotso Nounamo, is a guest in Pavia to participate in a professional updating internship at the Policlinico San Matteo in Pavia. Important (in July) the mission to Ayamé by Ernesto Bettinelli, president of the Agency, and Alberto Majocchi, vice president of the Magni Foundation, to better define relations with the HGA, the local authorities and the Minister of Health (met in Abidjan ). To better coordinate health cooperation interventions with the HGA in the medium term, a new Convention was agreed (lasting five years), then signed on 18 December by the Bishop of Grand Bassam, Msgr. Raymond Auhua, concessionaire of the Hospital. The first 10 years of the Pouponnière are celebrated in Ayamé on July 14, with a big party involving the entire local population. A container arrives in Ayamé in August, sent by the Agency, with important equipment for the hospital and for the health facilities of the area, donated by companies and organizations not only from Pavia. The economic development activity in the agricultural field of the Magni Foundation continues successfully in Ayamé which, among other things, manages to guarantee the food self-sufficiency of the Pouponnière. The ordinary assembly of the Agency, on 12 December, elects the corporate offices for the three-year period 2013-2015.

2013 – The Ministry of Health of the Ivory Coast recognizes the Agency as a "body associated with the public health service" in the Convention, signed on 13 November in Abidjan, which, among other things, identifies the Department of Aboisso (where the Ayamé) as the area of the cooperation interventions of the NGO from Pavia. In fact, the agency's commitment has long since extended to the villages of the countryside-forest (brousse) in the surroundings of Ayamé. On May 30, the "Case de Santé" in Bilekrò was officially inaugurated, the last of the health facilities of the "Antenne dell'HGA" program, built with the contribution of the Magni Foundation. Thanks to the funding from Marina Salamon's Alchimia SpA, the dispensary will be equipped with solar panels that will supply the electricity necessary for its operation. During the year, the now traditional technical and medical missions are carried out in Ayamé. The engineers and technicians (Flavio Dadone, Tonino Piccinni, Giampaolo Romanin, Roberto Rossella) install two autoclaves and a generator in the HGA. Then, the fourth surgical mission of the ophthalmologists of the San Matteo Polyclinic of Pavia takes place, led by Paolo E. Bianchi (Giovanni Furiosi, Gabriella Ricciardelli, Alessio Delfino, Nadia Massara) aimed above all at "giving the light back" to patients with from cataract. Subsequently, Ernesto Bettinelli, Cristina Gallotti and Alberto Majocchi reach Ayamé to check the status of the projects and to agree on the next cooperation initiatives with the local partners. The Magni Foundation continues its economic development activity in the agricultural field by increasing crops. It finances the construction of a large secondary school (run by the Stigmatine Fathers) with a section dedicated to advanced professional training in the agricultural field. It also intervenes in support of the programs already launched by the Agency. La Pouponnière is embellished and enlarged with special recreational spaces and with a sector specifically dedicated to older children. As regards the environmental remediation of Ayamé, the Ano Assué torrent is cleaned, to avoid dangerous flooding. The Foundation makes a significant effort to make the local population aware of the care and cleanliness of the area. The ordinary assembly of the Agency, on 12 December, approves ambitious projects, such as: the redevelopment of the HGA, co-financed by UBI-BANCA, a phytodepuration system for the sewage from the Ayamé sewage system (largely rearranged by the Agency) and their outflow into the lagoon via a lifting pump. For this work, the Rotary club Minerva of Pavia requested an important co-financing from the Rotary Foundation. A serious mourning hit the Agency on 30 December: Dr. Emilio Bertotti, forerunner of health cooperation in Ayamé and co-founder of the hospital. Precisely because of his great merits, the Agency in 2000 appointed Bertotti "Honorary Agent for life".

2014 – The horrible year of Ebola, even if it spared the Ivory Coast, had negative repercussions on its health organization. In fact, most of the available resources have been spent on preventing the spread of the epidemic to the detriment of other health emergencies. The Ayamé Hospital has also experienced this state of crisis since March: a significant drop in hospitalizations and services with a negative impact on the management and maintenance of the facilities. Yet, in the first few months of the year, the usual medical missions promoted by the Agency took place: that of the ophthalmologists, led by prof. Paolo E. Bianchi, aimed above all at the removal of cataracts; the one dedicated to gynecology and laparoscopy guided by prof. Laura Montanari; and, finally, the dental one formed by dr. Umberto Marchesi, Paolo Martegani and Maurizio Silvestri who, in addition to providing basic care to hospital patients, verified the conditions for developing an ambitious project ("a smile for Ayamé") for the prevention of mouth diseases with particular regard to adolescents educated.

A technical team from the University of Pavia, coordinated by prof. eng. Marco Morandotti was involved in Ayamé for the definition of the structural redevelopment project of the HGA (co-financed by UBI BANCA) which, in particular, involves the construction of a triage for better initial reception and assistance for the sick.

As regards the Agency's other human and social promotion initiatives, it should be noted that the Pouponnière has been enriched with a pre-school activity service. In the rural village of Diakité Dogou, in September, with the participation of the president of the Agency Ernesto Bettinelli, a large, fully equipped primary school was inaugurated and built thanks to the contribution of generous friends of the Agency. The project was then defined for the installation of solar panels in Bilekrò, donated by Marina Salamon, which will supply electricity to the dispensary built by the Agency.

The Rotary Foundation approves the project for the continuation of the reorganization works of the Ayamé sewage system, co-financing the purchase of a lifting pump for the outflow of the phyto-purified black water into the lagoon.

The Magni Foundation further develops its programs in the fields of agricultural enterprise, education and the environment.

The Agency mourns the passing of Dr. Ercole Brusamolino, pioneer of health cooperation with the HGA, by Prof. Carlo Bernasconi and by Eng. Luigi Burtulla, founding members of the Agency and eminent personalities of the Pavia community.

2015 – The Agency continues its commitment to Ayamé by ensuring financial support to the main local services and through the usual professional and technological assistance missions. In the medical field, Laura Montanari, assisted by Morena Arturi and Maria Rivato, carries out gynecological and laparoscopic training activities at the Ayamé hospital, in collaboration with a team from the Ivorian University of Bouaké. You followed the sixth surgical mission of the Pavia ophthalmologists, coordinated by Paolo Emilio Bianchi (Giovanni Furiosi, Nadia Massara, Gabriella Ricciardelli). 70 operations and over 100 consultations of patients from various locations in the Ivory Coast were carried out, also thanks to the important logistical contribution of Rotary Bietry of Abidjan. For the development of the Ayamé hospital, the first lot of the "redevelopment project" (co-financed by UBI BANCA) was completed with the construction of a new and more functional building, used for the maintenance service. The solar panels for the dispensary in the village of Bilekrò have arrived from Italy and will be installed by Agency technicians at the beginning of next year.

As part of the Ayamé environmental remediation program, work was started on installing a lift pump (purchased thanks to funding from the Rotary Foundation on the initiative of Rotary Minerva of Pavia), necessary for the outflow and purification in sewage lagoon of the Ayamé sewer system. The mission of Paolo Ratto of Montana SpA in Milan was dedicated to this purpose.

La Pouponnière manages to maintain levels of absolute excellence in assisting the 53 children hosted, despite the significant increase in personnel costs. Finally, note the meetings of Alberto Majocchi with the Ivorian regional and government health authorities to redefine the methods and objectives of the Agency's cooperation and its responsibilities in the Ayamé Hospital.

The Agency has also been recognized by the Lombardy Region as a voluntary organization. The XXV Annual Assembly of members approved important changes to its statute and elected the new corporate offices for the three-year period 2016-2018.

2016 - This marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Agency. No celebration is promoted, but we look to the future through the development of important projects that will involve cooperation in Ayamé in the coming years. “A smile for Ayamé” is aimed at promoting a broad dental prevention campaign especially among the local youth population. “Waste as a resource for Ayamé” aims at the separate collection of solid urban waste to encourage recycling, generate effective business initiatives and increase employment levels in the area. The "reduction of maternal mortality in the Ayamé area" aims to reduce by 30 percent the deaths caused by pregnancies and births not sufficiently assisted by rural health facilities, which are not yet able to deal with emergencies. The "Happy return to the family" aims to promote a complete reintegration into the original communities of children discharged from the Pouponnière and their schooling, ensuring the necessary support and food aid for families.

The works completed are also significant, such as the construction and inauguration of the triage as part of the redevelopment project of the Ayamé Hospital, co-financed by UBI BANCA, and the renovation and commissioning of the rural dispensary of Toliesso, which is adds to the other "Ayamé Hospital antennas'' previously created by the Agency. To pursue these objectives, the Agency's volunteers carried out missions to Ayamé during the year: Paolo Ratto, Marco Morandotti, Tonino Piccinni, Roberto Rossella, Barbara Braggion, Rino Rocchelli and Alberto Majocchi.

2017 - The seventh eye surgery mission of the team led by prof. Paolo E. Bianchi and composed by prof. Giovanni Furiosi, from Dr. Alessio Delfino, Gabriella Ricciardelli and the theater assistant Nadia Massara at the Ayamé Hospital (HGA) obtained, as usual, excellent results. But as a whole, the Ayamé Hospital is in a state of serious crisis, above all due to the lack of qualified local medical personnel, the decline in performance and hospitalizations and poor management. The subsequent medical missions of the obstetrician Dr. Loredana Musarra Amato (in March) and Dr. Marco Massi (in August) confirmed these difficulties. The Agency insistently urges the Ivorian health authorities to adopt the necessary measures to relaunch the hospital. Several meetings of Alberto Majocchi and Rino Rocchelli at ministerial (in Abidjan) and regional (in Aboisso) levels in May and October are aimed at this objective. The local population itself, represented by Chefferie, demands urgent and decisive interventions from the State.

Thanks to the volunteer Paolo Ratto (engineer of Montana SpA), the Ayamé environmental restoration program continues, albeit at "slow speed", awaiting adequate funding. Ratto also helped the population of Bilekrò in digging a well to supply the village with safe drinking water.

Over the course of the year, La Pouponnière hosted up to 78 children in need, mostly from the Brousse. Inevitably, costs have increased significantly. To maintain the high quality of services, which has characterized the nursery since its origins, the Agency has promoted various self-financing initiatives. In particular, it launched the "shareholders for the Pouponnière" campaign, available to invest at least 5,000 Euros annually for the protection of children in Ayamé and its surroundings.

Barbara Braggion, a graduate in engineering-architecture at the University of Pavia, has been awarded a scholarship ("cooperation and knowledge" fund) announced by the same University for a work-study stay in Ayamé aimed at developing her degree thesis on the “building redevelopment of the Ayamé Hospital”. Barbara's mission (from October to December) went very positively and her project will be used by the Agency in the search for solutions to the hospital's structural problems.

2018 – After many discussions and meetings at ministerial level (also attended by the Italian ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire, Stefano lo Savio), a satisfactory agreement was finally reached between the Ministry of Health of Côte d'Ivoire and the Agency on the organization of the Ayamé Hospital. The State has appointed new and qualified HGA managers with the substantial involvement of Emi Massignan, a point of reference for Italian cooperation. The short-medium term objective is to ensure that the population of Ayamé and the surrounding villages have adequate health services, especially in the sectors of obstetrics, neonatology and paediatrics. The Agency is committed to actively supporting such a plan, promoting high-impact projects such as the dental one for the prevention of pathologies especially at a young age. For this purpose, the dental laboratory was renovated and equipped with new and modern equipment sent by the Agency. Barbara Braggion's mission, dedicated to the HGA's building renovation projects, was followed from August to October by that of the young doctor Anna Fornasari who verified the functioning and needs of the various departments. Anna's timely report will allow the Agency to plan the next HGA relaunch initiatives more effectively. Among the rural dispensaries created over the years by the Agency, we highlight Bilekrò which, thanks to the activity of a full-time specialized nurse, manages to assist pregnant women in the village, with a significant reduction in deaths caused by unassisted births. The Waldensian Table, with the proceeds of the 8 per thousand, has allocated a contribution of 30,000 Euros to the "Bien rentré au foyer" project for the social and scholastic integration of children who leave the Pouponnière and return to their families of origin. The environmental restoration program continues, albeit "at low speed" while waiting for adequate funding, with the collaboration of an association of young and willing local ecologists, "Les amis de l'Environnement" in particular, the collection is developing and improving waste separation with the increasingly refined transformation of the wet part into compost which is used in local agriculture. The annual meeting of members, on 12 December, renewed the corporate offices for the next three years (2019-2021). Ettina Confalonieri, member of our Coordination Committee and founding member of the Agency, as well as an authoritative professor at the University of Pavia, has passed away. Unfortunately, other founding members of the Agency have passed away: Gabriella Gilberti and Alberto Savojni.

2019 – The relaunch and development of the Ayamé Hospital (HGA) was at the center of the Agency's commitment. After repeated and close meetings in Abidjan and Pavia with the Ministry of Health of the Ivory Coast (MSHP), the public nature of the hospital was defined, with a highly participatory organization, the active involvement of the local community and the Agency that will collaborate with qualified healthcare projects and investments. A specific agreement between the Ministry and the Agency will implement the agreement. The Agency will also be able to concretely intervene thanks to the important donation obtained from the "Societas societatum" trust (established in 2006 by Livio Garzanti). On May 31st in a press conference at the University of Pavia, in the presence of the Ambassador of the Ivory Coast Prof. Janine Tagliante Saracino and the General Director of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Edi Ossohou, the prof. Mario Cera, executor of the trust, illustrated the purposes of the donation. The Agency's other cooperation initiatives also progressed smoothly. Child protection in the Ayamé area, which sees the Pouponnière at the forefront, has been enriched by the continuation of the “Bien rentré au foyer” project (co-financed by the Waldensian Table with the proceeds of the 8 per thousand) to ensure that returned children schooling and adequate food assistance in their family environment. The environmental remediation program, coordinated by Paolo Ratto, was aimed above all at implementing the plan for the separate collection of waste and its recycling in agreement with the Municipality of Ayamé. Particular attention was paid to the precarious hydrogeological situation of the territory caused by the difficult regulation of the Ano Assué stream which crosses various neighborhoods of Ayamé and the hospital itself. The Agency entrusted an Italian engineer, competent in the hydrogeological field, with an in-depth study for the prevention of the risks looming over the local community, unfortunately confirmed by the disastrous flood of 15 October. The Agency has financed the consolidation of the banks near the hospital, waiting for the Ivorian state to proceed with a long-lasting and effective arrangement of the entire watercourse. Support for the village of Bilekrò took the form of the complete renovation of the now dilapidated primary school, thanks to a fundraiser promoted on Facebook. The Agency's programs in the various sectors, health, environmental and engineering, were entrusted to young volunteers (Marco Morandotti, Anna Fornasari, Giovanni Sacchi, Paolo Ratto), coordinated by Rino Rocchelli, who during the year took turns in important missions in Ayamé.

The extraordinary meeting of the Agency took place on 3 July, called to adapt its statute to the new regulations of the Third Sector.

2020 – Despite the devastating Covid pandemic, the Agency has not interrupted its cooperation initiatives in the Ayamé territory. In the healthcare field, the "Framework Collaboration Agreement" with the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene (MSHP) has become operational for the relaunch of the Ayamé Hospital (HGA). Thanks to the "Garzanti Fund", significant investments have been made for the modernization of various structures and departments such as radiology, completely renovated and equipped with a mammogram machine and a new ultrasound machine. At the end of January the ophthalmologists from the non-profit organization of Tarquinia «World Medical Aid» reached the HGA where they operated on many patients to remove cataracts. Assistance to Covid patients was ensured by the Pasteur Institute which took over the management of the medical analysis laboratories of the HGA. Attention to the health needs of the Brousse villages has not ceased: the Minerva Rotary of Pavia, with the contribution of the Rotary Foundation, has decided to renovate the dispensary and the reception center for women giving birth in Baffia and to purchase the essential equipment healthcare. As regards child protection, support for Ayamé's Pouponnière was further increased and the «Bien rentré au foyer» project continued regularly thanks to the co-financing of the Waldensian Table, fueled by the proceeds of the 8 per thousand. The environmental restoration of Ayamé continues with the increasingly motivated involvement of the municipal administration.

2021 – Despite the continuation of the Covid-19 pandemic which prevents missions in Côte d'Ivoire, the Agency, remotely, has not ceased to ensure its support to the most strategic sectors of cooperation with Ayamé. The redevelopment program of the Ayamé Hospital (HGA), financed by the "Garzanti Fund", was completed within the established deadlines. In particular, the neonatal, pediatric and pharmacy departments were renovated and equipment was sent to deal with typical pathologies of old age (cataracts and hearing loss). In the rural village of Baffia, thanks to the initiative of the Rotary Minerva of Pavia and the financing of the Rotary Foundation, the medical dispensary and the shelter for women giving birth have been completely rehabilitated and equipped. La Pouponnière was awarded the "2021 national award of excellence" awarded by the President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire to the best child protection institution. The “Bien rentrée au Foyer” program continued for the active reintegration of children discharged from the Pouponnière into their original family communities. A virtuous synergy between AgriMagni and the "Abele group" of Grand Bassam has allowed the production of "Choco plus": the first chocolate entirely made in Ivory Coast. The annual meeting of members, on 14 December, renewed the corporate offices for the three-year period 2022-2024. Marco Morandotti is the new president of the Agency and succeeds Ernesto Bettinelli who led it uninterruptedly for 31 years.

Franco Magni, founder of the similar Foundation, which since 2006 has promoted agricultural development in the Ayamé area and supports the Agency in its health, environmental and child protection cooperation projects, has passed away at the age of 93.

2022 - New missions of pediatricians and psychotherapists accompany the regular ophthalmology missions, confirming the Agency's interest in supporting the hospital and the local population.