The “Dream” project stems from the collaboration of several religious and non-religious organizations. In your opinion what is the key to make all of this possible and functioning?
The Dream program experience started withing the Comunità di Sant’Egidio, that is to say, from the experience of having all friends and no enemies.
For us, collaborating with believers of other religions is enriching. We have concrete experience of working with other confessions, especially on major issues such as peace and safety for people in Africa.
The invaluable work carried out this year with you of Soka Gakkai is further proof of that.
Another concrete example is the fact that the clinical manager in charge of the whole Dream program in Mozambique is a Muslim female doctor. Collaboration in Beira is evidence of the fact that people with a deep faith such as Soka Gakkai’s Buddhists and us, Sant’Egidio’s Christians, have understood that together we can manifest the power of good, which can change the world.
The title “Dream” refers precisely to the great dream of changing the world.
We have the revolutionary wish to make it better, but this dream can only come true if we stay together, if we are united.
You have built extraordinary things, a manifestation of the fight between resignation and hope in our lives. What are the main obstacles you have encountered in all these years?
When we began we were considered fools. Around the year 2000, thanks to the Comunità di Sant’Egidio in Africa we understood there was a big problem with Aids that was decimating African societies. As believers, we felt we couldn’t be stopped by this problem or give up.
The Dream project is an on-going fight against resignation, because in the face of evil it’s not true that nothing can be done. Together, we can do a lot. So we started right away by considering the possibility of bringing to Africa solutions already adopted in the West.
We started with an ethical and justice problem: why do people in Africa have to die of a curable disease?
At the beginning, when we presented this project to large international agencies, we received a list of “no”s: «There are no doctors, there are no funds, there are no medicines, there are no laboratories…»
So we said: «Let us begin working to find positive answers, to overcome this sense of resignation.»
In 2002 we started distributing medicines and treating people.
Right from the beginning the results reached by the Dream program were overwhelming, people were enthusiastic!
We witnessed “resurrection” stories. Triple therapy had already been available in Europe since 1995 and we knew it.
What was new was this concrete fight against resignation, was saying: «Ok, if in Africa it isn’t possible, if in Africa there are no means, no labs, no personnel, then let’s work together, let’s unite!»
We have proven that anything is possible for those who have faith.
Let’s talk about the Center that is fully financed with 8×1000 funds of the Istituto Buddista Italiano Soka Gakkai. What contribution has the Istituto given in terms of people and results?
The Soka Gakkai has allowed us to keep this very important program going.
In the whole city of Beira we take care of more than 11,000 people with HIV. It is a great effort and thanks to the Soka Gakkai’s crucial contribution supporting the program in Beira, we have been able to save a lot of people, especially HIV-positive pregnant women who can now avoid transmitting the disease to their children.
In Beira there are two large centers. One is a Multi-purpose Center with both a molecular biology lab and a clinical center where we provide free traditional HIV treatment as well as treatment and prevention for cervical cancer, which is unfortunately very common in HIV-positive women.
In Africa there are no national screening programs and this service drastically reduces the possibility of dying of this tumor, which is the leading cause of cancer-related death in women in Africa.
Next to the Multi-purpose Center there is a beautiful Nutrition Center, where every day more than 700 children have their meals.
After the cyclone that destroyed Beira in 2019, the two centers became a stronghold offering shelter to so many people and we started feeding elderly people, children and families.
The center is a reference point for the whole region, because it also organized many programs to support the refugee camps set up after the cyclone.
The Soka Gakkai has deeply understood that it is crucial to work in such a poor region which was also struck by the cyclone. Beira is a beautiful coastal city; unfortunately, it also has the highest HIV rate in the whole country.
Thanks to your contribution and the long-standing presence of the Dream program, we have been able to improve conditions in the city and help the most fragile people.
In Africa women are the pillars of society, even though they are often considered the least important people.
Intervening on women to prevent the spread of infections raises hope that we can have a new generation of healthy children as well as a renewed and improved society.
President Ikeda states that Africa is the continent of the 21st century, a continent that has to manifest its potential and change the course of history starting with its own transformation. How has the African context changed, particularly as regards the nature of diseases? What impact has the Dream project had as an information and prevention campaign?
There is often a somewhat stereotypical idea of Africa as a slow-moving continent where there is no change. On the contrary, Africa is changing very fast.
Intervening in Africa means investing in the future to create better possibilities in terms of quality of life and democratization of societies. Of course, Africa as a continent should be supported and helped. But the investments we have made have never been lost.
At times donations and projects in Africa are seen as black holes where money is poured in and then lost.
Quite the opposite, this year we are celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the project and we are savoring the fruit of the work done. As with any investment, these actions, too, need patience. So today we have a structure, but our true “return” on investment is represented by our African friends who work with us: they are the true power, the true managers of the Dream program. They are people who love staying in their country and work to improve it.
You have dedicated your life to coordinating projects like this one. Is there a particularly meaningful experience, one that is dear to your heart?
This program has fulfilled my youthful dreams: being a doctor, I liked making myself useful to others.
One of my dearest memories is communicating to women that they had finished their prevention treatments, that they had given birth to HIV-negative children. You can imagine how moving it is to see these women receive such life-changing news. An immense joy.
Having new generations of boys and girls who were born healthy is a great goal achieved.
The project results are huge also in terms of numbers, and that has given us courage.
We send the message to the world that together we can contribute to improving other people’s lives.
Never leave space to resignation. Never give up in the face of death!
We have to share this message of hope with young people, because nothing is impossible.
As Andrea Riccardi, founder of Sant’Egidio, says: «Everything can change.»