Now THAT’S Italian! SCP Rotary Club hosts Group Study Exchange from ‘the old country’

Pinuccia Paraboni, leader, and Marco Trozzi enjoy crawfish at Judge Edward Dufresne’s camp.

The first woman to be a Group Study Exchange leader from Italy arrived in St. Charles Parish earlier this month with four others to be hosted by local Rotarians. Four “Fs” are most important to Italians, said Pinuccia Paraboni. First is family and children tend to stay home longer because moms want them to and also it is very expensive to be able to support oneself in today’s world.

The second F stands for food and you can eat well everywhere in Italy.

Fashion is the third F.

“We have very good designers in Italy … Gucci, Prada, etc., and our architecture shows that we are a creative people,” explained Paraboni.

Football – the kind that Americans call “soccer” – is the fourth F. And last year Italy won the world championship.

“If we were to have a fifth F…Ferrari would be it,” the dynamic leader said. “Our cars are famous for their combination of design and technology.”

After touching on the main features of Italy, Paraboni went on to talk about the different areas of the country… with Milan being the business center. She said everything is related to business commerce there, including magazines and newspapers.

She said Bergamo is the “upper town” and visiting it is like walking through the Middle Ages: Como … the lake everyone loves; Lecco … the eastern branch, and Sondrio the mountains and Varese the hills.

The literacy project of Rotarians in Italy was explained as a very important part of their culture so that people can find good jobs to support themselves and their families.

Rotarians in Italy bought a mobile clinic for Kenya; a place with no sanitary facilities.

They also bought a hospital on wheels for the impoverished.

The mobile clinic has first aid, hygienic services, a laboratory and 2 beds for the ill. The hospital has 3-4 doctors, 4-5 nurses, and radiology, ecography, dentistry, and eye clinic services. Medical visits are up to 400 per day, explained Paraboni.

The Rotary GSE leader Pinuccia Paraboni who is vice president of an advertising agency and a communication consultant, introduced her team players: Francesca Trucco who is an educational courses organizer, Sylvia Pasquinelli who is a lawyer, Maria Vitoria Ceresoli who is an advertising producer and hopes someday to make her own movie, and Marco Trozzi, who is with the National Police. Trozzi says President Bush has a copy of their special search and rescue helicopter.

The Italian Group Study Exchange professionals were treated to a crawfish boil at Judge Edward Dufresne’s camp upon arriving in Luling.

Questions? Comments? Write editor@heraldguide.com

 

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