Building on this vision, the “Ragazzi in Gamb(i)a” program was launched a few years ago, a project dedicated to Maria Teresa Illiano.

Over the years, Fo.Co. has welcomed and socially and professionally integrated, within the Iblean territory, young migrants and refugees from many countries around the world. Many of these young people come from Senegal and The Gambia, West African countries facing severe poverty. Many of them were illiterate or had been forced to drop out of school, despite their merit, because they lacked the means to continue their studies, ultimately having to emigrate in search of life and work opportunities.

We believe that people who have successfully integrated into our territories as workers are contributing both to the development and well-being of the Iblean lands and to the development of their countries of origin, supporting their families in Senegal and The Gambia through the remittances generated by their work.

We also believe that this positive effect can be strengthened by building growth opportunities for both territories, aiming also to reduce the need for young people from the Senegambia region to emigrate.

Our starting point

We believe the starting point of this co-development path lies in supporting the academic success of talented students who lack financial means, and in fighting early school dropout. In particular, we have focused on young people from The Gambia who are successfully completing their final years of high school and university, but who risk having to abandon their studies for economic reasons, facing the risk of forced emigration.

Scholarships and results

Using our own resources, we have granted several scholarships over the years to deserving young men and women attending high school, who face financial hardship and are at risk of early school dropout, achieving genuinely rewarding results. Many of them have successfully completed their studies and are now fully part of the productive and social fabric of their own country.

Should they ever decide, for whatever reason, to migrate, they will first and foremost have the freedom to choose whether to do so — rather than being forced to — and, above all, they will be able to do so entirely legally.

A step forward: December 2023

In December 2023, another major step was taken toward strengthening Fo.Co.’s presence in the Senegambia region: a delegation mission aimed at directly experiencing the local territories and meeting the people who live and work there, at every level. We met with ordinary citizens, but above all with associations, schools, universities, and public institutions, with whom cooperation agreements were signed to foster the mutual economic and social growth of our countries.

At the same time, Fo.Co. was officially accredited as a non-profit organization, becoming one of the entities recognized by the Republic of The Gambia.