In the third and last volume of the comic saga ‘The adventures of the SMAgliante Ada’ there is also the raccount ‘Il flamingo Gambaletto’ written by Camilla Gozzini, sixth-grade pupil of the Enrico Fermi comprehensive school in Romano di Lombardia (Bergamo), led by teacher Silvia Poidomani and winner of the second edition of the ComicContest ‘Let’s be unbolted: a story of ordinary friendship’. The award ceremony took place in Milan at the Catella Foundation, during the presentation of the publication that completes the trilogy of didactic-educational comics jointly promoted by the SMA families association (spial muscular atrophy) and by the Nemo clinical centers, with the non-conditioned educational contribution. of Roche Italia and the collaboration, in the third volume, of NemoLab. The promoters of the project communicate this in a joint note.
Hero of the winning story is a pink flamingo who suffers the oppression of a group of bullies because of his physical characteristics, but who together with Ada and her friends manages to make her talents known. “The Gambaletto flamingo struck us for its intensity and for its ability to tackle the issue of bullying in a creative and profound way – say Simona Spinoglio, psychologist and educator, and Paola Tomasi, responsible for the collection and development of projects of the Nemo Centers, both part of the team of experts of the project and among the jurors of the ComicContest – In the story, in fact, the themes that emerged together with the children were addressed in the educational workshops, that is the awareness of diversity as a resource and the ability to enhance our talents to help us to enter into relationship with others “.
Il ComicContest ‘Let’s get unbolted: a story of ordinary friendship’launched in February 2022, is an educational competition that challenged fourth and fifth grade children and sixth grade children to complete with dialogues and drawings the tables of an unpublished story with the aim of telling an adventure of friendship of Ada and his friends, capable of overcoming bullying situations with creativity and intelligence, with the introduction of a new character who becomes part of the protagonists of the adventures of volume 3. The competition over 500 children attended and kids from schools all over Italy, submitting more than 100 stories. Second place was awarded to a group of boys from Papa Giovanni XXIII primary school, class 3CD ‘G. D’Annunzio ‘di Trani (Bat), led by the teacher Barbara Carpentieri; tied for third place was a group of students from the 4D class of the primary school Polo 1 plexus Don Milani of Nardò (Lecce), with the teacher Giuliana Lega, and the 4A class of the primary school IC Porto Viro A. Moro of Rovigo , led by teacher Monica Chiara Bisco.
Throughout the school year – continues the note – ‘La SMAgliante Ada’ will continue to be the subject of an educational campaign, aimed at primary and secondary schools, which will propose the adoption of the comic trilogy as a teaching tool to sensitize children, families and teachers to the inclusion of people with neuromuscular diseases such as Sma. The schools participating in the initiative will have a kit available for each student, consisting of the volumes and materials for the didactic laboratory. All schools wishing to join the project will be able to download the kit from today on lasmaglianteada.it. Furthermore, the first 100 who request volume 3 of ‘The adventures of the SMAgliante Ada’ through the dedicated site will be able to receive the paper version free of charge at home. For more information on how to adopt the project in schools, write to [email protected].
The comics trilogy is a virtuous path of knowledge of spinal muscular atrophy and what it means to live with this rare genetic disease, which in Italy affects one in 6 thousand children and leads to the progressive loss of motor skills. From the didactic tables of volume 1 on the causes and mechanisms of development of the disease, the second volume continues with an in-depth study of the clinical aspects and the needs of care to deepen, to retrace in this last chapter of the saga the evolution that has had scientific research over the years and its key role in introducing new therapeutic possibilities for Sma.
There are over 7,000 copies of volume 1, translated into 11 languages - English, French, German, Spanish, Polish, Macedonian, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Serbian and Hungarian – and 8,000 copies of volume 2 distributed free of charge, with more than 200 children who participated in the educational workshops offered to elementary schools in Italy. These are the numbers of the project today, in addition to three important awards dedicated to the first volume: the Omar Award for communication on rare diseases and tumors; the Life Science Excellence Awards as the best communication project of the year; the Ceo for Life Awards, an award awarded for establishing new standards of excellence aimed at a better and more sustainable future. Achievements also achieved thanks to the creativity and skilful traits of Danilo Deninotti, Giuliano Cangiano, Roberto Gagnor, Giorgio Salati, Gianfranco Florio, Mattia Surroz, Luca Usai and Emanuele Virzì. An exceptional team specializing in children’s stories, made up of cartoonists, screenwriters and designers who have put themselves to the test by comparing themselves with those who live in SMA and with experts, grasping the essence and values of the project.