Nicolò Govoni, Giovanni Volpe, and two students from Still I Rise International School in Nairobi, Kenya, were received by the Captains Regent of the Republic of San Marino on Monday, Oct. 2. This was yet another demonstration of the strong bond that unites San Marino and the organization. Earlier this year, Councilors Sara Conti and Giuseppe Maria Morganti nominated Still I Rise for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize. In 2020, Sara Conti herself had nominated Nicolò Govoni, president and CEO of the organization, for the same award “for his commitment to the education and protection of refugee children.” Important projects were then launched over the last years, culminating in the unanimous approval of the law for the fostering of unaccompanied foreign minors to families and single people residing in San Marino.
“The work of Still I Rise shines for its ability to champion a project of peace and for making its voice heard loudly against the atrocities and abuses of which so many children are innocent victims,” the Regency of the Republic of San Marino highlighted. “This meeting tells an exemplary story; the story of three young people including President Govoni — who began with a journey, as a volunteer, to an orphanage in a small village in India. Then came other journeys to the most forgotten places on Earth, prevailed by inhumane conditions before which one cannot remain indifferent.”
The hearing was also attended by Doris and Mohamed, a Kenyan child and an Ethiopian refugee, who attend the International School in Nairobi. “Rather than learning, they’re teaching,” said Nicolò Govoni on their participation in the meeting. “Their story is about how difficult it is to live without a father, without documents, without money to buy a pen or food. Their story is about the future and dreams, and about a school that not only does not cover you with shame for not having enough money, but values you, treating you as if you were the most important person in the world.”
During the hearing, the Captains Regent recalled the special relationship between the organization and San Marino: “The law [that] allows citizens, or residents of San Marino, to apply for temporary foster care for one or more unaccompanied foreign minors was inspired by the non-profit organization and its president.”
