Annual Activities Report 2023

Acrivity Report 2023

Letter from the president

Dear Friends,

In 2023, the Foundation successfully sustained its ongoing scholarship programs in Morocco, Burkina Faso, and Italy, while officially closing the project in Thailand, with our last sponsored students completing their higher education.  We also completed and supported infrastructure school projects in Burkina Faso and Cambodia.  Our commitment to our core principles remain unchanged since our founding: our mission is to serve the most vulnerable children and their families in the communities we work in, with a focus on education.  We work with minimal overhead costs, sustained by the Foundation capital, and all donations from independent donors go directly to projects on location.  We express our heartfelt gratitude to all our volunteer Board Members, project volunteers, and friends who year after year support our work, in the shared goal of honoring the inalienable rights of children to education, protection, and realization of their full potential.
Thank you for your unwavering trust and support!

Sincerely,

Pasquale Pistorio
President

 

 

 

About Us

The Pistorio Foundation is a non-profit organisation based in Vimercate, Italy, founded in December 2005 by Pasquale Pistorio, former CEO and President (1980-2005) and Honorary President of STMicroelectronics.  Pasquale Pistorio was born in Agira, Italy, on January 6, 1936.  After his studies in Engineering at the Politecnico of Turin, Pasquale embarked in a successful career in the Semiconductor Industry, starting as a salesman, and becoming Corporate VP of Motorola. In 1980 he joined SGS as CEO and President, orchestrated the turn around of a near bankrupt Italian semiconductor company, and then led the merger with Thomson Semiconductors in 1987, bringing the company STMicroelectronics in the top five world wide by 2005 when he retired, and having multiplied the revenues of the company by a factor of nearly 100 (from 100 million of SGS in 1980 to nearly 9 billion of STMicroelctronics).  

Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility was always at the top of the company agenda while Pasquale was serving as CEO and President of ST: in 2001 he founded STMicroelectronics Foundation to help bridge the Digital Divide, and he was a leading pioneer and champion in sustainability, launching an environmental decalogue as early as in 1993 within the company.  Upon his retirement in 2005, Pasquale founded the Pistorio Foundation to share part of this retirement package to contribute to making the world a better place starting with children.  His letter from the Founder is a testimony of his commitment and philosophy: https://www.pistoriofoundation.org/from-the-founder/.  As he writes in his letter, “in the present world scenario, children deserve the maximum attention: on one side to protect them as they are the most vulnerable human beings; on the other to educate them because they will be the future citizens of the planet and ultimately, the continuous cultural evolution of humanity to build a better world depends on them.”  His philanthropic enterprise earned him the Ellis Island Medal of Honor Award in 2012 and was recognised as Righteous amongst the Garden of the Righteous in the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, Italy in 2017.

For the past 15 years, the Foundation has been committed to supporting the education of thousands of children in need and contrasting school drop out.  We have built and funded dozens of schools, learning centres, libraries, kindergartens, and financed and provided thousands of long term scholarships and educational support for marginalised and poverty stricken communities in Thailand, Cambodia, Burkina Faso, Morocco, and Italy.

As per our motto, “On the way to school, on the way to life”, our conviction is that education is not only a right, but it is key in empowering the lives of children in need and breaking their families’ intergenerational cycle of poverty and lifting entire communities out of precariousness.

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to improve the living conditions of children in need, with a focus on education, providing long-term scholarships and building and improving school infrastructures.  Our projects are tailored to the needs of the children and families we serve, with a bottom-up approach, sensitive to the specificities of the local culture and to the socio-economic contexts.  Our ultimate goal is to allow the least privileged children to access quality education and build a future of their choice, giving them back their rights to an education, health, nutrition, and to the optimal development of their talents to pursue their dreams.

OUR REACH

• 18 YEARS
• 6 COUNTRIES
• Over 20,100 SCHOOL YEARS SPONSORED
• 696 STUDENTS HAVE COMPLETED PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL OR UNIVERSITY
• 53 SCHOOL INFRASTRUCTURE & LIBRARY PROJECTS COMPLETED

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT

As all of our overhead and administrative costs are covered by the Foundation capital, we are able to devolve 100% of all donations directly to projects on location.  The Foundation is a non-profit organization without any political nor religious affiliation, and receives donations exclusively from independent donors.

OUR APPROACH

We work with rigorously selected local grassroots NGOs, implementing holistic scholarship programs that allow children in need to access quality education as well as basic health care, sanitation, and nutrition in school, aware that to thrive academically, children must be in good health.  On our scholarships, children receive free nutritious meals in school as well as free medical check-ups, both helping to motivate attendance.  Children also receive all the necessary school supplies, books and uniforms to succeed, as most families are unable to afford these, creating an economic barrier to education.  Throughout the year, we train teachers and students in basic sanitation skills (washing hands, brushing teeth, etc).

Where necessary we also build and improve school infrastructure, making sure that each school we work with is equipped with a kitchen and canteen as well as sanitation facilities.  Our scholarship support is long-term, spanning from kindergarten to professional school or university depending on the student’s inclination and choice.  The goal is for our students to become individuals that are self-sufficient and have the skills and education to compete in the workplace and find secure and fair jobs.  Most of the thousands of students that have completed Professional School in our programs are now working and supporting themselves and their families, effectively breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty.

TOTAL PROJECTS INVESTMENTS IN 2023: 57,200 Euros

 

INTERVENTIONS AREAS

MOROCCO

Since 2010, the Foundation works in partnership with the Azrou Center for Community Development, in Azrou, in the province of Ifrane.  The Foundation supports the government roll-out of the Non Formal Education Program for children from the ages of 8 to 18, who have dropped out of school or have never attended school.

The Program consists in a three-year academic curriculum enriched by a plethora of extra-curricular activities such as fields trips, sports competitions, theater, and cultural events. In addition, the Program provides workshops to initiate students in different professions, with 3 main streams: sewing, embroidery, and crochet; pastry making; and male hairdressing. The Program is designed to allow students to catch up on the academic learning they missed out on, and at the same time explore different professions that may appeal to them.  Upon completing the curriculum and obtaining a primary school certificate, students are readmitted to formal education in public secondary schools to continue their studies. Older students can choose to enroll directly in professional public schools after completing our Program and we help students navigate available options and throughout the admission process.  We have also extended financial support to professional school students who have graduated from our program to make sure they are able to complete their studies.

The Program hosts between 40 to 46 students every year and is entirely run in an ad hoc school building financed by the Foundation in 2011, complete with classrooms, workshop rooms, canteen, kitchen, computer room and sanitation facilities. Students enjoy tailored attention from educators owing to a low 11:1 student teacher ratio.

The Non-Formal Education Program at Azrou has received extensive praise and recognition by public authorities over the years, and has been singled out as one of the most successful rollout projects of the program in the country, taken as model by other organisations.  The program boasts year after year consistently amongst the highest rankings in the rates of successful completion of the program by students and rate of enrollment of pupils in the public school.

Each school year, our beneficiaries receive school supplies and on campus students enjoy a nutritious meal with menus supervised by a nutritionist.   In the summers, students attend our summer camp to continue socializing and engaging in educational and sports activities that contribute to their development and psychological and emotional growth. During the year, students also attend workshops on safety and self-defence, health and hygiene, life skills, and sustainability.  Throughout the year, students have access to an onsite counselor if they wish to reach out to a professional psychologist.  Children are encouraged to participate in green projects ranging from gardening and reforesting to recycling.  During the year, the Azrou center distributes food supplies, blankets, and clothes to families of beneficiaries.

In the last academic year, 46 students attended the Program of which 42 successfully completed their year (with a student retention rate within the program of 91%) and 15 out of 16 from Year 3 passed the final exam and obtained their Primary Certificate.  Educators observed that for almost all students there was an improvement not only in their academic results but also in their behavior, motivation, learning aptitudes, reading and math skills, interpersonal relations, and self-confidence. The positive outcomes of students has had positive ripple effects on their families and communities, improving the children’s relationships with their parents, as the parents no longer complain or are worried about their children’s future, and favorably influencing their immediate neighbors and community on the importance of education.

Throughout the year, the Center organizes communication sessions with parents and guardians of students to illustrate the benefits of the NFE program and answer questions of families.  The Azrou center maintains close contacts with parents whilst monitoring children’s progress and development during the academic year.

We would like to thank the continuous volunteer work of Mohamed Lasry, our longtime Country Manager who follows the project on location.  This year, Mohamed, through his company Clean Energy, has generously donated solar panels to our school, and also created a full Learning Program for the Installation and Maintenance of Solar Panels for Year 3 students of our School. We are deeply grateful for his kind and valuable contributions as well as for the professionalism and dedication of the entire school staff and local managers of the project!

 

IMPACT SINCE 2010

• 530 beneficiaries on scholarship;
• over 576 school-years sponsored
• 1 school building and 1 computer room built
• 495 students have completed the NFE program
• 140 students have completed Professional School
• 236 students have been reinserted in the public school system or professional school

 

CAMBODIA

The Pistorio Foundation has been working with the local partner Pour Un Sourire d’Enfant in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, supporting scholarships, library and school infrastructure projects, and digital learning projects since 2006.  In 2023 the Foundation participated in the co-financing of a project for the creation of an “after school” center providing supplementary classes to primary school age children in the remote and marginalized village of Kien Svay outside of Phnom Pehn.  The project involved the complete renovation of a nursery school and playground and the construction of two classrooms for primary school supplementary classes as well as a canteen and kitchen.  The building renovation included also refurbishing of the roof and walls to improve air ventilation and reduce indoor temperatures, elevation of the floors to prevent damages during floods in the rainy season, and installation of a clean water system to provide drinking water to students in the center.

The project was completed in October 2023 and the Center opened its doors the same month.  Each new classroom for supplementary classes holds 25 children.

Such after school Centers are key for children in remote villages as schools in Cambodia are open only in the morning.  Attending these centers keeps children in a safe and sheltered environment where they can continue to socialize and learn as educators provide tutoring on their school work.  Specifically, each student receives every week 15 hours of additional classes: 6 hours of Khmer, 6 hours of mathematics, and 3 hours of independent study.  Students that take part in the program are selected based on academic level, age, family situation, and living conditions. They are children from extremely poor family backgrounds at risk of dropping out of school due to their low academic results. They will participate in PSE’s supplementary classes every afternoon from Monday to Friday, under the guidance of three teachers, and students will also receive a lunch meal at the center. Such supplementary education allows underprivileged children who otherwise could not afford extra tutoring to maintain good results in school.  Many children in Cambodia attend after school tutoring due to the low level of the public education system, which children from poor family backgrounds cannot afford.  The free supplementary education enables our beneficiaries to stay at par with their peers, while at the same time subtracts them from the dangers of the streets.  Moreover, the after school centers provide a favorable and conducive environment for studying which is rarely the case in their own homes where the spaces are limited and children are often expected to attend to household chores and parents lack the tools and education to motivate and monitor their children’s efforts in school.  These centers have shown to improve children’s academic results while allowing them also to participate in physical education activities as well through team sports.  By attending these centers, students strengthen their learning capabilities and their academic, relational, and concentration skills, and they are better equipped to follow their classes in public schools. Observation by educators and tutors has proven that through these centers, students improve their level of discipline, their attitudes and predisposition towards schooling, gain new experiences (meeting new people, experiencing new games and activities) and gain more general knowledge.

 

IMPACT SINCE 2006

• over 250 scholarships
• 963 school years sponsored
• over 6100  direct beneficiaries of Library, School Building Infrastructure, and of E-learning projects
• 11 library/reading rooms, 1 classroom project, 1 supplementary school project
• 91 students have completed professional school

 

 

BURKINA FASO

Since 2006 together with CIAI and subsequently AMREF, the Foundation has funded  over 1000 school years, helping hundreds of children obtain an education, and funded the construction of primary school classrooms in different villages and a secondary school in the region of  Boulkiemdé .  Since 2019, the Foundation provides scholarship support to 20 primary school girls which covers school supplies, primary health care, one meal in school, and fees for school field trips and sports activities.

Burkina Faso continues to suffer from a severe socio-economic and political crisis, in large part due to the political instability caused by repeated jihadist attacks to many parts of the country since 2015, displacing over 2 million people, over half of which are children, and leading to the closure of thousands of schools in the northern and central part of the country. Despite this dark scenario, the Foundation has been able to continue every year the extension of aid towards children in need and funding for school infrastructure projects in the region of Boulkiemdé in south western Burkina which has not been the target of attacks.  In this scenario, nonetheless, projects have suffered from slowdowns  in furnishing of supplies. Hence the primary school expansion project in the village of Tanguen which was launched in 2022 was completed with significant delay in 2023 (pictured above), and inaugurated in February 2023.  The two new classrooms can hold 50 students each.  The school is made from resistant local earth bricks, employingt materials that generate less heat, suitable for the very hot climate of the country.

 

IMPACT SINCE 2006

• over 240 beneficiaries on scholarship
• over 1000 school years sponsored
• Infrastructure projects completed: Nibagdo Primary School expansion for 150 students; Sogpelce’ Secondary School for over 700 students; “Bridge Classroom” for out of school children; three primary school classrooms at Tanguin village

 

Italy

The Foundation has been working with Talita Kum, a non-profit organization based in Catania, since 2019. The Foundation supports every year the afterschool supplementary education of students (for a total of 16 weekly hours) from a degraded neighborhood in the outskirts of Catania.  The neighborhood is completely lacking social services and adequate sports and recreational facilities for children and youth. The project targets children at risk of dropping out from school and from extremely poor, marginalized, and broken family contexts.  Our support contributes in providing educators and animators who deliver tutoring classes, workshops, and lead recreational and sports activities during the academic year and the summer months.

Currently there are 50 students enrolled in the program between the ages of 6 and 14 who regularly attend and participate in activities at the center.  The center represents a safe and nurturing space where children can meet other children, develop new skills and reinforce their learning in school through tutoring as well as enriching educational workshops. Moreover, these children attend public schools that lack the means to cater to the needs of students with learning or attitudinal challenges.

The center offers activities for different ages from 3.30 pm (school ends at 1 pm) to 6.30 pm in the constant presence of tutors, educators, and volunteers. Students complete their homework under the supervision of tutors all the while striving to make them autonomous in the completion of their assignments to acquire the necessary competences to succeed in school.  Subsequently, children participate in games or activities which improve their inter-relational and communication skills in a fun and nurturing environment, and are also able to creatively express themselves and gain a deeper sense of self-awareness.  The workshops include arts and crafts, team sports and dance, theater, cooking, IT, robotics, storytelling, and vegetable gardening.

The center offers a secure hub for students to hone their talents, as an alternative to the streets.  Students create new friendships and grow year after year with their peers, building a culture of cooperation, respect of rules, and protection of the environment.  The students also take part in educational field trips and leisurely field trips to the beach for example, which some children rarely have a chance to see. The staff of the center works closely with social workers, school staff and families to best guide beneficiaries, creating an important network of support to best serve children, and offering counseling to them and family members.

Children are able to maintain positive scores and attendance in school thanks to the stimulation and attention received at the center.  Educators and staff have evaluated the socio-emotional progress of children over the year, and over 90% of have shown improved attitude, concentration, cooperation, self-confidence and engagement. In addition, there has been a decrease in disruptive behavior in class and during outings, as well as at home according to parents.  Students have demonstrated an increase in motivation and willingness to learn and improved communication, planning, and problem solving skills.

 

IMPACT SINCE 2019

• 300 afterschool non formal education years facilitated
• Over 220 direct beneficiaries

 

PAST PROJECTS – THAILAND
2006-2023

Our project in Thailand officially ended in May 2023 with the closure of the Pistorio Foundation in Thailand.  Our 5 remaining University Student beneficiaries (including M. Napahorn pictured above) are continuing their studies with Pistorio Foundation funding under the supervision of the local NGO, Foundation for Applied Linguistics.

We thank all the volunteers who have participated in this project for many years and we are proud of the results achieved, having provided schooling to over 3400 children, sponsoring nearly 17,000 school years, and building nearly 40 infrastructure projects in dozens of remote hill-tribe villages.

In nearly 20 years, marginalized mountain villages where we have brought school infrastructures and basic health care and sanitation, and enabled access to school to children from kindergarten to professional school, have lifted themselves out of extreme poverty, and over 465 children have obtained a professional school or university degree and are now working and helping their families and communities of origin.

The lives of thousands of children and their immediate families have been transformed through our work, and we feel blessed to have been able to improve their outcomes and thereby those of future generations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMPACT 2006-2023

• over 3400 beneficiaries on scholarship;
• over 16,900 school years sponsored
• 38 infrastructures projects completed: 3 Primary Schools, 3 Teacher Accommodations buildings, 1 Secondary School, 3 Kindergartens, 7 Dormitories, 3 Libraries, 3 Computer Rooms, 5 Preschools, 2 Playgrounds, 1 Arts & Music School Building, 3 Canteens, 3 Clean Water Systems, 1 Health Post
• over 465 students have completed professional school or university

 

EXCEPTIONAL DONATIONS

Following the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023, the Pistorio Foundation donated 5000 Euros to Doctors without Borders in Syria and 5000 Euros to the local Turkish NGO Ahbap towards the relief effort.

Another violent earthquake struck in Morocco on September 8, 2023, and once again the Foundation devolved 5000 in aid to the victims of the tragedy.

 

 

Foundation Board Members
Pasquale Pistorio	President
Giacomo del Grande
Carmelo Papa
Giovanna Bottani
Elena Pistorio
Operations
Elena Pistorio	Director
Raffaella Cartledge	Social Media Creator
Choon Ky	Administration Assistant

Pistorio Foundation
Via Bice Cremagnani 15/7
20871 Vimercate (Milano),Italy
Email: contact@pistoriofoundation.org
www.pistoriofoundation.org