The Association “Il Padre Pellegrino” was founded in 1998 with the sole aim of supporting the “San Michele Arcangelo” mission, founded by lay missionary Marco Roberto Bertoli.

The activities of this mission, located in the southeastern region of Brazil, aim to welcome and support, through specific educational interventions, the “meniños de rua”, the street children, who would otherwise be abandoned to their fate. In Brazil, living more than 20 years for a street child is a difficult milestone to reach.

To this end, our association supports all activities aimed at integrating children and adolescents into the mission, such as: reception, healthcare, school and vocational education, all carried out in a family atmosphere respectful of the community.

It also supports micro-projects such as livestock farming and vocational schools in various sectors, with the aim of providing professional qualifications to the children welcomed and at the same time achieving progressive economic autonomy.

Our conviction is that the well-structured help offered to these young lives is the necessary seed to restore their dignity and open the way to that freedom which is individual and social growth. At the same time, it allows us to reflect on these different realities and contribute, through a renewed sense of giving, to the development of a global community. The Association is non-profit making and pursues exclusively purposes of social solidarity, assistance and charity. It obtained Onlus recognition in 2008 and the Lombardy Region Peace Prize in 2009.