Cittá dei Ragazzi

Instead of having a discussion in class today, we took a field trip about a half an hour outside of the city. We took the public buses, which led us to Cittá dei Regazzi, or Boys' Town. Boys' Town of Italy is a place which houses close to 60 orphaned boys from countries all over the world. It was founded in 1945 by Monsignor John Patrick Carroll-Abbing, an Irish priest in the Vatican Diplomatic Services. It became incorporated in 1951 and is recognized as an American Charity with service abroad.

It was a really interesting place to go; it's sort of like a city within a city, but the boys run where they live. The orphans are responsible for certain chores, such as cleaning their rooms and keeping the main road clean, and also for governing themselves, running the kitchens and shops and keeping themselves organized. The boys go to school and also learn to work with computeres, ceramics, glass, etc.

While we we getting a tour, we met with the mayor of Boys' Town, a 17-year-old from Afghanistan who had been living in the community for two years. He was elected by his peers for a term of two months. Once elected, the mayor gets to choose his cabinet as well. The mayor explained in Italian some of how thier government worked and we got a pretty good translation and picture from our tourguide.

Even though it was extremely hot walking from building to building, I really enjoyed going to see Boys' Town. I think it's a great place for kids to come and learn responsibility and still be able to have fun. It gives them a chance to interact with other young men from similar backgrounds and gives them a chance at a better life than what they most likely would have had.

1. Boys' Towns of Italy, Inc. 14 June 2009 .