World Day of the Sick 2019

Our Third World
Families and Invisible Angels in Need of Help.

Today, on the occasion of the World Day of the Sick, we want to talk to you about a serious social issue identified by Ce.R.S. Onlus, Our Third World.

Rome, February 11, 2019 – The World Day of the Sick was established in 1993 by Pope John Paul II to bring attention to all those suffering due to illness. For this reason, today, we could not fail to focus on all those children with chronic illness and their families whom we are unable to reach and support, as our financial resources are unfortunately limited and prevent us from extending our reach.
Message from Pope Francis for the XXVII World Day of the Sick 2019

The Centro Ricerche Studi Onlus, as you may know, was born from the firm desire to address the enormous challenges related to the deficiencies of the national socio-health system on the delicate topic of Home Care for children with severe disabilities.

Our focus, through the Solidarity Project Adopt an Angel, has always been directed towards Children with chronic illness, so-called high-intensity care, with the aim of providing them with qualified and free home care, as the complex and composite problems they face can only be managed through highly specialized care skills.

But the lack of adequate institutional and territorial services, which too often do not meet the actual needs of patients and families, forces these children to endure long hospital stays with their parents, while at home the major care burden falls on the family. Conditions that amplify distress and difficulties, contributing in many cases to the disintegration of family structures, leading mothers and fathers to lose even the necessary peace during the most critical periods of their children’s illness.

The Ce.R.S. Onlus has been working for many years to provide substantial and decisive support in these cases of particular social relevance and, at the same time, to drastically limit the “phenomenon” of home care deficiencies. Deficiencies that unfortunately continue to seriously undermine the dignity and quality of life of many families, producing what we identify as Our Third World, which is often just steps away from our welcoming homes and which we often fail to even notice despite being spread across the entire national territory.

Yes, Our Third World… it might seem like a somewhat excessive and impactful definition, but upon closer inspection, it is not so much.

In Italy, indeed, many families live with children who are severely ill and require high-intensity care, who are forced to face enormous difficulties every day without being able to rely on any practical or moral support, which translates into a sort of state of abandonment that further aggravates the already precarious living conditions of the entire family unit.

These are the Realities that constitute our Third World and it is precisely for Them that we act with the utmost dedication, as these are families that too often are not listened to and supported enough by the institutions.

A lack of attention that in most cases “traps” Children and parents in an unjust dimension of anonymity and indifference, even towards society itself, which is not informed about it, consequently forcing families to endure even the shame of solitude in facing problems that are often unimaginable.

Today, we assist many families who, at the beginning of our journey together, were dangerously exposed to a high risk of social and health marginalization, but the number of cases in Italy continues to grow, and to reach all the Families and Angels in difficulty, we necessarily need Your support.

Only then can we defeat, together, the indifference that generates Our Third World.

Help us to Help.