We got it! Next stop: Angola

Yes, it’s official: we are now fully able, also from a bureaucratic point of view, to go to Angola and witness the projects run by UNICEF and funded by the IKEA Foundation through our Good Cause campaigns.

In fact, after a quite long process (we had to submit 10 different documents and go personally to Rome to get our fingerprints recorded, so you can imagine our worries), we finally got our visas!

But we didn’t get only our visas: we also got many expectations!

Our trip to Rome gave us the chance to visit the UNICEF Italian NatCom (National Committee), where we met Andrea, Patrizia and Alberto—part of UNICEF staff—who told us about their experiences and backgrounds, giving us useful tips on how to get the most out of our IWitness journey.

We were also shown a little exhibition of some of the items that are used for UNICEF programmes (from the health-related to the education ones). In particular, we found the “School-in-a-box” kit very interesting. It’s a box, used in back-to-school emergency operations, that contains materials (pencils, block-notes, etc.) for a teacher and a group of students in order to be able to establish classrooms everywhere.

We also went through the programme for the trip. It contains many visits to local schools, where we will be able to meet children, parents, teachers and the staff of local partner organisations working on the field.

We are really looking forward to understanding how campaigns like Soft Toys for Education help in creating opportunities for children living in poverty and how education is linked to all the other important themes, since it develops critical and informed minds towards a better future.

Follow our IWitness journey to Angola here and on Yammer. We will post a blog every day to share this incredible experience with all of you!