Text: Pietro Stopazzola – @pietrostopazzola translated from Italian by ReYoga
Photos: Paola Viola – @paolaviolaph
My name is Pietro Stopazzola, I’m 25 years old, a graduate student in Cognitive and Psychobiological Psychology, and I’m here to tell you how I brought Yoga to a slum in Nairobi together with “Una mano per un sorriso – For Children – Smiley Hand”.
“UNA MANO PER UN SORRISO – For Children” is an Italian ODV (Volunteer Organization) operating nationally and internationally with the intent to develop humanitarian projects aimed at defending the rights of children around the world and fighting marginality.
For the past 10 years, our association has been operating on a direct line in the slum of “Korogocho”, on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. During these years it has activated health, educational, and training projects targeting children and youth living in the slums.
In 2017, the association founded “Smiley Hand Kenya”, which runs, in Kenya of course, two schools, “Smiling School” Ngomongo and “Lucky Summer”, which accommodate about 260 students aged 2 to 16, providing quality education in a protected environment and programs for health and prevention of abuse and disease.
In 2019 a second school, the “Smiling School – Lucky Summer” was built and opened, a real brick-and-mortar school. At the same time, a center for boys living in the Korogocho slum was opened, where they could participate in computer classes and development programs helping explain how to use washable sanitary napkins while ensuring support pathways for girls to protect their health.
This center was now too small to meet the demands and needs of the community, so in 2022 we decided to build a new multifunctional center: the “Smiling Center”: officially opened on August 5, 2023.
The goal outlined for the new Smiling Center is to increase activities to broaden skill levels, offer children living in nearby slums the chance to discover their talents, and give them back real opportunities to be the engine of change in their future. A rehabilitation gymnasium and a medical clinic have also been set up in the center to provide a concrete response to the health needs of the area.
It all started in 2017 when I decided to take my first trip to Africa. It was a very intense experience that profoundly changed me.
Since that year, I have promised myself to devote part of my time to helping those living in more difficult circumstances.
Traveling alone and facing different difficulties led me to get to know myself better, listen to my emotions, and respect my limitations.
During those years, thanks to my mother’s teachings, I approached the practice of Yoga and embarked on a path that led me to be a Yoga teacher for children and adults.
After 4 years of humanitarian missions between Tanzania and Kenya, in 2022 I started working with the organization “Una mano per un sorriso – for children”, which operates in the Korogocho slum in the province of Nairobi. Within the schools, I was able to introduce students to two great passions of mine: ecology and Yoga.
Experience and dedication have led me to be, to date, one of the main contact persons for the organization’s projects in Kenya.
The students who attend our schools come mainly from the Dandora landfill and Korogocho slum, a very difficult neighborhood characterized by poverty, violence, and poor health conditions.
The children face numerous challenges in their daily lives, emotionally, physically, and mentally.
That is why I have decided to introduce Yoga to those kids.
Yoga improves mental and physical health and enables the development of greater self-confidence, higher self-esteem, and self-awareness.
Yoga offered these children much more than just physical activity; it taught them to focus on breathing and to find inner calm despite the difficulties around them.
During the classes, I have noticed that some of them detach themselves from their reality and find a moment of refuge where they can simply be themselves, away from problems and responsibilities.
It is an easy way to provide them with a practical and functional tool for stress management and emotion recognition.
Through Yoga practice, they have learned to connect with their inner selves and find calm amid chaos. I firmly believe that by developing proactive, empathetic, and resilient attitudes, they will be able to expand a positive worldview and promote the overall well-being of the community.
During the first year, Yoga practice took place outdoors in our school garden by making do with the space we had available.
With the construction of our latest project, the Smiling Center, we finally have a suitable place for students to practice.
Therefore, the search for a sponsor for the Yoga class began, and this search led me to discover ReYoga, a company that creates mats using environmentally sustainable and recyclable materials.
I chose ReYoga because it reflects the values of sustainability and respect for the environment that I want to pass on to the children.
ReYoga’s support has been critically important: students today have their own mats. But what I have realized is that these mats are not just physical objects, they have become something more important for our kids.
When a child takes out his mat, he is not just creating a physical space for practice, he is creating space within himself, a space of safety and exploration.
The mat has turned into a space of freedom, where children can experiment, make mistakes and grow.
Through ReYoga and daily practice, the mats have become tangible symbols of hope and opportunity.
Yoga classes will continue to be an integral part of the “Smiling Center” education, contributing to students’ mental and physical growth, self-esteem, and self-confidence.
“Una mano per un sorriso – for children” aims to seek funds for the annual upkeep of the center (the annual running cost is 10,000 euros) and to expand the proposed educational paths, involving more and more children.
If you would like to support our mission and help these children create a future full of talents, please visit our official website unamanoperunsorriso.org for more information and ways to support.
Our main ways of donation are as follows:
– Adopt a school desk: https://www.unamanoperunsorriso.org/adotta-un-banco/
– Adopt a talent: https://www.unamanoperunsorriso.org/adotta-un-talento/
– Donate a sum of your choice to IBAN: IT17 U089 0462 1810 2800 0109 712
Every contribution, big or small, makes a difference and helps us continue to discover our students’ talents by giving them new opportunities and building a better future together.
Thank you for being part of our journey.
