If you think you will only find Heidi in Switzerland, you are wrong. A 3.0 version also lives in Val di Sole in the Trentino region. Her name is Fiammetta Melis, she is 10 years old and attends the fourth grade in Mezzolombardo. He attends so to speak, since the schools are closed and to follow the lessons he has to rely on distance learning. A particular Dad, however: not locked in the house but among the goats on a mountain pasture a thousand meters high at the Rocca di Samoclevo, in the municipality of Caldes.
It is there that her father Massimiliano takes her every day since Trentino became the red zone and she can no longer go to class. Her mother Annamaria is a social and health worker and cannot take her to work with her. The open-air classroom of Fiammetta then becomes the family hut where 350 native goats of the passiria and spotted mochena breed graze, plus the Sardinian ones like dad.
“There is no comparison to studying at home – says Fiammetta -. In nature it’s more fun, and then you concentrate more ». A laptop and a wooden table on the lawn with the goats who don’t say hello but browse all around: a high-altitude Dad that Fiammetta likes to do, unlike her classmates, who are forced to study in their bedroom with their mothers – increasingly desperate housewives.
“Getting up every day at 5.30 is hard but now I’m used to it – she says -. At 6 we leave home and at 7 we are at the mountain pastures. Before starting Dad I feed the kids, especially my Cicciopanza ». In addition to his personal Fioccodineve, in the Malga Fiammetta he also has a horse, Agrid, who has learned to ride bareback, that is without a saddle.
“Fiammetta is very good at school and the mountain environment teaches her the importance of knowing how to adapt to situations, something that cannot be learned in books – explains her father, who is 57 years old -. Fortunately, the connection is good and the hotspot of the mobile phone is enough ». In reality he has only been the shepherd for three years. Former construction worker, he made the choice to go back to his origins by marrying a passion for the land and animals, like his Sardinian grandparents. In winter he keeps the animals in two farms near the Rocca di Samoclevo. In the summer he takes them to two mountain huts between Dimaro and Terzolas. Thanks to the milk from his goats, he produces cheeses with particular aromas: «This is due to the natural diet, without feed», he explains.
Fiammetta lives this moment of distance from school with enthusiasm: «She is able to interact with the teachers through the computer screen – says her father Massimiliano -. And when needed he helps me with the animals. Basically they are two very different learning tools, but both very useful for the education of a child ».
For the future Fiammetta already has clear ideas: «When I grow up I would like to be a forestry agent on horseback. So I can work in contact with nature instead of in the office ». Her passion for horses came from watching the TV series “A step from the sky”, which in the first seasons starred Terence Hill in the role of a commander of the Forestry Corps of San Candido, in South Tyrol. «I loved it – she admits – and I decided that I absolutely had to learn to ride a horse. The opportunity to do the Dad in the mountain pastures was a fortune: having my Agrid already there, as soon as I can I take the opportunity to take a stroll ».
In the rest of his free time, when he is not helping his father to give hay and corn to the goats, he plays with them. “By now I know the names of all 350 one by one,” he laughs. Sometimes, when there are no lessons in Dad, some of his friends go up to the hut, and then they play together. Just like Heidi did with Peter on the Maienfeld Alp in the canton of Grisons.