Rome (NEV), 9 June 2022 – The new therapeutic climbing gym will be called “Flamingo Loophole” which will be inaugurated on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 June in Bihać, Bosnia, by Mediterranean Hope, migrant and refugee program of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy.
The climbing gym will be free, courses will be activated for children and adolescents but also hours of lessons for adults.
The target, that is the public to which the initiative is addressed, is primarily the local population. “Working here we realized that, especially for young people, there is a lack of meeting places and alternatives for free time, in a situation that is not easy, however, with high levels of unemployment and services not always capable of responding to people’s needs. Hence the project linked to physical activity and this type of sport specifically ”, adds Parigini.
The project, with a gym of about 200 square meters with equipped walls of about 100 square meters, was carried out by Mediterranean Hope, a program of the Italian Protestant churches, together with the local sports association Spektrum, and is mainly financed by Otto per mille of the Waldensian and Methodist churches.
“We also want to thank the companies and organizations that have already spent their time to help us, giving us the materials useful for this sport, and all the equipment that users will use, free of charge”, finally underlines Parigini. The artist and climber also worked on the project Francesco Bertelèresponsible for the technical design of the climbing gym, and the operator of Mediterranean Hope Lea Karam.
Mediterranean Hope has been operating in Bosnia since the beginning of 2021: in addition to the climbing gym, with a daytime desk for migrantswhere people in transit can take a shower, wash their clothes and receive new clothes, drink hot tea. From January 2022 to June 2022, the center welcomed 1,232 people.