Bonavicina Farm: where children with disabilities are cared for with the vegetable garden and horses

Every year, around 15 students come here, many with Down's Syndrome. They start speaking again, regain confidence in their abilities, and return to a normal life. The "miracle" was achieved by a courageous woman.

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Bonavicina educational farm caring for children with disabilities 1

BONAVICINA EDUCATIONAL FARM

Andrea and Daria are two autistic children. But their lives have changed, they have started walking and singing again thanks to the horses and the garden. Bonavicina educational farm, in the province of Verona. Born as a farmhouse in an area once used for tobacco cultivation, the farm it has grown to become a point of reference for schools, local health authorities and municipalities in the area.  Every year around 15 thousand children pass through here, but the most interesting thing is that many of them have disabilities, even serious ones. And the therapy of contact with nature and animals works, as Andrea and Daria's stories demonstrate.

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EDUCATIONAL FARMHOUSE LA VECCHIA FATTORIA BONAVICINA

The property comprises 25 hectares of land, 7 of which are woodland, where forgotten fruits like mirabiloni grow, similar to plums but in every color—golden drop, purple, red. Walnuts and hazelnuts are collected along the paths, and in the right corners you'll also find the little houses of the api. "A wonderful place for children, and when the first little ones with Down's syndrome arrived, we didn't think we'd get such extraordinary results." Giulia Lovato, 30, a graduate in architecture who decided to abandon her profession to dedicate herself to this rehabilitation work, says: "It was my dream, and I still can't believe I've achieved it. Children who couldn't communicate have started speaking again, teenagers who were once considered 'lost' have regained their self-confidence and abandoned violence, entire families have been reborn. A miracle..."  A miracle thanks to the will of men and women, and to the mysterious strength of the earth when you manage to cultivate with the right method.

LOOK AT THE PICTURES:

(The images are taken from the educational farm's Facebook page)

TO KNOW MORE: Healing with donkeys and their lesson in gentleness

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