ITALIANS IN KENYA
13-06-2022 by Leni Frau
At last, the monumental sculpture erected by Italian prisoners in Kenya near the Ndarugu camp in Kenya, found by scholar Aldo Manos and transported two years ago, thanks to the efforts and financial contribution of Comites Kenya to the Nyeri Shrine, with the approval of the Kenyan authorities and the approval of the Consolata Fathers, has been given protection and a commemorative plaque.
A symbol of the history, industriousness and resilience of our compatriots in Africa during World War II that was on the verge of being destroyed and forgotten will be able to be preserved and visited again in the future in the place that more than any other remembers the valor and atrocities that Italians captured by the British in Abyssinia and those imprisoned in East Africa had to endure.
Last June 10, Aldo Manos himself happily concluded this operation of historical dignity, thanks to the help of his compatriot Ivo Galfré, who worked hard to arrange the monument and provide it with a roof that would not only shelter it from the rain but also make it easily visible and visitable by the public and an epigraph telling its story.
The rescued part, i.e., the main fragment of the monument that lay at the mercy of vandals, workers and allotters, features bas-reliefs depicting exciting war scenes.
After efforts had been made over the years, thanks to reports by Manos and the Comites, by Italian institutions to have the site, with the vandalized monument and the adjacent small church built by Italians and run by the Protestant Church of Kenya, declared a safe place, it had taken two days of repeated attempts to lift and transport the nearly 12 tons of stone and concrete to a safe place, an operation led by Manos himself with Comites Kenya member Paolo Torchio and his wife Magalì Manconi.
COMMEMORAZIONE
by redazione
The Comites Kenya, which every year organises transport for compatriots who cannot reach...
ITALIANS
by Freddie del Curatolo
A happy news for the Italians in Kenya and their memory, just on the eve of the celebrations that...
MEMORIAL PLACES
by redazione
Nyeri is a small town about two and a half hours' drive from Kenya's capital Nairobi, perched...
CELEBRATIONS
by redazione
The Italian Ambassador to Kenya, Roberto Natali, attended the ceremony in memory of those...
NEWS
by Freddie del Curatolo
Being Italian in Kenya also means breaking down ideological differences, distances, social and economic disparities...
BOOKS
by Freddie del Curatolo
The recovery of the memory of Italians in East Africa is a work that is becoming increasingly valuable, both...
ITALIANS
by Carlo Saba
When in Italy my friends ask me why I am interested in this land so distant and different, I ...
by Freddie del Curatolo
There are interesting books and necessary books. "Field 360 Ndarugu" by Aldo Manos belongs to...
EVENTS
by redazione
Comites Kenya, an advisory body of the Embassy of Italy in Kenya, is organizing the fifth edition...
NEWS
by redazione
Italian Companies in Kenya in promoting at the Village Market in Nairobi.
The event, aimed at the promotion and enhancement of Italy in Kenya, is organized by COMITES under the auspices of the Embassy of Italy in Kenya and you...
ITALIANS
by redazione
It is never easy, when we talk about Malindi, to define that of the Italians as a "community". The history ...
EVENTS
by redazione
One week to go until the Italian Food and Wine Expo, the initiative promoted and organized by Comites...