There is no doubt that, as in so many things in life, it is children who teach us that a true passion cannot be such if it is expressed only in words and is not transformed into deeds. So of all the adults in love with Africa's nature, how many truly love it to the point of spending themselves and actively helping to preserve it?
So, know that if you happen to be walking these days on the beautiful beach of Jacaranda Bay in Watamu, one of the still unspoiled paradises on the African coast of the Indian Ocean, although Italian resorts, a few apartment complexes and local eateries overlook it, you can meet every morning a ten-year-old girl armed with gloves and a jute sack picking up the plastic that now threatens even this oasis of well-being overlooking the blue ocean, interspersed with sand atolls that line the coral reef. Be careful, however, not to ask her what the reason is for so much effort and perseverance and for what cause she is doing it. The question could turn into a boomerang: because the very young and resourceful Thea will seraphically and smilingly answer you, "I'm doing it for you!"

This happened a few months ago in Miami, on the shoreline of the Biscayne Bay Marine Reserve. Thea with her parents, hotelier Giuseppe Bonasera, owner of Barracuda in Watamu and current manager of the Bravo Club on Jacaranda Bay, and mom Margherita, was picking up plastic as has been her habit since she was 5 years old, and to an American tourist who asked her candidly on whose behalf she was cleaning up the beach, she instinctively replied "I do it for you."
So Papa Giuseppe decided to turn his daughter's phrase into the name of a foundation established to protect the environment, in Watamu as in Miami, the two locations where the family has as many hotels and where Thea attends schools. But Kenya is her place of the heart, and here "I do it for you" has become a beautiful reality involving Bravo Club tourists who find their bags available, staff in foundation T-shirts and help safeguard the destination's marine environment.

Thea is the driving force behind the family, with her younger sister already imitating her in her struggles and her father going above and beyond. "To fund the foundation and do something consistent with Thea's spirit," Bonasera explains, "I started the production of liquid soap and shampoo for the resorts, not only mine but anyone who wants to buy them, the profits from which will go into 'I do it for you' projects. These are products that use recyclable containers and that each resort can customize, choosing from different flavors and mixing them."
Thea's foundation also has its own goals; from the plastic collected at the beach, the idea is to make collection containers and other recycling items by purchasing machinery to press and assemble.

The Italian girl's passion does not stop there; Thea's dream, once she finishes her studies, is to settle in Kenya and deal directly with environmental protection.
"When I grow up I dream of being a marine biologist and I cannot think that the sea I want to study and the species I will have to safeguard are threatened by our waste. I've just been on safari, though, and I'd like to be a veterinarian in the savanna as well." We are sure it will be easier done than said, especially since everything Thea wants to do, she will do for all of us.