Father Giuseppe Berton (1932 – 25 June 2013) was an Italian missionary of the Catholic Church, a member of the Xaverian Missionary Fathers, who worked in Sierra Leone from 1971 until his death.

Berton in 2010

Biography

edit

Born in Marostica, Vicenza, on 5 February 1932. He was the founder of the Family Homes Movement (FHM)[1] which provided parental care and education to children in particular need; during the civil war, Berton and FHM saved and rehabilitated into social life more than 3000 child soldiers.

Berton is the central figure of the documentary La Vita Non Perde Valore (Life does not lose its value), for which the director Wilma Massucco was awarded the 2014 Maria Rita Saulle Award.[2]

With Roberto Ravera, Director ASL 1 Imperiese, Italy, Berton co-founded the FHM ITALIA Onlus,[3] the Italian counterpart of FHM Sierra Leone, which applies the latest scientific theories in psychology and psychopathology to the rehabilitation and social integration of abandoned children.

Berton died on 25 June 2013 at the mother house of the Xaverians in Parma.[4]

Documentaries

edit
  • DVD Life does not lose its value (Original title, Italian language, La vita non perde valore), by Wilma Massucco[5] (ITA/ENG - 53' - Bluindaco Productions © 2012): it focuses, ten years after the war ending, on the reintegration, led by Father Giuseppe Berton, of former child soldiers, after they lived for long in the forest, together with the rebels of the RUF, Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone. Main focus of the Documentary: is it possible to overcome suffering, even when it is huge and deep like child soldiers' one? If so, in which way? The documentary has been analyzed in different Universities, becoming subject of various degree thesis.[6][7][8][9][10]
  • Dvd Infanzia rubata, bambini soldato, child soldiers in Sierra Leone (ITA - Videomission © 2000), directed by Fiorenzo Raffaini

Contributions to other Documentaries

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Family Homes Movement (FHM) SIERRA LEONE, 1985
  2. ^ "Premio Nazionale Sui Diritti Umani 2014: Riconoscimento Speciale a Wilma Massucco | PDF".
  3. ^ Family Homes Movement (FHM) ITALIA Onlus, 2012
  4. ^ "Giuseppe Berton/ E' morto il missionario italiano dell'Ordine dei Saveriani". Il Sussidiario (in Italian). 26 June 2013. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  5. ^ Wilma Massucco
  6. ^ "University of Innsbruck (Austria), Critical Area Studies: British and Anglophone Cultures: Representing Child Soldiers in Fiction and Film. Title Reintegration of Former Child Soldiers Into Society – Life Does Not Lose Its Value (2012), Author LJUBOJEVIC-MIRJANA, Prof.Mag. Dr. Pallua Ulrich, A.S. 2019/2020" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  7. ^ "University of Innsbruck (Austria), Critical Area Studies: British and Anglophone Cultures: Representing Child Soldiers in Fiction and Film. Title Reintegration of Former Child Soldiers Into Society – Life Does Not Lose Its Value (2012), Author DANIEL C. NETZER, Prof.Mag. Dr. Pallua Ulrich, A.S. 2019/2020" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-10-11. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  8. ^ "University of Reggio Calabria (Italy), Degree Thesis in 'Planning and Management of Policies and Social Services in the Mediterranean area', Title Child soldiers (author Maria Papalia, A.S. 2017/18)". Facebook. Retrieved 2013-08-07.[dead link]
  9. ^ "University of Florence (Italy), Conflict management course, thesis of comparison between recruitment of child soldiers and recruitment of children of Camorra in Naples. Title Child soldiers in the Globalized North? Organized crime and youth in Naples (thesis by Alma Rondanini, Prof. Giovanni Scotto – A.A. 2012/2013". Archived from the original on 2014-10-17. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  10. ^ "University La Bicocca of Milan (Italy), Degree in Science Education, thesis based on the analysis of Father Berton's educational model and its role in post-conflict contexts, title A laboratory for the rehabilitation of former child soldiers in Sierra Leone (thesis by Sara Pauselli, Prof. Mariangela Giusti – A.A. 2012/2013)". Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2014-06-28.
  11. ^ Cry Freetown
  12. ^ Sorious Samura
Additional sources
edit