Hi, thanks for stopping by my website! My name is Maricla Pannocchia and I'm from Italy. I'm a dozen things, including a writer, a freelance journalist and the founder and chairwoman of my own charity Adolescenti e cancro (Teens and Cancer) which I've set up in 2014 and is a registered charity in Italy. I always say that people may read a book who changes their lives; in my case, I wrote one. I've always written novels about social issues and in 2014 I wrote a novel about two teenage friends, one with leukemia. I didn't know anything about childhood cancer so I watched a lot of Youtube videos and read a lot of stories from young people who have or have had cancer. I admit I was pretty scared of hearing those stories; I was expecting to hear about death, pain, anger and yes, all these things were part of these stories, but what impressed me most was their resilience, how they were able to smile, enjoy life and make the most of each day despite gruelling treatment plans and having cancer. I felt like a call, I felt the need to do something for them. Little did I know that they would have changed my life for good and for the better. Prior to that, I lived an average life. Setting up my charity changed my life completely, helped me to see what really matters in life, I now know many amazing people that have been through a lot of hardships yet they still smile and help others and I live every day with a purpose and being grateful for what I have and simply to be alive.
I've set up my charity with one goal in mind: to bring these teenagers and young people together so they would not face cancer alone, regardless of where they live or come from, their economical situation, where they were/are treated... my charity is open to everyone who needs it. Lately, I felt the need to not only support these youngsters through free recreational activities but getting to know many of them I felt the need to bring more awareness about childhood and teenage cancer, focussing especially on the lack of funding towards research on childhood cancer. When I got to know that childhood cancer is considered "rare" so we don't invest much in childhood cancer research I was shocked. These kids and young people deserve a right to live. So, I am working a lot with young people themselves, parents and anyone involved in the fight against childhood cancer in order to bring more awareness about it to the general public, the media and especially the governments. On January 2020 I've published a book with childhood cancer families' stories and this is just one of the initiatives I am doing through my charity to give these people a voice because I think is fundamental; I want to raise awareness by allowing them to speak and be heard.
Being a childhood cancer advocate is my call, yet I've always been interested in other social issues such as refugees, women's rights, right to the education, female genital mutilation (FGM)... Sometimes people think that, since I work so much on childhood cancer, I can't also make my voice heard for other causes close to my heart but the fact is I'd like to give a voice to anyone who has something important to say. I want to share meaningful stories which can help people to better understand our world, to have an idea about what other human beings have to go through and/or are doing to make the world a better place so they can hopefully join and become a change in the world. I want this to grow into a place where everyone can make his/her voice heard. A place of tolerance, mutual respect and understanding, with no borders.
The inner knowledge that we all are equal is something so simple and obvious yet there are so many injustices in this world that sometimes it can feel disheartening, frustrating. I think it's normal to feel that way, but I also think that we all can do something to help others. I've learned that the word "donate" has many meanings: you can donate money, blood, bone marrow, time, smiles, toys... any donation enriches two people, the one who receives it and, mostly, the one who gives it. So being dishearted, frustrated or thinking you can't do anything about the status of the world is simply not true. We all can do something, even the smallest acts matter. Fill your days with life and, even better, fill other people's days with life. Make every second count. Make every day worth it. These are just a few of the life lessons I've learned so far thanks to amazing people.
If you want to know a bit more about me: I'm 35 years old, I love words (I love grammar and learning new words in my native language, Italian, but when I want to challenge myself I try with English as well), musical theatre, going to the beach, travelling, writing (I've published a few books in Italy), reading... I love honesty, I'm not afraid of being who I am. I've always been kinda unique and I've always felt that is good. Being who you truly are is the most amazing thing in the world. I love to try new things, I often act on impulse, I think that we can't know what tomorrow will bring - or even if tomorrow we will be here - so we must take every chance we have, and when we don't really have chances we must work hard and create those chances.
I sponsor two children, a 7 years old girl from Indonesia named Jesinda and a 12 boy from Cambodia named Rithisak. What I love most about it is getting to know them personally through emails, videos and Skype calls. I've always loved to meet new people and learn about other cultures and about how people live in other parts of the world (as a teenager I had tons of snail mail pen pals from all over the world!).
I think life is an amazing, incredible, sometimes tough, but always worthy it journey and while I travel through it I try to do my best to leave a positive mark on the world and its people.
Want to collaborate? If you have a story to tell, if you would like for me to write an article for your website, blog or newspaper, if you would like to have me for a podcast or interview me... whatever your idea, I'm available! Let's make the world a better place, TOGETHER!
Contacts:
Email: mariclapannocchia@outlook.it
Phone (you can also add me on Whatsapp):
UK: 07437047708
USA: +1 07437047708
Italy: 328.7019357
I've set up my charity with one goal in mind: to bring these teenagers and young people together so they would not face cancer alone, regardless of where they live or come from, their economical situation, where they were/are treated... my charity is open to everyone who needs it. Lately, I felt the need to not only support these youngsters through free recreational activities but getting to know many of them I felt the need to bring more awareness about childhood and teenage cancer, focussing especially on the lack of funding towards research on childhood cancer. When I got to know that childhood cancer is considered "rare" so we don't invest much in childhood cancer research I was shocked. These kids and young people deserve a right to live. So, I am working a lot with young people themselves, parents and anyone involved in the fight against childhood cancer in order to bring more awareness about it to the general public, the media and especially the governments. On January 2020 I've published a book with childhood cancer families' stories and this is just one of the initiatives I am doing through my charity to give these people a voice because I think is fundamental; I want to raise awareness by allowing them to speak and be heard.
Being a childhood cancer advocate is my call, yet I've always been interested in other social issues such as refugees, women's rights, right to the education, female genital mutilation (FGM)... Sometimes people think that, since I work so much on childhood cancer, I can't also make my voice heard for other causes close to my heart but the fact is I'd like to give a voice to anyone who has something important to say. I want to share meaningful stories which can help people to better understand our world, to have an idea about what other human beings have to go through and/or are doing to make the world a better place so they can hopefully join and become a change in the world. I want this to grow into a place where everyone can make his/her voice heard. A place of tolerance, mutual respect and understanding, with no borders.
The inner knowledge that we all are equal is something so simple and obvious yet there are so many injustices in this world that sometimes it can feel disheartening, frustrating. I think it's normal to feel that way, but I also think that we all can do something to help others. I've learned that the word "donate" has many meanings: you can donate money, blood, bone marrow, time, smiles, toys... any donation enriches two people, the one who receives it and, mostly, the one who gives it. So being dishearted, frustrated or thinking you can't do anything about the status of the world is simply not true. We all can do something, even the smallest acts matter. Fill your days with life and, even better, fill other people's days with life. Make every second count. Make every day worth it. These are just a few of the life lessons I've learned so far thanks to amazing people.
If you want to know a bit more about me: I'm 35 years old, I love words (I love grammar and learning new words in my native language, Italian, but when I want to challenge myself I try with English as well), musical theatre, going to the beach, travelling, writing (I've published a few books in Italy), reading... I love honesty, I'm not afraid of being who I am. I've always been kinda unique and I've always felt that is good. Being who you truly are is the most amazing thing in the world. I love to try new things, I often act on impulse, I think that we can't know what tomorrow will bring - or even if tomorrow we will be here - so we must take every chance we have, and when we don't really have chances we must work hard and create those chances.
I sponsor two children, a 7 years old girl from Indonesia named Jesinda and a 12 boy from Cambodia named Rithisak. What I love most about it is getting to know them personally through emails, videos and Skype calls. I've always loved to meet new people and learn about other cultures and about how people live in other parts of the world (as a teenager I had tons of snail mail pen pals from all over the world!).
I think life is an amazing, incredible, sometimes tough, but always worthy it journey and while I travel through it I try to do my best to leave a positive mark on the world and its people.
Want to collaborate? If you have a story to tell, if you would like for me to write an article for your website, blog or newspaper, if you would like to have me for a podcast or interview me... whatever your idea, I'm available! Let's make the world a better place, TOGETHER!
Contacts:
Email: mariclapannocchia@outlook.it
Phone (you can also add me on Whatsapp):
UK: 07437047708
USA: +1 07437047708
Italy: 328.7019357
Visit my charity's Facebook page (once on Facebook, you can select the translation and read the posts in English)
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