Everything is possible, the TIM and Rai Play docuseries on your "Risorgimento Digitale" stories

Everything is possible

In a press conference that has just ended, TIM and Rai Play announced their collaboration for the launch of a new docuseries entitled “Everything is possible. Stories of the Digital Risorgimento ".

The initiative was conceived as a further step in the digital literacy initiative carried out by TIM together with an ever-increasing number of partners to reduce the digital divide within our country and also to reduce Italy's enormous gap with respect to other European countries.

It is not the first time that we have talked to you about the initiative Operazione Risorgimento Digitale set up by TIM with more than 40 partners. The idea behind the initiative is to digitize, therefore to educate the Italian population in the use of the digital world and the web, with the aim of decreasing the digital divide and allowing all citizens to use the network in an informed and safe way. .

The operation began with real courses brought by TIM with vans in various medium-sized Italian cities and then moved to the web with the preparation of free webinars following the outbreak of the pandemic of Covid-19, which put a stop to face-to-face courses.

An important member joined the telco partners today: Rai Play, represented by Director Elena Capparelli. As Salvatore Rossi, TIM President explained, the collaboration with Rai is really an important point for this initiative. Just as Rai has played an important role in the literacy of Italians since the 1960s with educational programs aimed at reducing the illiteracy rate in the country, now TIM has turned to the national television broadcaster to help citizens approach the world of the web.

Today's press conference kicked off the project that will lead to the launch of a new TV series that will be available on Rai Play starting in the autumn of this year. As Riccardo Luna, journalist and curator of the project, told us, the series will tell eight successful digital transformation stories, to encourage even those who until now have tried to avoid direct contact with the network to try to face the new era towards which we have already headed and from which we will never go back.

This is why a contest has been launched in which Italian citizens are asked to tell how their life has changed with digital. Starting from these stories, from the best stories that will be collected, we will then create this docuseries that will be broadcast on Rai Play.

“Have you ever thought about what our life would have been like in the last year without internet ? Thanks to the network we were able to continue studying and working, buying and selling, listening to music, watching films, we stayed in touch with our fundamental affections. For many the health emergency was the driving force that led us to stay online, but for many others the internet was much more than a tool to resist, it was the way to reinvent oneself, to become better "reads the video. on the occasion of the event by Riccardo Luna.

“On the website Operazione Risorgimento Digitale all the information to apply for the project from 13 to 26 April is available. Each episode, lasting about 25 minutes, will open with a journey and an encounter with the protagonist; hence the story of the story and the discovery of how life has changed and how technology has represented a concrete opportunity for growth not only for the protagonist but also for his reference world "writes TIM in its press release.

From today you will therefore have two weeks to submit your stories on the portal dedicated to the initiative.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Live True Wireless (TWS) earphones are available on Amazon for only 129.00 euros .

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'Everything is on hold': The goal was to rescue sick dogs from Mexico. Then their van broke down

Heather Greenfield (left) of Paws Across Borders poses in Tucson with Sophie Boccard and Socrates Figueroa of Mazatlan Animal Rescue. Dogs Canela (left) and Chago are up for adoption through Paws Across Borders.

 (Photo: Courtesy of Christopher Boccard)

Heather Greenfield persevered despite soaring summer temperatures, border checkpoints and even the COVID-19 pandemic.

But when her nonprofit group's 22-year-old van finally broke down in Tucson, it threw a wrench into her hopes of saving as many stray and sick dogs in Mexico as possible.

The 1999 Chevrolet Venture, which had air conditioning issues and other problems, finally succumbed to transmission failure. 'It wouldn't go into gear,' she said.

Since then, Greenfield's group, Paws Across Borders, has had to rely on a few runs involving passenger cars, including her own, to transport two to four dogs each time up from Sonora, but that has meant many more canines have had to wait longer for their chances for new homes in the U.S.

Before the van went out, 'We'd go down there a few times a month and bring back 10 to 15 dogs at a time,' she said. 'We'd quarantine them and adopt them out' on this side of the border. Dogs were transported in crates inside the van.

Greenfield, who lives in Arizona City and is a self-employed currency trader, is hoping to raise money through cuddly.com, a website that vets nonprofits and offers a donation avenue. The group also accepts donations through its own website, pawsacrossborders.org.

Long-term strays saved

But at least she and Paws Across Borders got Chago and Canela out.

The two former strays were boarded, for at least five years each, at Mazatlan Animal Rescue, which is based in that city. They were among four dogs that were recently driven north by volunteers of the Mazatlan group who happened to be visiting Tucson for the Easter weekend. Both dogs await adoption through Paws Across Borders. 

At the top of Greenfield's wish list is a new van, but she at least hopes to raise enough cash, perhaps $5,000, to add to the group's current $5,000 so as to purchase a used vehicle in good shape with reasonably low mileage.

Volunteer Sophie Boccard sits with four Mexican dogs being transported to Arizona for adoption.

 (Photo: Christopher Boccard)

Greenfield has fostered rescue dogs for years but decided to focus on dogs in Mexico after receiving a plea from a group south of the border about a year ago.

'Driving across the border, you see the shocking conditions and all the dogs running around in the streets,' she said. 'That's when I decided we'd focus on Mexican dogs.'

Greenfield said she doesn't take any pay for her dog rescue work, and neither do the dozen or so other American volunteers and foster dog parents with whom she collaborates, along with various Mexican volunteers and expatriate Americans and Canadians who live south of the border.

Medical costs and adoption fees

Aside from transportation, medical expenses are among the group's biggest outlays, averaging a few thousand dollars a month. Donations and adoption fees ranging from about $100 to $300 per dog help to cover those and other costs. The group also pays Mexican drivers to transport dogs from Hermosillo and other parts of the interior to Nogales, Sonora, the typical border crossing used by the group.

A veterinarian there checks the dogs and treats them if necessary. For example, most have tick fever, but that can be cured fairly easily with antibiotics, Greenfield said. The group also relies on veterinarians in the U.S.

Greenfield often drives into Mexico to pick up dogs. Either way, Paws Across Borders and rescue groups in Mexico provide health certificates from vets and use them to receive permits from the United States Department of Agriculture, with the process taking about two weeks for each dog.

With the proper paperwork, the border crossings generally go smoothly, she said. But the lack of a van has greatly crimped the group's activities for the past month.

'Everything is on hold while we figure out our transportation solution,' Greenfield said.

Reach the reporter at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com.

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