Meeting of cultures and experience foreign families

Bimbo Chiama Bimbo is an association that works in Brescia (Italy). It was founded in 1998 around the "Croatia Project", the objective of which has always been to support and facilitate the growth of socially disadvantaged children living in Krizevci (Croatia). This project is realized through the collaboration with the Osnovna skola Ljudevita Modeca, Krizevci, and other different activities: hosting Croatian children in Italian families, taking part in summer recreational activities, trips for the Italian families to visit the Croatian families. This experience has highlighted important educational aspects that involve both Croatian and Italian children and their families: what are the expectations of a family that decides to host a child who speaks a different language? What educational issues are stimulated in the hosting family? Also: how is the Croatian children's experience structured and interpreted? What is the impact on the school community in Krizevci? What are the educational benefits created by the meeting of families of different cultures? The project is based on an educational plan that seeks to verify if and how this intercultural experience could offer useful tools for the development and growth of socially disadvantaged children. In particular: what impact does the meeting of different languages and cultures have? How do different family relationships and social environments influence the growth process of these children? Furthermore: can the learning of a foreign language become a means to overcome disadvantage?