In 1991 I participated in a knowledge trip to Zambia, organized by CELIM. My first experience in the world of cooperation and a trip that deeply marked me. From there I started a slow but steady collaboration with CELIM that took me, in the period 1998-2000, to the Ivory Coast as a cooperator in a food security project.

Since 1991 it has been a decade full of commitment, enthusiasm, knowledge of the reality of CELIM, its members and the ideals that bound us! So much so that I radically changed my life: from a trader in Milan to a cooperator in Africa, in a remote village at the edge of the forest! Does that seem little to you? Thank you CELIM and to all those I met and who supported me in my crazy (so it was considered by most) decision.

Michele Vaglio Iori
Zambia and Ivory Coast