VIDEO | PHOTO | The experience of the ‘Brigata Caterina’ pizzeria with pizzas prepared by inmates in the Poggioreale prison. The stories of Vincenzo and Giovanni
The training course organized by Gesco provides for the issuing of a professional pizza chef qualification recognized by the Campania Region
NAPLES – In Naples there is a pizzeria called Brigata Caterina. Two pizza chefs prepare around 250 pizzas every day, the classic margherita and marinara cooked strictly in a wood-fired oven, sold at a cost of 4 euros, and the same number of riders take care of the deliveries. The Caterina Brigade is located inside a prison, the Poggioreale prison, and the four employees, selected and hired under contract, are prisoners, as are the customers.
The experience of the Brigata Caterina pizzeria has been a reality in Naples for four years already and precisely within this laboratory in October last year The second edition of the “Pizzeria and Pizzaioli” job training course has started. The project, promoted by the prison with the Archdiocese of Naples and implemented by the Gesco group of social enterprises – in ATI with APL Lavoro – thanks to regional funds Por Campania (ESF 2014-2020), has allowed the activation of a training and support for job placement within the prison for 20 inmates. Today there are 16 students – as two inmates have been transferred to other penitentiaries and two others have been released – aged between 27 and 70.
PRIMATED STUDENTS ALSO INVOLVED IN PARALLEL ACTIVITIES
The training course organized by Gesco provides, at the end of the 600 hours of training provided plus an accompanying course, the release of a professional pizza chef title recognized by the Campania Region strong>. “The process – explained to Dire Rina Ziccardi, from Gesco, coordinator of the project – started in June last year with individual meetings with 50 inmates who were aspiring students of the course. The evaluation concerned the willingness to participate, the aspirations of individuals, and also, in some cases, previous experience Lessons began in October 2023 and will end in July“. The project staff also involved the students in activities parallel to those of specialized chefs in the pizzeria sector, with moments dedicated to literature and philosophy, food marketing, communication and English language meetings. “Among the most interesting experiences – said Ziccardi – the reading of “Spizzichi e bocconi” by Erri De Luca, but also a philosophy lesson focused on the myth of the cave, emblematic when dealing with people with the theme of discovering one’s identity”.
Today, moreover, on the occasion of the International Day of Families, the prison opened its doors to the relatives of the students who were able to demonstrate their skills by preparing pizzas for your loved ones.
THE STORIES OF VINCENZO AND GIOVANNI
Vincenzo, 34 years old, three children, Neapolitan, is serving his sentence in Poggioreale. He has never had a real job, but he hopes, one day, to be able to find a stable and dignified job in his city, remaining close to his large family. “What person am I? I’m a person who made a mistake“. Thus begins the story he delivers to Dire while a job training project aimed at inmates is presented in the prison. Vincenzo is, in fact, one of the 16 inmates who is attending a course to become a pizza chef. A path which, in autumn, at the end of a 600-hour training course, will allow him to access a final exam to obtain a professional qualification. “A job? I’ve never had one… I discovered that cooking is a beautiful thing – says Vincenzo -, never, ever in my life would I have thought of creating a pizza. I discovered that cooking , pizza, in particular, is like a beautiful female It takes delicacy, otherwise the dough abandons you. art, the art of the pizza chef, a UNESCO heritage site, is the most beautiful art in the world”.
“IT WAS A PATH OF LIFE”
The “Brigata Caterina – Pizzeria e Pizzaioli” project was not limited only to the cooking techniques necessary to prepare the most famous typical Neapolitan dish in the world. The students, in fact, had the opportunity to follow reading courses, but also philosophy. “I can say – explains Vincenzo – that it was a course of life. I was able to meet different people, who gave me a smile even on a bad day. And here we have a lot of ‘bad’ days… Outside there is it’s a different world from how I conceived it before, having the chance to break down barriers, to ‘escape’ from prison life, is priceless“. Vincenzo looks to his tomorrow and imagines spending his professional qualification in the meantime during his detention – as established in article 21 of the law on the penitentiary system, relating to the working methods for inmates – and, perhaps, even when he has served his sentence his pain: “I hope to be able to take this path”.
“LETTING MY LOVED ONES TASTE PIZZA IS AN ‘AMAZING EXPERIENCE”
Today, in prison, on the occasion of the International Day of Families, Vincenzo and the other students of the course were able to serve their creations to their loved ones. As happened to Giovanni, 31 years old, father of a child. “Being with my relatives and letting them taste a square is an incredible experience. I’m excited,” he says. Giovanni, like the others, says he is convinced of how necessary it is “to give as many inmates as possible the opportunity to enjoy moments of freedom. If today there were more projects to introduce those who have made mistakes to work, perhaps small mistakes, it might no longer happen. Maybe there would no longer be overcrowding. Inside, in Poggioreale, there is only bad mood there is more, there is life“.
“PRISON IS NOT A WORLD APART PART, IS PART OF THE WORLD”
For Sergio D’Angelo, president of Gesco, “now we should move from exemplary experiences, like this one, to widespread experiences. Prison should not be considered a world apart, but part of the world itself, part of society, if we want to avoid it becoming, instead, the cancer of a territory, and if we want to prevent prisoners, at the end of their sentence, from leaving from prison more hostile than before. Therefore, we need to have adequate spaces, programs that provide job placement, socialization opportunities, which prepare their return to the community multiply many times, for many prisons, for many prisoners”.