In the September of 1984, Filomena Feliziani, known by her religious name as Sister Marcella, traveled to Guatemala and was profoundly struck by the extreme state of poverty endured by the poorest inhabitants and the destitute in rural areas.

Sister Marcella and a small group of people which had formed around her decided to dedicate themselves to helping these people by organizing aid projects, by performing acts of solidarity and by attempting to find the means to finance these schemes.    

The Association is born

The success of this initiative, born in such a spontaneous way, made it necessary for a more formal entity to be created ; thus the Association was born . On the 12th of October 1988 the Association ‘Mani Amiche’ with its motto ‘Bread, Culture, Peace’ came into existence. Those members of the Association with particular professional skills help with the planning and realization of aid projects as they begin to materialize. On the 9th of August 1993 the Mani Amiche Association gains official recognition as an N.G.O under the auspices of law no.  1993/128/002778/5.    

History