Hello Pietro, tell us about yourself.
I'm a 42-year-old with a severe motor disability. I live with arthrogryposis congenita, osteoarthritis, arthritis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, abnormal calcium loss from my bones, tendon disease, and multiple injuries from road accidents.
I live in Trieste and, when my health allows, I've been doing volunteer work since 1987. I'm drawn to the values and nonviolent methods of New Humanism. For the past two years, I've been working to end discrimination between able-bodied people and the handicapped through local initiatives and at least one major annual event designed to capture the attention of institutions, organizations, media, and the public.
The rest of my time goes to managing my health and organizing awareness campaigns and information events in Trieste and across the region.
You founded an organization called "Travel for a Dream: Beyond Barriers." How did it start, and what are its goals?
The organization came about almost by accident while I was on what would become the first of a series of six journeys. I was traveling through Greece and Turkey on my scooter, thousands of kilometers from the nearest ferry, which caught everyone's attention—the people I met, other motorcycle travelers, and a journalist in Edessa, north of Salonika, who wanted to hear my story and published it in the local paper.
During that conversation, I realized this wasn't just a vacation. It was what I call a "journey of example"—proof that with the right conditions, someone with motor disabilities can do things in the world that most able-bodied people would consider extraordinary.
The media coverage I received and the help from people I asked along the way gave me the strength and conviction to keep going despite mechanical problems. The organization focuses on three main goals:
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- spreading rejection of all forms of violence and discrimination;
- demanding access to and free socio-medical and psychological support—whatever orthodox or alternative treatment best fits each person's particular needs;
- providing the tools and equipment that make a disabled person's life genuinely livable: real life, not mere survival.
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What projects have you completed?
So far I've done two major journeys. The first was in 2010 through Greece, Turkey, and Italy. Then in May 2011, I traveled the capitals of the former Mitteleuropa—Ljubljana, Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Munich, Zurich, Milan, and back to Trieste.
I made that second journey on the first scooter-trike ever approved for use in Italy (see photo), a clear example of what I mean by "adequate conditions"—the equipment that transforms a handicapped person into someone differently able.
I've also participated in a national campaign against guard rails that kill; in a Friendship Day between motorcyclists and disabled people; and at the Fashion and Tuning Day, where the jury gave me an award outside the regular competition with this citation: "When tuning goes beyond performance and aesthetics, opening new roads."
Now I'm preparing the 2012 edition, but in the meantime I'm visiting school classes in San Giorgio di Nogaro to share my testimony and get students thinking about violence and discrimination. I'm hoping to bring this program to Trieste as well, working with other organizations.
What's your next challenge?
A journey of about 20,000 kilometers through Western and Central Europe over roughly two months, traveling alone (though I wouldn't turn away a companion).
Then come trips in 2013 to Northern Europe, in 2014 from the Black Sea to the North Cape via Russia, and to cap off this first phase, a full year from January 1 to December 31, 2015: "Spiritually Able: a year discovering the sacred places of the planet."
I'm also working with Dal Bo Mobility to build another scooter-trike so more disabled people in Italy can access the accessories, equipment, and adaptations they need for an on-the-road life.
What does breaking barriers mean to you?
I can only answer from my own experience.
First: face the enormous fear of failing and find the courage to ask for help. Learn your rights and fight to have them respected—there are countless laws protecting disabled people, but we're often the last to know about them. Speak openly to institutions and media; talk as widely as possible about what you need, the problems you face daily that often go unaddressed through ignorance and indifference. Only by joining many individual voices together can we force public administration—starting with our local councils—to listen and act as they should.
- Read also Rarina the Story of a Rare Flower
Have you encountered more obstacles or more solidarity?
From public institutions I've met many obstacles, indifference, and in some cases open hostility (in Vienna and Zurich, for example, I was denied access to the city centers with my scooter-trike without being offered alternatives).
Funding everything myself, I've reached out to companies and individuals seeking donations to cover travel costs. Most never responded, but some—like Givi, TucanoUrbano, and Uniqa Assicurazioni—believed in my dream from the start and have supported and backed me however they can. I've approached wealthy people and people struggling to get through the month, and it's often those struggling most who've shown the most solidarity and concrete help.
During my travels, I've met people who've sustained and supported me with far more generosity than I ever expected.
What has what you've done over these years taught you? And what do you think it's taught others?
It's taught me that without a dream, without a clear direction to follow, my life loses meaning and purpose. I believe each of us needs to understand what I call our "Personal Legend" and then commit everything to fulfilling it.
I don't presume I've taught anyone anything, but I hope that through my actions, someone might discover their own potential and find the strength to show it to the world. I'm not just talking about disabled people but so-called "normal" people too.
You must have met people from many different cultures on your journeys. What message of "cultural convergence" would you send through these pages?
I'll answer with a story from my first trip. In Istanbul, I visited the Eyüp Mosque with two guides—an atheist and a practicing Muslim (I'm pantheist and polytheist). We arrived during Ramadan. Inside were worshippers and tourists of every nationality, and the atmosphere was incredible: nobody cared how you were dressed or what faith you followed. We were all bound by something intangible, sacred, that transcended every barrier. The beautiful feeling was that we were all one while each of us remained ourselves.
There's something deep in each of us. When we touch that depth, we meet each other regardless of where we come from or where we're going. And every barrier vanishes.
Pietro Rosenwirth, 2012