“Un Cuore, Un Mondo” is a private, independent and non-profit association.

It was founded in 1993 by 9 members, parents of heart patients with direct experience of hospitalization at the Heart of Massa Hospital. Since 2000 she has been a non-profit organization and is registered in the Volunteer Register of the Province of Massa Carrara.

Its mission is to help and support children born with a “crazy heart” to offer them the opportunity and hope for a full and dignified life. To this end, the association promotes projects and initiatives in Italy and abroad to give teenagers help and health care without any distinction of race, language and culture. In 23 years the Association has engaged in three important areas of intervention:

Welcoming children and families

With the collaboration of over 40 volunteers, the association has given hospitality and hospitality to the families of young patients and assistance to the sick. During the hospitalization, entertainment, recreational activities, recreational moments and animations were carried out with the indispensable help of smiles and caresses to make the stay more peaceful and bearable.

Hospitality is free and limited to the availability of beds, with priority given to patients and families with economic or social problems or the distance from the country of origin.

  • The“Houses of Hospitality”

    • 2013 host an average of 30 families per month for a total of 360 during the year thanks to the renovation of the cottage at the entrance to the heart hospital complex: the “Viva i Bambini” Association renovates 8 new double rooms with services and kitchen and dining room shared by guests.
    • 2014 the number of families hosted every month increases and in addition 30 pregnant mothers at risk with a stay of 4-5 months are hosted
    • 2015 the need to adapt the accommodation with increasing availability of rooms for the reception of pregnant mothers with the need for daily monitoring is growing. The rooms of the “Johnson” structure

      • are renewed

    • In 2016, the availability of 20 beds per day is saturated: the search for a new hospitality facility has begun
    • March 15, 2017: a friend of the Association offers an apartment with the possibility of hosting 6 people; a manufacturer of hotel furniture gives us everything necessary to set up the bedrooms, the kitchen and dining room.

The Association for the Hospital of the Heart

Fundraising activities have been organized over the years with the aim of providing grants for the purchase of games and furnishings for the hospitalization of children, sanitary equipment for the surgery departments and for the construction of an entire new operating room.

Thanks to the recently renewed Convention, which defines the activities that the Association can carry out within the Hospital of the Heart of Massa, housing units have been set up for the hospitality of pre-hospitalization and post-intervention children, accompanied by families. An additional family member accompanying the patient is hosted free of charge in the residence.

Volunteers take action to obtain entry visas for families from non-EU countries, to organize the transport of patients by ambulance from airports to the hospital and to offer residences temporary

The Hospital of the Heart is also specialized in preparing pregnancies at risk of heart disease of the unborn child. Future mothers follow a monitoring process and find hospitality in the residence facilities set up and governed by the Association Volunteers.

Thanks to modern digital connection technologies, Un Cuore Un Mondo has set up cardiological diagnosis centers through telemedicine, at 9 hospitals in the Eastern European area. A network has therefore been created between hospitals where Hub is the Heart of Massa Hospital.

Through the network, images, live ultrasound scans, diagnosis and advice for any interventions on site or at the Massa Hospital are shared.

Contributions for scientific research and training of medical personnel

Thanks to the contributions made available, numerous Italian and foreign doctors were able to carry out training and specialization courses at Italian and foreign universities and hospitals.

This is also done through the “Prevention” Project of rheumatic heart disease which has been organized for 8 years by Un Cuore Un Mondo in Eritrea.