Bringing Sport and Solidarity Together: Andrea’s Charity Volleyball Tournament

Today, the gym at H-FARM International School is filled with a special kind of energy: enthusiasm, team spirit, and generosity. It’s finally the day of the charity volleyball tournament organized by Andrea, an MYP5 student, as part of her Personal Project.

Behind this event lies a simple yet powerful idea: turning a passion for sport into an opportunity for community and solidarity.

A Project Born from Passion and Heart

For Andrea, volleyball is more than just a sport, it’s an important part of her life. She has been playing for years with great dedication, sharing this passion with her mother, and she decided to bring it into her academic journey, making it the centerpiece of her Personal Project.

The Personal Project is designed to allow each student to transform a personal interest into something tangible. Andrea chose to do this through solidarity, creating a project that connects sport, friendship, and community engagement, involving not only her classmates but also teachers and other schools in the area.

That’s how the idea of the volleyball tournament was born, with all proceeds donated to La Nostra Famiglia, an association dedicated to the care and rehabilitation of people with disabilities, especially children and young people.

“I play volleyball a lot in my free time and I wanted to create something related to it,” Andrea explains. “Since we visited La Nostra Famiglia with my Spanish class last year, I decided to bring these two experiences together and create this event.”

La Nostra Famiglia: A Commitment Beyond Borders

Founded over seventy years ago, La Nostra Famiglia is one of the most important organizations in Italy working in rehabilitation and support for people with disabilities.
Active in six Italian regions, it also collaborates with the International Volunteer Cooperation Organization (OVCI) in five countries worldwide, bringing its expertise and professionalism beyond national borders.

The association provides care for children and young people with various forms of disability, from severe conditions, such as vegetative states or multiple impairments, to psychological or social difficulties.
Alongside clinical and rehabilitation activities, La Nostra Famiglia also promotes scientific research, professional training, family support, and the culture of social inclusion.

It’s a broad and profound commitment: one that translates, every single day, into concrete help for thousands of families.

A Tournament that Unites Schools, Communities, and Values

To bring her project to life, Andrea reached out to other schools in the area, inviting them to take part in the tournament.
The response was enthusiastic: EISP, Besta, The International School of Florence, and of course H-FARM International School, which hosted the event.

This gathering of schools turned into much more than just a sports competition: it became a moment of sharing, collaboration, and unity, where students from different backgrounds came together under the banner of teamwork and solidarity.

Beyond the Court: A Journey of Growth

Andrea’s tournament is a perfect example of how a school project can become a powerful experience of personal growth.
Behind every match, every team, and every smile were weeks of planning, contacting schools and sponsors, organizing logistics, managing communication, and handling donations.

Through it all, Andrea demonstrated not only passion and determination but also strong leadership, organization, and social responsibility — qualities that reflect the very essence of the IB programme and H-FARM’s values.

“This event was a whole new thing for me because I never did one before and I didn’t know what to expect,” she shares. “But I found it really interesting because I could see the faces of these kids, they were so happy. Even their president told me they had never felt so happy because it was something new for them.”

Those shared emotions gave her project an even deeper meaning:

“It was something new for them and for me. I found it really interesting and beautiful.”

Sport as a Universal Language of Inclusion

This day is a reminder that sport is not only about competition, it’s about dialogue, collaboration, and solidarity.
On the court, differences disappear, and what remains is the simple joy of playing together for a greater purpose.