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  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Children chase a rat in one of Messina's slums, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A view of one of Messina's slums under a bridge in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Sebastiano De Luca (58), poses for a portrait next to his shack, in one of Messinal's slums, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021. <br />
“I don’t trust anyone anymore,” said Sebastiano De Luca, 58, who lives in a block of shacks amassed between an obstructed canal and the morgue of Messina’s biggest hospital.<br />
<br />
Promising a house was a powerful electoral leverage, and over decades politicians only visited the slums ahead of elections to exchange votes with promises. Mr. De Luca once ran with a local candidate bringing him hundreds votes from the slums on the assurance of distributing houses.<br />
<br />
“He made a fool of me,” he said on a recent morning, after he had spent the night barefoot under the rain, freeing the canal from trash bags and waste to keep his street from flooding.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Sebastiano De Luca (58), poses for a portrait by the obstructed canal which causes floodings in the slum he lives in, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021. <br />
“I don’t trust anyone anymore,” said Sebastiano De Luca, 58, who lives in a block of shacks amassed between an obstructed canal and the morgue of Messina’s biggest hospital.<br />
<br />
Promising a house was a powerful electoral leverage, and over decades politicians only visited the slums ahead of elections to exchange votes with promises. Mr. De Luca once ran with a local candidate bringing him hundreds votes from the slums on the assurance of distributing houses.<br />
<br />
“He made a fool of me,” he said on a recent morning, after he had spent the night barefoot under the rain, freeing the canal from trash bags and waste to keep his street from flooding.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: (L-R) Ignazio D'Andrea (47) and his wife Giovanna Impalà (48) pose for portrait in front of their home in one of Messina's slums in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021. Mr D'Andrea has suffered from a spinal cord cancer and both his children, who suffer from asthma, moved out of their shack to go live with their grandfather.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: (L-R) Ignazio D'Andrea (47) and his wife Giovanna Impalà (48) pose for portrait in front of their home in one of Messina's slums in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021. Mr D'Andrea has suffered from a spinal cord cancer and both his children, who suffer from asthma, moved out of their shack to go live with their grandfather.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Rita Caruso (62) is seen here walking back home in an alley of the Giostra slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: (L-R) Rita Caruso (62) and her daughter Cristina Imperiale (36) pose for a portrait in front Mrs Imperiale's two-bedroom shack, here in the Giostra slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A bedroom without windows, where two teenager siblings sleep, is seen here in a shack in the Giostra slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A crib is seen here in a bedroom in one of the shacks in the Giostra slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Carmelo Gasbarro (47), who's been living in the same shack since he was a child, poses for a portrait in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Carmelo Gasbarro (47), shows the mold in the shack he's been living in since he was a child,  in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Women prepare tomato sauce next to one of the slums in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A view of shacks in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Carmelo Gasbarro (47), who's been living in the same shack since he was a child, poses for a portrait in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A view of the recently evacuated Fondo Fucile slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Marcello Scurria, a councilman in charge of the slums, is seen here by the recently evacuated Fondo Fucile slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: (L-R) Cousins Aurora (8) and Emanuele (7) are seen here playing in a two-bedroom shack where a total of 8 people live, in one of Messina's slums, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A kitchen stove is seen here in the veranda entrance of a shack in one of Messina's slums, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Nazzarena Farinella, who lives in a shack in one of Messina's slums with her husband Sebastiano De Luca, is seen here in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Sebastiano De Luca (58), who lives in one of Messina's slums, shows stains of mold in his shack in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021. “I don’t trust anyone anymore,” said Sebastiano De Luca, 58, who lives in a block of shacks amassed between an obstructed canal and the morgue of Messina’s biggest hospital.<br />
<br />
Promising a house was a powerful electoral leverage, and over decades politicians only visited the slums ahead of elections to exchange votes with promises. Mr. De Luca once ran with a local candidate bringing him hundreds votes from the slums on the assurance of distributing houses.<br />
<br />
“He made a fool of me,” he said on a recent morning, after he had spent the night barefoot under the rain, freeing the canal from trash bags and waste to keep his street from flooding.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Sebastiano De Luca (58), who lives in one of Messina's slums, is seen here next to his shack in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021. “I don’t trust anyone anymore,” said Sebastiano De Luca, 58, who lives in a block of shacks amassed between an obstructed canal and the morgue of Messina’s biggest hospital.<br />
<br />
Promising a house was a powerful electoral leverage, and over decades politicians only visited the slums ahead of elections to exchange votes with promises. Mr. De Luca once ran with a local candidate bringing him hundreds votes from the slums on the assurance of distributing houses.<br />
<br />
“He made a fool of me,” he said on a recent morning, after he had spent the night barefoot under the rain, freeing the canal from trash bags and waste to keep his street from flooding.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: An obstructed canal which causes floodings in the nearby shacks of one of Messina's slums is seen here in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A recently evacuated slum is seen here in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Angela Furone (69), is seen here in the shack he's been living in with her husband for more than 40 years, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Angela Furone (69), is seen here in the shack he's been living in with her husband for more than 40 years, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: An interior view of a shack of the Alta Annunziata slum after being recently evacuated, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A view of the recently evacuated Annunziata Alta slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A view of the recently evacuated Annunziata Alta slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Marked shacks soon to be demolished are seen here in the recently evacuated Annunziata Alta slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Marked shacks soon to be demolished are seen here in the recently evacuated Annunziata Alta slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A view of the shacks is seen here in the recently evacuated Annunziata Alta slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A shack built after the devastating 1908 eartquake in Messina, is seen here in the recently evacuated Annunziata Alta slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Mayor of Messina Cateno De Luca (49) walks out of his office next to a "Access denied to flying donkeys" flyer, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021. In the three years of his administration Mr. De Luca managed to provide a home to 300 families and empty seven of the 72 blocks of shacks, but he said that without special executive powers by the government, local authorities drowned in bureaucracy. <br />
<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Mayor of Messina Cateno De Luca (49) poses for a portrait in his office in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021. In the three years of his administration Mr. De Luca managed to provide a home to 300 families and empty seven of the 72 blocks of shacks, but he said that without special executive powers by the government, local authorities drowned in bureaucracy. <br />
<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Mayor of Messina Cateno De Luca (49) poses for a portrait in his office in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021. In the three years of his administration Mr. De Luca managed to provide a home to 300 families and empty seven of the 72 blocks of shacks, but he said that without special executive powers by the government, local authorities drowned in bureaucracy. <br />
<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Gabriele Somma (24), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3046...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Gabriele Somma (24), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3045...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Gabriele Somma (24), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3044...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Gabriele Somma (24), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3043...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Gabriele Somma (24), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3043...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Ilaria Sommonte (27), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3043...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Ilaria Sommonte (27), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3041...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Ilaria Sommonte (27), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3040...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Ilaria Sommonte (27), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3040...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Ilaria Sommonte (27), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3039...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Ilaria Sommonte (27), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3039...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Ilaria Sommonte (27), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3039...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Ilaria Sommonte (27), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3038...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A view of one of Messina's slums under a bridge in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A view of one of Messina's slums under a bridge in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A view of one of Messina's slums under a bridge in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A view of one of Messina's slums under a bridge in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A view of one of Messina's slums under a bridge in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A child chases a rat in one of Messina's slums, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Sebastiano De Luca (58), poses for a portrait next to his shack, in one of Messinal's slums, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021. <br />
“I don’t trust anyone anymore,” said Sebastiano De Luca, 58, who lives in a block of shacks amassed between an obstructed canal and the morgue of Messina’s biggest hospital.<br />
<br />
Promising a house was a powerful electoral leverage, and over decades politicians only visited the slums ahead of elections to exchange votes with promises. Mr. De Luca once ran with a local candidate bringing him hundreds votes from the slums on the assurance of distributing houses.<br />
<br />
“He made a fool of me,” he said on a recent morning, after he had spent the night barefoot under the rain, freeing the canal from trash bags and waste to keep his street from flooding.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Sebastiano De Luca (58), poses for a portrait by the obstructed canal which causes floodings in the slum he lives in, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021. <br />
“I don’t trust anyone anymore,” said Sebastiano De Luca, 58, who lives in a block of shacks amassed between an obstructed canal and the morgue of Messina’s biggest hospital.<br />
<br />
Promising a house was a powerful electoral leverage, and over decades politicians only visited the slums ahead of elections to exchange votes with promises. Mr. De Luca once ran with a local candidate bringing him hundreds votes from the slums on the assurance of distributing houses.<br />
<br />
“He made a fool of me,” he said on a recent morning, after he had spent the night barefoot under the rain, freeing the canal from trash bags and waste to keep his street from flooding.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Beatrice Surace (54), who has been living in a shack for 35 years, cries as she shows the conditions of her ceiling damaged by mold and humidity, here in the Giostra slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: An elderly man is seen here walking in the Giostra slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Residents of the Giostra slum gathered next to their shacks in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: (L-R) Rita Caruso (62) and her daughter Cristina Imperiale (36) pose for a portrait in front Mrs Imperiale's two-bedroom shack, here in the Giostra slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Mold is seen here in a shack in the Giostra slum  in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Carmelo Gasbarro (47), who's been living in the same shack since he was a child, poses for a portrait in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Carmelo Gasbarro (47), is seen here in the shack he's been living in since he was a child, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Carmelo Gasbarro (47), who's been living in the same shack since he was a child, poses for a portrait in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A shack is seen here in one of Messina's slums, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Francesca De Luca (28), opens a window in the two-bedroom shack she shares her husband, two children, sister, brother-in-law and two nephews for a total of 8 people, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Angela Furone (69), is seen here in the shack he's been living in with her husband for more than 40 years, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Carmelo D'Angelo (66), shows the documents and requests for a new home here in the shack he's been living in with his wife for more than 40 years, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A view of the Giostra slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Antonino Mancuso (86), is seen here in front of the shack he's been living in with his wifefor more than 56 years, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Antonino Mancuso (86), is seen here in front of the shack he's been living in for 56 years, in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A shack of the Giostra slum is seen here in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: A shack built after the devastating 1908 eartquake in Messina, is seen here in the recently evacuated Annunziata Alta slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: The entrance door to a shack in the recently evacuated Annunziata Alta slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: An elderly woman living next to the recently evacuated Alta Annunziata slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Marked shacks soon to be demolished are seen here in the recently evacuated Annunziata Alta slum in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021.<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Mayor of Messina Cateno De Luca (49) poses for a portrait in his office in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021. In the three years of his administration Mr. De Luca managed to provide a home to 300 families and empty seven of the 72 blocks of shacks, but he said that without special executive powers by the government, local authorities drowned in bureaucracy. <br />
<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • MESSINA, ITALY - 8 SEPTEMBER 2021: Mayor of Messina Cateno De Luca (49) poses for a portrait in his office in Messina, Italy, on September 8th 2021. In the three years of his administration Mr. De Luca managed to provide a home to 300 families and empty seven of the 72 blocks of shacks, but he said that without special executive powers by the government, local authorities drowned in bureaucracy. <br />
<br />
<br />
In 1908, a devastating earthquake struck Messina, a city wedged between pine and eucalyptus forests and the narrow straits separating Sicily from the Italian mainland. About 90 percent of the city collapsed, killing half of the population. From the rubble, authorities built temporary shacks in anticipation of sturdier housing for the displaced. More than a hundred years later, about 6,500 Italians still live in makeshift hovels scattered around the city. After decades of broken promises, salvation appears to be triggered by a more recent disaster: the coronavirus spread across the close quarters of the slums generating a public health alarm that attracted national attention.<br />
<br />
Last May, the government inserted within a covid relief package an allocation of 100 million euros to free Messina from the barracks within three years.<br />
<br />
In the humid huts, built in large part with asbestos, residents suffer from high rates of cancer, asthma and pneumonia and on average live seven years less than the rest of the population, according to the local Community Foundation.
    CIPG_20210908_NYT_Messina-Slums_A73_...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Gabriele Somma (24), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3046...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Gabriele Somma (24), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3044...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Gabriele Somma (24), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3044...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Gabriele Somma (24), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3044...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Ilaria Sommonte (27), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3043...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Ilaria Sommonte (27), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3042...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Ilaria Sommonte (27), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3041...jpg
  • NYTVIRUS<br />
NAPLES, ITALY - 2 MAY 2020: Ilaria Sommonte (27), a nurse at the "Cotugno", Naples's main Covid hospital, poses for a portrait at the Cotugno hospital in Naples, Italy, on May 2nd 2020
    CIPG_20200502_NYT_Harm-Naples_7M3040...jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 29 MAY 2020: Raffaele Giusti (9, 4th grade) attends his last day of school, logged in online with his mother's smartphone, here in an occupied apartment in Naples, Italy, on May 29th 2020. Raffaele needs to share his mother's smartphone with his two older siblings for online classes, since the family cannot afford a computer or tablet.<br />
<br />
In Italy, a country ravaged by the coronavirus, there is a new casualty: Students. Many children from low-income families have effectively dropped out of school, say teachers and charity groups, the result of the prolonged, nation-wide school closure caused by the pandemic. In early March Italy became one of the first countries in the world to shut down all schools, forcing teachers to turn to remote learning. But many families have struggled with the shift, and many children have been left behind. Around 12% of school-age children don’t have a computer or a tablet at home, and parents are often unable or unwilling to help. The Covid dropouts are intensifying a problem that was already there. Even before the pandemic, Italy had one of the highest school dropout rates in Europe. And there is no solution in sight, since schools won’t reopen before September at the earliest. The problem is particularly acute among poor and marginalized communities in places such as Naples, where teenagers are easily lured into the ranks of organized crime syndicates. In one middle-school on the outskirts of the city, for instance, around 10% of students didn’t access online classes at all. Many others participate only occasionally. “I’ve never had this many kids not come to school,” says Barbara De Cerbo, the headmaster. “There is the fear that we’ll lose some of them for good.”<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: DROPOUTS
    CIPG_20200529_WSJ-Dropouts_7M308189.jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 12 MAY 2020: The occupied building where Marilena Colantuono (37), unemployed and mother of three, lives, in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on May 12th 2020.<br />
<br />
In Italy, a country ravaged by the coronavirus, there is a new casualty: Students. Many children from low-income families have effectively dropped out of school, say teachers and charity groups, the result of the prolonged, nation-wide school closure caused by the pandemic. In early March Italy became one of the first countries in the world to shut down all schools, forcing teachers to turn to remote learning. But many families have struggled with the shift, and many children have been left behind. Around 12% of school-age children don’t have a computer or a tablet at home, and parents are often unable or unwilling to help. The Covid dropouts are intensifying a problem that was already there. Even before the pandemic, Italy had one of the highest school dropout rates in Europe. And there is no solution in sight, since schools won’t reopen before September at the earliest. The problem is particularly acute among poor and marginalized communities in places such as Naples, where teenagers are easily lured into the ranks of organized crime syndicates. In one middle-school on the outskirts of the city, for instance, around 10% of students didn’t access online classes at all. Many others participate only occasionally. “I’ve never had this many kids not come to school,” says Barbara De Cerbo, the headmaster. “There is the fear that we’ll lose some of them for good.”<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: DROPOUTS
    CIPG_20200512_WSJ_NewPoor_7M307462.jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 12 MAY 2020: Marilena Colantuono (37), an unemployed mother of three children, looks out of the window of her occupied apartment in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on May 12th 2020.<br />
<br />
In Italy, a country ravaged by the coronavirus, there is a new casualty: Students. Many children from low-income families have effectively dropped out of school, say teachers and charity groups, the result of the prolonged, nation-wide school closure caused by the pandemic. In early March Italy became one of the first countries in the world to shut down all schools, forcing teachers to turn to remote learning. But many families have struggled with the shift, and many children have been left behind. Around 12% of school-age children don’t have a computer or a tablet at home, and parents are often unable or unwilling to help. The Covid dropouts are intensifying a problem that was already there. Even before the pandemic, Italy had one of the highest school dropout rates in Europe. And there is no solution in sight, since schools won’t reopen before September at the earliest. The problem is particularly acute among poor and marginalized communities in places such as Naples, where teenagers are easily lured into the ranks of organized crime syndicates. In one middle-school on the outskirts of the city, for instance, around 10% of students didn’t access online classes at all. Many others participate only occasionally. “I’ve never had this many kids not come to school,” says Barbara De Cerbo, the headmaster. “There is the fear that we’ll lose some of them for good.”<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: DROPOUTS
    CIPG_20200512_WSJ_NewPoor_7M307335.jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 12 MAY 2020: The children's recreational room at the NGO L'Albero della vita is seen here in Ponticelli, a district in the outskirts of Naples, Italy, on May 12th 2020.<br />
<br />
In Italy, a country ravaged by the coronavirus, there is a new casualty: Students. Many children from low-income families have effectively dropped out of school, say teachers and charity groups, the result of the prolonged, nation-wide school closure caused by the pandemic. In early March Italy became one of the first countries in the world to shut down all schools, forcing teachers to turn to remote learning. But many families have struggled with the shift, and many children have been left behind. Around 12% of school-age children don’t have a computer or a tablet at home, and parents are often unable or unwilling to help. The Covid dropouts are intensifying a problem that was already there. Even before the pandemic, Italy had one of the highest school dropout rates in Europe. And there is no solution in sight, since schools won’t reopen before September at the earliest. The problem is particularly acute among poor and marginalized communities in places such as Naples, where teenagers are easily lured into the ranks of organized crime syndicates. In one middle-school on the outskirts of the city, for instance, around 10% of students didn’t access online classes at all. Many others participate only occasionally. “I’ve never had this many kids not come to school,” says Barbara De Cerbo, the headmaster. “There is the fear that we’ll lose some of them for good.”<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: DROPOUTS
    CIPG_20200512_WSJ_NewPoor_7M306853.jpg
  • SANT'ANASTASIA, ITALY - 29 MAY 2020: Giusi Amodio (44), an elementary school teacher, teaches her last day of school online to 4th graders  with a tablet from her home in Sant'Anastasia, Italy, on May 29th 2020. <br />
<br />
In Italy, a country ravaged by the coronavirus, there is a new casualty: Students. Many children from low-income families have effectively dropped out of school, say teachers and charity groups, the result of the prolonged, nation-wide school closure caused by the pandemic. In early March Italy became one of the first countries in the world to shut down all schools, forcing teachers to turn to remote learning. But many families have struggled with the shift, and many children have been left behind. Around 12% of school-age children don’t have a computer or a tablet at home, and parents are often unable or unwilling to help. The Covid dropouts are intensifying a problem that was already there. Even before the pandemic, Italy had one of the highest school dropout rates in Europe. And there is no solution in sight, since schools won’t reopen before September at the earliest. The problem is particularly acute among poor and marginalized communities in places such as Naples, where teenagers are easily lured into the ranks of organized crime syndicates. In one middle-school on the outskirts of the city, for instance, around 10% of students didn’t access online classes at all. Many others participate only occasionally. “I’ve never had this many kids not come to school,” says Barbara De Cerbo, the headmaster. “There is the fear that we’ll lose some of them for good.”<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: DROPOUTS
    CIPG_20200529_WSJ-Dropouts_7M308540.jpg
  • SANT'ANASTASIA, ITALY - 29 MAY 2020: Giusi Amodio (44), an elementary school teacher, teaches her last day of school online to 4th graders  with a tablet from her home in Sant'Anastasia, Italy, on May 29th 2020. <br />
<br />
In Italy, a country ravaged by the coronavirus, there is a new casualty: Students. Many children from low-income families have effectively dropped out of school, say teachers and charity groups, the result of the prolonged, nation-wide school closure caused by the pandemic. In early March Italy became one of the first countries in the world to shut down all schools, forcing teachers to turn to remote learning. But many families have struggled with the shift, and many children have been left behind. Around 12% of school-age children don’t have a computer or a tablet at home, and parents are often unable or unwilling to help. The Covid dropouts are intensifying a problem that was already there. Even before the pandemic, Italy had one of the highest school dropout rates in Europe. And there is no solution in sight, since schools won’t reopen before September at the earliest. The problem is particularly acute among poor and marginalized communities in places such as Naples, where teenagers are easily lured into the ranks of organized crime syndicates. In one middle-school on the outskirts of the city, for instance, around 10% of students didn’t access online classes at all. Many others participate only occasionally. “I’ve never had this many kids not come to school,” says Barbara De Cerbo, the headmaster. “There is the fear that we’ll lose some of them for good.”<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: DROPOUTS
    CIPG_20200529_WSJ-Dropouts_7M308469.jpg
  • SANT'ANASTASIA, ITALY - 29 MAY 2020: A 4th grader is seen here online on the tablet of Giusi Amodio (44), an elementary school teacher, during the last day of school, in Sant'Anastasia, Italy, on May 29th 2020. <br />
<br />
In Italy, a country ravaged by the coronavirus, there is a new casualty: Students. Many children from low-income families have effectively dropped out of school, say teachers and charity groups, the result of the prolonged, nation-wide school closure caused by the pandemic. In early March Italy became one of the first countries in the world to shut down all schools, forcing teachers to turn to remote learning. But many families have struggled with the shift, and many children have been left behind. Around 12% of school-age children don’t have a computer or a tablet at home, and parents are often unable or unwilling to help. The Covid dropouts are intensifying a problem that was already there. Even before the pandemic, Italy had one of the highest school dropout rates in Europe. And there is no solution in sight, since schools won’t reopen before September at the earliest. The problem is particularly acute among poor and marginalized communities in places such as Naples, where teenagers are easily lured into the ranks of organized crime syndicates. In one middle-school on the outskirts of the city, for instance, around 10% of students didn’t access online classes at all. Many others participate only occasionally. “I’ve never had this many kids not come to school,” says Barbara De Cerbo, the headmaster. “There is the fear that we’ll lose some of them for good.”<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: DROPOUTS
    CIPG_20200529_WSJ-Dropouts_7M308415.jpg
  • SANT'ANASTASIA, ITALY - 29 MAY 2020: Giusi Amodio (44), an elementary school teacher, teaches her last day of school online to 4th graders  with a tablet from her home in Sant'Anastasia, Italy, on May 29th 2020. <br />
<br />
In Italy, a country ravaged by the coronavirus, there is a new casualty: Students. Many children from low-income families have effectively dropped out of school, say teachers and charity groups, the result of the prolonged, nation-wide school closure caused by the pandemic. In early March Italy became one of the first countries in the world to shut down all schools, forcing teachers to turn to remote learning. But many families have struggled with the shift, and many children have been left behind. Around 12% of school-age children don’t have a computer or a tablet at home, and parents are often unable or unwilling to help. The Covid dropouts are intensifying a problem that was already there. Even before the pandemic, Italy had one of the highest school dropout rates in Europe. And there is no solution in sight, since schools won’t reopen before September at the earliest. The problem is particularly acute among poor and marginalized communities in places such as Naples, where teenagers are easily lured into the ranks of organized crime syndicates. In one middle-school on the outskirts of the city, for instance, around 10% of students didn’t access online classes at all. Many others participate only occasionally. “I’ve never had this many kids not come to school,” says Barbara De Cerbo, the headmaster. “There is the fear that we’ll lose some of them for good.”<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: DROPOUTS
    CIPG_20200529_WSJ-Dropouts_7M308317.jpg
  • SANT'ANASTASIA, ITALY - 29 MAY 2020: Giusi Amodio (44), an elementary school teacher, teaches her last day of school online to 4th graders  with a tablet from her home in Sant'Anastasia, Italy, on May 29th 2020. <br />
<br />
In Italy, a country ravaged by the coronavirus, there is a new casualty: Students. Many children from low-income families have effectively dropped out of school, say teachers and charity groups, the result of the prolonged, nation-wide school closure caused by the pandemic. In early March Italy became one of the first countries in the world to shut down all schools, forcing teachers to turn to remote learning. But many families have struggled with the shift, and many children have been left behind. Around 12% of school-age children don’t have a computer or a tablet at home, and parents are often unable or unwilling to help. The Covid dropouts are intensifying a problem that was already there. Even before the pandemic, Italy had one of the highest school dropout rates in Europe. And there is no solution in sight, since schools won’t reopen before September at the earliest. The problem is particularly acute among poor and marginalized communities in places such as Naples, where teenagers are easily lured into the ranks of organized crime syndicates. In one middle-school on the outskirts of the city, for instance, around 10% of students didn’t access online classes at all. Many others participate only occasionally. “I’ve never had this many kids not come to school,” says Barbara De Cerbo, the headmaster. “There is the fear that we’ll lose some of them for good.”<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: DROPOUTS
    CIPG_20200529_WSJ-Dropouts_7M308284.jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 29 MAY 2020: Raffaele Giusti (9, 4th grade) attends his last day of school, logged in online with his mother's smartphone, here in an occupied apartment in Naples, Italy, on May 29th 2020. Raffaele needs to share his mother's smartphone with his two older siblings for online classes, since the family cannot afford a computer or tablet.<br />
<br />
In Italy, a country ravaged by the coronavirus, there is a new casualty: Students. Many children from low-income families have effectively dropped out of school, say teachers and charity groups, the result of the prolonged, nation-wide school closure caused by the pandemic. In early March Italy became one of the first countries in the world to shut down all schools, forcing teachers to turn to remote learning. But many families have struggled with the shift, and many children have been left behind. Around 12% of school-age children don’t have a computer or a tablet at home, and parents are often unable or unwilling to help. The Covid dropouts are intensifying a problem that was already there. Even before the pandemic, Italy had one of the highest school dropout rates in Europe. And there is no solution in sight, since schools won’t reopen before September at the earliest. The problem is particularly acute among poor and marginalized communities in places such as Naples, where teenagers are easily lured into the ranks of organized crime syndicates. In one middle-school on the outskirts of the city, for instance, around 10% of students didn’t access online classes at all. Many others participate only occasionally. “I’ve never had this many kids not come to school,” says Barbara De Cerbo, the headmaster. “There is the fear that we’ll lose some of them for good.”<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: DROPOUTS
    CIPG_20200529_WSJ-Dropouts_7M308248.jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 29 MAY 2020: Raffaele Giusti (9, 4th grade) attends his last day of school, logged in online with his mother's smartphone, here in an occupied apartment in Naples, Italy, on May 29th 2020. Raffaele needs to share his mother's smartphone with his two older siblings for online classes, since the family cannot afford a computer or tablet.<br />
<br />
In Italy, a country ravaged by the coronavirus, there is a new casualty: Students. Many children from low-income families have effectively dropped out of school, say teachers and charity groups, the result of the prolonged, nation-wide school closure caused by the pandemic. In early March Italy became one of the first countries in the world to shut down all schools, forcing teachers to turn to remote learning. But many families have struggled with the shift, and many children have been left behind. Around 12% of school-age children don’t have a computer or a tablet at home, and parents are often unable or unwilling to help. The Covid dropouts are intensifying a problem that was already there. Even before the pandemic, Italy had one of the highest school dropout rates in Europe. And there is no solution in sight, since schools won’t reopen before September at the earliest. The problem is particularly acute among poor and marginalized communities in places such as Naples, where teenagers are easily lured into the ranks of organized crime syndicates. In one middle-school on the outskirts of the city, for instance, around 10% of students didn’t access online classes at all. Many others participate only occasionally. “I’ve never had this many kids not come to school,” says Barbara De Cerbo, the headmaster. “There is the fear that we’ll lose some of them for good.”<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: DROPOUTS
    CIPG_20200529_WSJ-Dropouts_7M308192.jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 29 MAY 2020: Raffaele Giusti (9, 4th grade) attends his last day of school, logged in online with his mother's smartphone, as his teacher explains a math exercise , here in an occupied apartment in Naples, Italy, on May 29th 2020. Raffaele needs to share his mother's smartphone with his two older siblings for online classes, since the family cannot afford a computer or tablet.<br />
<br />
In Italy, a country ravaged by the coronavirus, there is a new casualty: Students. Many children from low-income families have effectively dropped out of school, say teachers and charity groups, the result of the prolonged, nation-wide school closure caused by the pandemic. In early March Italy became one of the first countries in the world to shut down all schools, forcing teachers to turn to remote learning. But many families have struggled with the shift, and many children have been left behind. Around 12% of school-age children don’t have a computer or a tablet at home, and parents are often unable or unwilling to help. The Covid dropouts are intensifying a problem that was already there. Even before the pandemic, Italy had one of the highest school dropout rates in Europe. And there is no solution in sight, since schools won’t reopen before September at the earliest. The problem is particularly acute among poor and marginalized communities in places such as Naples, where teenagers are easily lured into the ranks of organized crime syndicates. In one middle-school on the outskirts of the city, for instance, around 10% of students didn’t access online classes at all. Many others participate only occasionally. “I’ve never had this many kids not come to school,” says Barbara De Cerbo, the headmaster. “There is the fear that we’ll lose some of them for good.”<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: DROPOUTS
    CIPG_20200529_WSJ-Dropouts_7M308154.jpg
  • NAPLES, ITALY - 29 MAY 2020: Raffaele Giusti (9, 4th grade, center) attends his last day of school, logged in online with his mother's smartphone, as his mother Marilena Colantuono (37) looks at the screen and his sister Ilaria plays with their dog Maya, here in an occupied apartment in Naples, Italy, on May 29th 2020. Raffaele needs to share his mother's smartphone with his two older siblings for online classes, since the family cannot afford a computer or tablet.<br />
<br />
In Italy, a country ravaged by the coronavirus, there is a new casualty: Students. Many children from low-income families have effectively dropped out of school, say teachers and charity groups, the result of the prolonged, nation-wide school closure caused by the pandemic. In early March Italy became one of the first countries in the world to shut down all schools, forcing teachers to turn to remote learning. But many families have struggled with the shift, and many children have been left behind. Around 12% of school-age children don’t have a computer or a tablet at home, and parents are often unable or unwilling to help. The Covid dropouts are intensifying a problem that was already there. Even before the pandemic, Italy had one of the highest school dropout rates in Europe. And there is no solution in sight, since schools won’t reopen before September at the earliest. The problem is particularly acute among poor and marginalized communities in places such as Naples, where teenagers are easily lured into the ranks of organized crime syndicates. In one middle-school on the outskirts of the city, for instance, around 10% of students didn’t access online classes at all. Many others participate only occasionally. “I’ve never had this many kids not come to school,” says Barbara De Cerbo, the headmaster. “There is the fear that we’ll lose some of them for good.”<br />
<br />
CREDIT: Gianni Cipriano for The Wall Street Journal<br />
<br />
SLUG: DROPOUTS
    CIPG_20200529_WSJ-Dropouts_7M308085.jpg
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