Identity and roots
The project was born in the summer of 2001 from a real encounter: during a Lega Missionaria Studenti camp, Father Massimo Nevola SJ and Father Vitangelo Denora SJ found a small group of children sleeping in a city dump in Sighet. In August 2002 the Italian-Romanian association 'Il Quadrifoglio' was registered, today chaired by Massimo Nevola SJ. Its inspiration is Catholic and Jesuit: closeness to the most vulnerable, educational responsibility, long-term work.
Sighet — the context
Sighetu Marmației is a Transylvanian town on the Ukrainian border (~41,000 inhabitants), shaped by social and economic fragility, delicate ethnic and religious balance, and deep historical wounds — in the memory of Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, deported from here to Auschwitz. In the early 2000s the closing of many state orphanages, without real alternatives, made the streets and the dumps a common destiny for too many children. That is where our presence began.
Family-based care
Family homes are designed as real life nuclei, with a resident couple as stable emotional reference and trusted daily relationships.
Education and autonomy
Each pathway aims at school progress, practical skills, and personal autonomy beyond emergency response.
Italy-Romania network
Volunteering, fundraising, and local partnerships build a stable bridge between Italian communities and Sighet, with entirely Romanian staff on the ground.
Our objectives
Four interconnected lines of work, guiding choices and activities on the ground.
- 01
Survival of at-risk children
Stable welcoming structures, networked with schools, services, and local families: real protection from the streets, exploitation, and abuse.
- 02
Human and educational development
A resident family — a couple with their own children — at the heart of each house, with specialized educators and local domestic staff: a stable emotional core, in clear contrast to the old orphanages.
- 03
Cultural development
School support, reading, music, sport, excursions, and a personalized educational plan for every child, built with a local-and-Italian pedagogical team.
- 04
Pathways to work and autonomy
Workshops (photography, woodworking) and accompaniment beyond age 18: the journey continues until each young person is truly ready for an independent life.
Partners and network
Organizations who have walked with us and sustain the daily work.
- Lega Missionaria Studenti (LMS) — Jesuit youth network — where the project began.
- Society of Jesus — spiritual matrix and institutional accompaniment.
- CVX Italia — lay community in the Ignatian tradition, partner on camps and formation.
- Popica Onlus — financial and operational partner.
- Aiutaci a Vivere Onlus — Italian network supporting the initiatives.
- Fondazione Magis — Jesuit missionary foundation.
- Protecția Copilor — Romanian child protection agency.
Today
Today the project continues with a more sustainable and deeper model: less centered on numbers, more centered on the quality of educational relationships and real-life impact.