(7 June 2017) The partnership between the Female Volleyball League and GICAM (International Group of Hand Surgeon Friends) consolidated during the 2016-17 season; will take place in Entebbe, Uganda. From June 11th-16th, an expedition of three players from the Samsung Gear Volley Cup and a coach, will accompany the medical team of Professor Marco Lanzetta, President of GICAM, to Uganda to work on the "Hand in Hand" project. The official meeting with Italian Ambassador to Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi Domenico Fornara will take place in the capital, Kampala. A dual mission: to operate on the hands of Ugandan children at Kisubi's CoRSU Rehabilitation Hospital and to set up a volleyball court for Ugandan girls aged 14 to 18. Elisa Cella (spiker for Imoco Volley Conegliano), Tereza Matuszkova (her last season with Sudtirol Bolzano), and Fabiola Facchinetti (middle blocker for SAB Grima Legnano), along with Maurizio Latelli, former Serie A player and current Under 18 Women's Saugella Team Monza coach will be the witnesses of a powerful message, in which the best values of sports such as friendship, solidarity, passion, and team spirit are brought together. "Our desire is to integrate volleyball closer with our projects and vice versa" commented Professor Lanzetta last October in Milan for the Serie A championships. "We are studying an intervention in Uganda, it is a double mission: we will work in a small hospital performing surgery on hands and we would like to bring coaches and players with us to organise a volleyball camp for girls between the ages of 14 and 18". The Volleyball League was immediately activated to contribute to the mission by organising a charity auction including jerseys worn by the Serie A champions at the Samsung Gear All Star Game. The proceeds were donated to GICAM to finance travel expenses. The enthusiasm and solidarity of fans were, as always, surprising: on the occasion of the Samsung Galaxy Finale at Coppa Italia, the chairman of the Lega Mauro Fabris handed Professor Lanzetta a check for €10,000 towards the costs of the mission in Uganda. The final phase of the "Hand in Hand" project will be officially presented in Milan on Thursday, June 8, at the Coni Lombardia headquarters in Via Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 46 at 11.30. (Red)

THE JOURNAL

Alessandro Spigno is the representative of the Serie A Women's Volleyball League in Uganda and will document the Italian expedition's activities in a video 'journal'. In addition to teaching young Ugandan volleyball players, both players and coaches will visit the hospital where Professor Lanzetta's team will operate.