Mirko is really proud of his Marsican origins. He was born in 1982, and his story is that of a returning emigrant: when he responded to the call for proposals, he was living in Brussels with his family (his Czech wife, two children and another on the way). After a Bachelor’s Degree in business administration and a Master’s Degree in analysis and management of tourism activities and resources at the Sapienza University of Rome, Mirko had worked in Italy on environmental and tourism planning and then in Berlin thanks to the European Commission’s Leonardo Da Vinci programme. “We have lived in Prague, where our first child was born, and then in Brussels, when my wife was hired at the European Parliament as a translator. In Brussels I was a full-time dad”, he says.

In describing Apenninini for All, Mirko starts with a negation, which, however, he uses to affirm a right: “I am not a tour operator for people with disabilities, but ALSO for people with disabilities: I try to involve each and every one. A vital aspect for me is inclusiveness, and it is crucial that there be not only people with disabilities. In the first tours I organised, there was a sort of intangible separation between able-bodied people and people with disabilities. What I do, however, is also meant to be a process aimed at breaking down barriers”. About a hundred people took part in the walk on Monte Salviano on Sunday 23 July. . Two of them, David and Simone, were on board a joelette. All paid the same fee: €5. On any excursion, the fee paid by able-bodied people makes it possible to cover the higher costs incurred to ensure the participation of people with disabilities, be they related to the use of the joelette or the presence of a sign language interpreter, if there are deaf people among the participants.

“The greatest challenge for me is making people understand that mine is not an association, but a tour operator. That this is a job. The difference is that I can organise these walks on an ongoing and professional basis, investing time to survey the area and recognising the work of the ‘drivers’ with fair remuneration” emphasises Mirko.

To explain the difference between the work of an association and that of Appennini for All, Mirko tells us about the very first outing he organised, in Pescasseroli: “The trip had been organised for a lady who had called me after finding our flyer at the information centre of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park. When we got there, on the set day and time, it was pouring. I went to her hotel and found her ready to go: “Come rain or shine, today I am going back to the woods” she said to me. She had not been able to do so for more than twenty years because of muscular dystrophy. So out we went, in the rain, wearing our rain jackets. That day had a strong impact on me”.