Roberto Maculan, 1958, was born in Zugliano, a small town near Vicenza. An early entrepreneur, he starts his building company at the age of 19. Will to work and great energy fuel one more passion: off-road racing, in both national and international competitions.

After many years Roberto decides to retire from races but not from off-road driving and organizes something special: an itinerary in Africa with some of his pilot friends. This first journey was the beginning of what today is a unique and extraordinary Italian achievement: Missionland.

The first trips Missionland engaged in served the purpose of taking and donating vehicles to some countries in the Sahel. The vehicles were fully overhauled and equipped specifically for travelling in Africa and to some remote villages, where people could not easily move to reach the nearest towns.

Claudia Chiaperotti started her travelling very early on, when she received a scholarship that in 1961 took her to California. That started her interest in the languages and ways of life of different cultures. She actively volunteers in the field of intercultural education. Claudia is a professional conference interpreter and contributed to the cultural and intercultural growth of the profession. She loves driving and jumped at the chance of taking part to a Missionland trip in 2006. Since then she continues to make available her human, linguistic and logistic abilities and her “eye” for the other worlds.

MISSIONLAND – ITALY – VENETO – VICENZA

The colour orange. For many it means Missionland. An orange truck on a dusty road full of potholes. The day is hot. Every now and then the radio starts cracking. Donkeys on the roadside, tufts of dry grass, baobabs in the distance.

Missionland means a group of people who followed Captain Roberto in his trips in the Sahel, fell in love with Africa and want to do what they can to concretely help such warm, smiling, generous people. They involved other volunteers who help to carry on the various projects. Ladies wrap up soap bars and creams in nice packages that become solidarity gifts which, distributed by a network of friends and supporters, are part of our fund raising effort; men work hours in the warehouse to prepare and equip mobile clinics, to assemble Jav-Ò devices, to overhaul bicycles… There is something for everyone who has the time and the will to spare for good causes!

We are a small group of not even thirty people, but together we express a lot of energy (and it takes all there is to keep up with that devil Captain Roberto, bursting with ideas and initiatives). Ready, go!

MISSIONLAND – BURKINA FASO – OUAGADOUGOU

We are proud to announce and introduce our team in Ouagadougou. Sinita, André, Blandine and Ousseni work with us, sharing our views. It is a great help having local people who guide us, support us and make us see what the real needs are. We are proud of working with them, which makes us efficient and successful.