RADICI SICILIANE SCHOLARSHIP FUND

We have had so many people over the years come to us and ask about scholarships so they can attend Radici. 

We understand why. For most of us a plane ticket to Sicily and the cost of registration is more than what many of us can afford. 

We offer long-term payment plans (9, 6, 4 months), but that often doesn’t work if the money just isn’t there. We are extremely aware of the reality of this. 

We began giving large discounts as well as doing many trades, as much as we could, but without raising our prices in a major way, we are not able to continue making Radici accessible in that way. Giving discounts without financial backing was and is not sustainable and defeats the purpose of wanting to make sure we are investing in Sicilian people, villages and communities. 

So we have decided to invite financially resourced Italian American individuals, businesses, and organizations to be part of the important act of allowing Radici to be accessible to those in need through contributing to scholarship funds.

CONTRIBUTE TO THE FUND

Why it’s important for us to create a scholarship fund: 

  • We believe in investing in Sicily, and through a scholarship fund we can allow someone in need to attend Radici and also fully pay our Sicilian community. You can read about our financial statement here 
  • We believe the work we are doing in Sicily is not just beneficial as a different kind of “tourism” for Sicilians, but also for the diaspora to re-connect with their ancestral lands not as a tourist, but as a guest.
  • We believe the work we do with local Sicilians (working with plants and foods, learning ancestral arts such as cheese making, basket weaving, folk drumming, learning mythology, learning from local naturalists, being deeply immersed in community and village rituals and celebrations…) is extremely healing and important for the Italian and Sicilian diaspora. They not only meet others in their Italian American (or Italian Australian, Italian Canadian…etc) community to form life long bonds, they also connect with Sicilian friends and family.
  • We believe in bridge building between diaspora and Sicily.
  • We believe that community support, financially, is essentially for us to remember who we are, in the depths of our bones, as Italian diaspora - we take care of each other.
  • We want as many people to experience the pure magic and togetherness that happens when we gather in Sicilia.

Our Goal for This Year's Scholarship Fund

 To cover the cost of:

  • one full immersion registration fee
  • one half immersion registration fee 

The registration fee for each immersion varies slightly. We hope to cover the cost of whichever immersion the recipient chooses.

If we do not reach our goal this year, your money will be saved and used for 2025 Radici Siciliane Immersions. 

If you would like to see a financial breakdown of these costs, we are happy to provide that upon request.

Who will Receive the Scholarship

  • someone of the Italian diaspora, with lineage to southern Italy. 
  • someone in financial need, which we will determine through conversations with applicants.  

You can contribute any amount here and we will keep you updated monthly on how close we are to our goal.

CONTRIBUTE TO THE FUND