Being social

Last September, Italian freelance journalist Federico Bastiani and his South African-born wife Laurell decided to try to fill a void. The couple had been living on Bologna’s heavily residential Via Fondazza for three years but Federico’s work schedule combined with day-to-day distractions had kept them from making friends. Their isolation left their 20-month old son Matteo on his own. When his parents looked to set up play dates they just didn’t know where to turn. “We could hear other children around us,” says Federico, “but we couldn’t just knock on doors to ask kids to come out and play with Matteo.”

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