From Panama to Lavena Ponte Tresa in search of her origins, the story of Jessica Torrazza, a 21-year-old Panamanian girl who, thanks to an international cooperation project, began a search to discover her roots in the Ceresio area.

Thanks to the initiative “Metti le radici – Mis raíces italianas” (My Italian Roots) organised by Comites of Panama and realised with the contribution of the General Directorate of Italians Abroad of MAECI which selected three young Panamanians aged between 18 and 27 with Italian ancestry to go on a real roots’ journey, discovering the places of their ancestors. Jessica was one of the three finalists, lives in Santiago de Veraguas, a city of almost 90,000 inhabitants in Panama, and whose origins take her back to Lavena Ponte Tresa.

His great-grandfather Carlo, born in 1880, emigrated to Panama to work on the construction of the Canal and soon became one of the most important personalities in Santiago de Veraguas. Jessica spent a few weeks in Italy and recounted her experience via her social channels, allowing anyone to follow her step by step in her daily discoveries, from meeting her cousins, to visiting the cemetery where her great-grandfather’s brother is buried, to tasting the local specialities, to taking a photo in front of the old front door of the family home.

An intimate experience that marked her deeply and inspired her to continue in the search for her own family history.