Introducing Marco Cavallo - A blue horse with a loud voice.

A blue horse with a loud voice. Meet Marco Cavallo — a symbol born in 1973 at the San Giovanni Asylum in Italy, during the transformative movement led by Franco Basaglia to end coercive and dehumanising practices in mental institutions. What began as a simple wooden, paper-mâché horse used to carry laundry through hospital corridors soon evolved into something far greater. When Marco Cavallo was brought outside the asylum for the first time, he walked alongside people with lived experience — becoming a powerful emblem of freedom, dignity, autonomy, and human rights. A special moment from the Franco Basaglia Conference: Last week, Puan Anita received a miniature Marco Cavallo — the iconic blue horse that helped open the doors of psychiatric institutions and continues to shape global conversations on humane, rights-based mental health care. Marco Cavallo reminds us that: ✨ Mental health conditions do not silence a person’s voice. ✨ Every individual deserves liberty, dignity, and choice. ✨ People are always more than a diagnosis — they are humans first. We invite you to listen Puan Anita explanation — a powerful reminder that mental health recovery must always centre humanity, compassion, and the voices of those who have walked the journey themselves. #MarcoCavallo #FrancoBasaglia #MentalHealthReform #HumanRightsInMentalHealth #GoBorderless