Annalisa Tosoni of Milan, Italy, found long-sought answers through Scientology.

At age 16, Annalisa Tosoni’s youth came to an abrupt end. At the center of her world was “the best dad anyone could ever have.” When he died, so did her childhood and her happiness.

“I could not understand why it happened,” says Tosoni. “Nothing people told me made any sense. I needed answers to questions I had never thought to ask before: Who are we really? Why are we here? And why him?”

Tosoni’s father had lived life to the fullest, and it didn’t make sense to her that one moment he was so much there and the next minute he was gone.

“I wanted to know where we go after our bodies die, and what is the purpose of life,” she says.

Tosoni’s search extended beyond her own personal sorrow to questions such as—Why do people have to suffer? Why are we here? Why are some rich, some poor? Why are there children who are hungry every day of their lives? Why is there violence, injustice, crime?”

“After my father passed away, my mother was incredible,” says Tosoni. “She raised my sister, who was only 8, and me with courage and strength. But from that point forward, I was ‘the sad one’—never happy. And never satisfied.”

Tosoni graduated from school at 19 with an excellent education but no anchor—she drifted from job to job, looking for she knew not what and never finding it, until learning about Scientology in 1992 when she was 30.

“I took a job traveling with a couple from Lugano, Switzerland, looking after their 2 year-old daughter while the family vacationed and received religious service at the Church of Scientology in Copenhagen, Denmark. “I knew nothing about Scientology, but one day I walked into the Church with the family and I was amazed. The people there were incredibly alive and welcoming—they communicated so freely among themselves and to me. I was impressed and wanted to find out more.”

All the questions Tosoni had stored up since her father’s sudden death came tumbling out, and one by one they were answered. For the first time in 14 years, she was smiling again.

And when she looked for answers to helping others, she found those too.

“Through Scientology I have learned a technology of help, and found a group that shares my beliefs and commitment to making life better for others.”

After resolving her personal issues, Tosoni, now 49, found it a natural progression to become a staff member of the Church of Scientology of Milan, Italy, where her own beliefs were echoed in the Creed of the Church of Scientology, written by L. Ron Hubbard: “We of the Church believe: That all men of whatever race, color or creed were created with equal rights.”

“We live this creed with our humanitarian projects,” she says.

Tosoni coordinates the human rights activities of the Church in Milan. For the past nine years she has organized annual charitable concerts to commemorate the December 1948 adoption of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, funding initiatives such as care for the elderly, the Croce Giallo-Azzurra (Blue and Yellow Cross) Civil Protection volunteers, and UNITED for Africa, a project supported by the Church and the Association for Human Rights and Tolerance of Italy.

Tosoni’s human rights activities often focus on children. Through UNITED for Africa she helped fund and build two schools in Ghana, including one in the village of Twewaa that is providing education for the first time to the children of the region.

“Nowhere are human rights more important than when it comes to children,” says Tosoni. “It is vital for people of all faiths and walks of life to take responsibility for the welfare and education of the next generation, protect them from abuse and instill in them respectfor themselves, for diversity, and the rights of others.”

For more information on the human rights initiatives of the Church of Scientology, and to learn about what Scientologists are doing to create a better world, visit the Scientology website at www.Scientology.org

The popular “Meet a Scientologist” profiles on the Church of Scientology International Video Channel at Scientology.org now total more than 200 broadcast-quality documentary videos featuring Scientologists from diverse locations and walks of life. The personal stories are told by Scientologists who are educators, teenagers, skydivers, a golf instructor, a hip-hop dancer, IT manager, stunt pilot, mothers, fathers, dentists, photographers, actors, musicians, fashion designers, engineers, students, business owners and more.

A digital pioneer and leader in the online religious community, in April 2008 the Church of Scientology became the first major religion to launch its own official YouTube Video Channel, which has now been viewed by millions of visitors.