NATIONAL DON BOSCO YOUTH NET MEETING
FOR THE UPCOMING
10/03/2011 – 13/03/2011 Don Bosco Youth-Net ivzw Salesjanski Centrum WDM
“COOPERATION FOR DEVELOPMENT, NGOs AND PERSONAL LIFE: ONLY A JOB?”
7th MARCH 2011, ROME
The meeting was in place as part of a six-months long program about working in the field of international development cooperation organized by the VIS ngo, part of the Italian Salesians network. The Don Bosco Youth meeting in Cracow was included as part of a great example as volunteering is important in the field of international cooperation. The organizers presented Stefano Angeloni for SCS/CNOS that was in charge of presenting the Don Bosco Youth activities and more specifically the upcoming meeting, the floor was going to be then open to direct experiences from international volunteers in order to inspire a debate focused on the opinions of the speakers but more in general intended to get as much contribution as possible from the audience. The audience was in fact composed by a wide range of people, differing in age, professional life and experiences but sharing a common interest in international cooperation and volunteering.
Stefano Angeloni introduced the theme of the meeting in Poland starting from the European Union point of view both citing the “volunteer year” and the side-projects funded and organized from Bruxelles in the current year. The Italian SCS/CNOS representative talked about the importance of the meeting included in the “YOUTH IN ACTION” program with the aim of a reflection about volunteering and for democratic representation. Then the three-day program was outlined highlighting the opportunity for the audience to make comments and having their contribution for their representative in Cracow to bring out and enforce on a international level. Mr. Angeloni, after having announced that on the 21st of march there would have been another meeting to have the report after the meeting, introduced then the next speaker that would have been Andrea Marino, a participant at the Cracow convention.
Andrea Marino talked about his experiences as a volunteer starting from early stages in his small neighborhood community to his international volunteering spells. After having been focusing cloth collection and fund raising for the poor in the community, he developed an interest for international cooperation due to his studies of political science in the field of international relations. Andrea spent one month in the poorest neighborhood of Nairobi, Kenya, working with less fortunate children and another month in Peru in the same field. While keeping his collaboration with other Italian-based volunteer opportunities, as in old people hostels and meeting in prisons, as well as fundraising and advocacy on a local level, Mr. Marino was chosen for a one-year long project for the Italian Civil Service with SCS/CNOS Federation. He was in France working in a school with children with special needs. The last part of Mr. Marino contribution was about his feelings about volunteering and he asked feedbacks from the audience in order to have the best contribution possible to make in Poland at the Don Bosco Youth Net meeting. Volunteer is for sure taking something more than giving for Andrea.
There were two other speakers with a long experience in long-term work in international development. Maria Cristina Gaudiano worked in Angola as a chemist in a project involving the formation of chemists from the local community and the establishment of a first care of transmittable diseases in the area of the project. The project was developed in coordination with the local Salesian community as in all the VIS projects around the world. Ms. Gaudiano contributed with some comments on her experience and opinions about volunteering in general. She admitted the overall perception of feeling a great spiritual sense in her international volunteering as wells as considering it a great life-long experience. Humility and spirit of service the two conditions she indicated as necessary for a volunteer experience.
Alessandra Fiorillo was the next speaker. She talked about her four years spent abroad working in difficult environments in the field of international cooperation stressing the imprortance of such an action both for the beneficiaries and herself. After a specific educational process she had the opportunity to go back to her strong interest in cooperation by participating in a two year project in Burundi. During her contribution she revealed her opinion that each one could make a great contribution for the better of others with no distinction of sex, religion, age or professional qualification and stressed the idea of service as central in any concept of volunteering. A good preparation and a strong will the two necessary tools for volunteering and making a difference at it.
The last twenty minutes of the meeting concerned questions from the audience that involved many different areas. Many of the participants gave their opinions on volunteering and asked questions about personal life for a volunteer as for example the fact of living far from relatives or the fact of giving so much time for others. The speakers answered indicating the main struggles in volunteering as the fact of finding the ngo that matched their aspiration. Other answers were focused on the negative sides of volunteering concerning personal life drawbacks and struggles in hostile environments. A particular importance was giving to the formation phase for a correct volunteering action and of course to some adding for Andrea Marino in his goal to collect as much impressions as possible to give the best contribution at the Don Bosco Youth Net Meeting in Cracow.
The meeting results seemed outstanding as the speakers thanked the audience for the contributions and the audience was particularly pro-active for the entire time.