DAY FIVE
Hi again dear readers!
This day was not so fulfilled with diverse activities as the days before. The morning session (that was extended to the beginning of the afternoon), was mainly dedicated to talk about individual experiences on the topic inclusion.
The name of each participant was written in papers hiding inside of a box. The trainers were taking randomly this papers one by one and inviting participants to come in front to give their contribution and share this experience with all the group.
Some participants, even without being called decided to share something spontaneously, as Giulia our blind participant from Italy did it.
It was a truly strong moment to all the participants and to me as well. She shared with everybody how her whole life is being a battle for being social included, starting on her family context where she had to fight for free herself from the parents over-protectionism. Giulia guided us through her journey, all the problems she had to overcome, but also all the opportunities that were granted to her as well as the ones she created herself.
We got to know how active she is in this daily battle, cooperating simultaneously with many organizations for people with disabilities, at national and international level. Also she shared what she learnt with her first experience abroad alone doing EVS. Summing up, all her experiences since she was born are connected to this vast subject – inclusion.
Part of the participants, instead of talking about their personal experiences, chose to make a brief presentation the work developed in their associations.
The afternoon started with an outdoor activity. The group was invited to go in the city center of Pesaro for a guided tour, through some important spots working on inclusion.
The group was first taken to JOB Pesaro, a center where unemployed youngsters can find some help to keep active or to find a job.
Then they visited Biblioteca San Giovanni, this beautiful infrastructure in the heart of Pesaro that, besides being a regular library, organizes a lot of free activities (courses, seminars, cinema sessions, learning support, etc) for all the local citizens.
Instead of returning to the hotel for dinner, the group went to eat a traditional Italian pizza and after that, the night party took place in Via Cavour where we found a live concert happening and a huge concentration of people! The participants had fun and everybody returned back to the hosting Hotel with a smile on the face!
Interviews with some participants
Natalina from Portugal
Why did you decided to participate in this seminar?
I decided to participate because I wish to have more autonomy, I would like to share my experience of life with other people from different cultures, it is very interesting.
Are you enjoying the experience?
I really like being here because the activities are very interesting, one of them especially because we have a blind person here and she did an activity in which we experienced to be a blind person. I really liked it because you never know what blind people are feeling and how the world is for them. I realized also that if someone is already born with this disability is easy to live with it then someone that looses the vision in the middle of the life.
It would be like a shock.
Carolina from Italy
Why did you decided to participate in this seminar? Also as a Vicolocorto member..
So we decided that someone from the staff should have the right to participate within the group of the italian participants. Also as I am the youngest and I don´t have any background experience about inclusion, disabilities, fewer opportunities and stuff…we thought that maybe its nice for a member of Vicolocorto to train this competences.
How about the training until now?
I really enjoyed the session of yesterday about disability itself.
What I am learning the most, it is not related to the session but it´s related to the fact that I am discovering lots of things in the relationship with Giulia. I was never close to a person that cannot see, and since I am her room-mate in the beginning I felt a little bit nervous because I thought I had to take care of her in all the situations… But then I decided to talk to her directly about this and she said to me
“Carolina, there is no problem, if I have something to ask you I will ask you”.
So I discovered that she is really, really, really independent and I wasn´t expecting it.
Jordi from Catalonia, Spain
Why did you decided to participate in this seminar?
So I am from a group of volunteers in Barcelona and one of our main tasks is to prepare sociocultural projects for people who come to do an internship in Barcelona, inside of the Leonardo daVinci Project. I came here to find new ideas, new ways to integrate and include people so this people we´re receiving from abroad can feel better, more integrated in the local community.
How about the quality of training until now? Did you learn new tools you will use in your future work or life in general?
Yes. Maybe I was trying to find something different, more specific, but I really feel that this training is being so interesting and so thoughtful. We got really deep into inclusion, the main topic, we could think and reflect about the meaning of the word.
I thing is being also helpful because we are already sharing contacts and planning to find partners to put some projects together.
Pedro from Portugal
Why did you decided to participate in this seminar?
Because I want to know new people, I had the curiosity to travel alone, without my parents to test my capacities and also I wanted to have a new cultural experience.
How about the quality of training until now? You want to talk about what you´re learning?
I´m loving the training, to know so many people of different countries. It is being an amazing week with amazing trainers. I loved to do the activity about the blindness and the disabled in general. This activity was really especial because we could see how disabled people reacts to the adversities.
This is it! Back to Shawita tomorrow with the report of today! Ciiaaao.
Vanessa
Vicolocortini 