Vacation for Growth by Serena Cimini Youth and adults, together for an unforgettable summer vacation. |
During the summer of 2012, the Institute for the Blind Francesco Cavazza organized a short stay for youth living with vision loss, and added a twist of novelty this year. Even through our vacation, we experienced the emergency of the earthquake. In fact, when everything was finally organized, we were informed that the facilities for guests at Sette Fonti, where we stayed last year and had planned to go back to, had been made available to Public Safety in order to offer some relief and a sense of normalcy to children from the areas affected by the earthquake. This situation meant we had to rapidly find new facilities that could accommodate us. We had to change our dates and be ready almost a week in advance. Consequently, some young participants could not be there but understood the situation. The 17 young people who participated and the 5 educators stayed during 10 days on the farm holidays Il Prato degli Angeli on the hills of Monterenzio. These 10 days were intense, filled with leisure and sports activities (judo, baseball, swimming, Nordic walking, showdown, day and night excursions), and labs. Clearly, we had to modify and adapt the program to this new environment without however changing the purpose and modality of the project. The summer camp was aimed at teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18. This is a period in life where doing things apart from one's own family to meet other people the same age to share experiences means so much and is so important, as much as eating or sleeping. The group of peers is crossing the bridge from childhood to adulthood. And being with friends during the teenage years can be a driving force for big changes. Orientation and mobility with Marco
Fossati |
Kitchen lab The musical lab led by Diego
Occhiali and Cristian Grassilli The experience was definitely a success according to the educators who observed the kids' reactions when it was time to say goodbye. Everyone was expressing the hope to see each other not only next year, but to do their best to create opportunities to meet during the school year. Sad faces and tears conveyed everyone's mood. One of our main goals was to foster exchanges among young people of the same age through sharing educational and leisure activities, and to create opportunities for relationship building among kids who have to deal with similar challenging issues. These are positive incentives for growth and the development of one's own identity. We are aware that if only an institution like the Istituto Cavazza, with its wealth of experience and its national leadership role, answers these young people's needs, it will be possible to satisfy adequately the wishes of their families, reassuring them and accompanying them throughout the educational and character-building journey for their children, in order to continue to grow together. |
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