Teens make the difference with Youth Power in Action!

From the 23^rd to the 26^th of June 2022, the town of Fragneto Monforte (BN) will host youth leaders from Latvia, North Macedonia, Romania and Italy for the preparatory visit of Youth Power in Action!, an Erasmus + KA1 youth exchange organized by YMCA Parthenope Onlus in partnership with the youth organizations Theater Studio Dobele (Latvia), Percipio (North Macedonia) and Federatia YMCA Romania (Romania).

Focused on the themes of Culture and Arts, Inclusion of marginalized people and Reception and integration of refugees and migrants, Youth Power in Action! was designed to get to know the realities of young adolescents, coming from ethnic minorities in the 4 countries involved in the project.

During the preparatory visit the leaders of each country group, supported by the facilitation provided by the president of YMCA Parthenope Onlus Gianluca Iacuvelle, will gather in Fragneto Monforte and spend together some time to get to know about the picturesque town and the charming nature surrounding it, and share ideas and suggestions for creating learning and leisure activities during our intercultural exchange.

Then, from the 20^th to the 31^st of August, 40 people from the 4 partner organizations will gather in Italy and take part in the project: more specifically, there will be 8 group leaders (one man and one woman with no age limit for each of the 4 groups) and 32 boys and girls with fewer aged between 15 and 19 years, active in in their organizations’ life with taking part in their workshops and non-formal activities. All the partners have agreed to give priority for each group to 4 youngsters with fewer opportunities, from ethnic minorities and with cultural, social, geographical and economic disadvantage: Middle Eastern and African unaccompanied minors in Italy, Hungarian-Romanians in Romania, other Balkan ethnic groups in Macedonia, Russian minority in Latvia; we then opted for 4 other young people without disadvantages or particular problems in order to foster open encounters and diversity.
Together, we will hold a variety of workshops based on performing and visual arts, cooking and environmental and outdoor activities, with the aim to build a peaceful atmosphere and a cooperative working group, to discover oneself, to discover others, to share our dreams. The evenings will be dedicated to each of the participating countries and to the people who will share traditional and typical games, music, theatre and dance. We will also visit other local associations who support and host refugees and unaccompanied minors in the area, and target the local youth in a public event to share our international dimension, send out meaningful messages to the community and explain what European opportunities are around us.

With the preparatory visit for Youth Power in Action!, YMCA Parthenope Onlus starts the countdown that will lead us all until October, when Fragneto Monforte is going to host again international guests, art, community animation and live performances in the context of its “Air Balloons International Festival” – as always, in the name of Europe, solidarity and human rights… Stay tuned!