The formation camp of this year in Roccaforte del Greco went with 19 participants. The volunteers came from Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Poland. During the camp we did several different acitivites:
Three times a day there were the formations: in the morning we got to know VIDES International: its projects ran in different Third World countries, the basic conceptions of their work, the methods they use, the practical realisation and the role of volunteers in it. In the afternoon the participants of one country had the chance to introduce their country, culture, history to the others, to talk about the situation of youth, the activities of their Vides-group, the fields of volunteer work in their country. And they taught the others a manual technic, a game or some skills of group-dynamics, which they used with success during their work at home. In the evening it was the time for discussion and evaluation of the day, for answering the questions and problems which raised. The last day we evaluated the whole week and the work of each volunteer.
All these have helped us by getting to know several folks, cultures, situations and problems to approach a merely new, different and foreign environment and community: a 850-souled South-Italian little village. And helped us to experience the substance of interculturality.
This experience basicly came from the activities we prepared for the inhabitants of the village, for each age. We prepared it together, after arriving to the village, adding together the ideas, experiences and cultural treasures of each. We tried to find the appropriate activities for both children and young people, and for the old ones, too. The hardest duty was to learn cooperation, to work in strong syntony, and to overcome language barriers, but we just couldn't afford not learning it.
From the villagers we received readiness for cooperation, openness and enthusiasm; they put their part into the programme, too: their ideas, skills, talents and treasures of their culture: dances, songs, trips, family photos and stories and legends of the village.
During these ten days we got a theoretical overview of possibilities, fields, significance of volunteer work and a taste of socialization in a foreign milieu. Continuous consultation and evaluations helped us to arrange the received informations and experiences; continuous row of adventures gave the enthusiasm and motivation to overcome exhaustion and to turn the leaves of the dictionaries on and on.
The camp of this year went with third as much volunteers as it usually does. These ten days were for this reason quite exhausting for us, since it was three times more work for each of us - but probably three times as much experience, too. During the camp many plans of future cooperation were born, which will give the chance to involve even more volunteers, to realize new ideas, and to learn and exchange a lot.
Cecilia Simonyi
Vides Hungary:
Vides International: