Earthquake in Italy: Re-starting from children

The season of the summer camps for children from Central Italy is almost to an end. Two camps were completed and the third one is in progress in these days.

The opportunity, launched by IBO Italia and FederGev in the early Spring, has been positively welcomed by families and all the camp shifts had full of enrollments.

In the first shift, from 20^th to 29^th June, the participants were 14 coming mainly from the province of Macerata, in the Marche region.

The second shift, from 4^th to 13^th July, saw the participation of 20 teenagers (15 – 17 years old) mainly from the provinces of Macerata and Perugia (Umbria Region).

In these days, 17 children from 11 to 14 years old are spending their last days of camp in Ferrara. They come mainly from the areas of Perugia, Ascoli Piceno, Teramo and Rieti.

Participants have been hosted in a big house located some kilometers from the city of Ferrara.

Below, you can read a summary of the interesting activities in which teenagers have been involved, thanks to the precious support and collaboration of our educators Silvia, Chiara and Elisa!

 Tuesday.

Arrival - Each summer camp started on Tuesday when some staff's members of IBO Italia and FederGev volunteers went from Ferrara with three vans to collect participants from their place of residence. Due to the distance, participants reached the location of the camp in the late afternoon.

Wednesday.

Morning: Presentation of camp program: daily activities, outdoor visits, organization of housekeeping management in shifts.
Afternoon: Guided Visit to the Pomposa Abbey. A religious and historical place of interest located some kilometers from the sea. The Abbey is famous for its wall paintings dating back from the Middle Ages.

Thursday

Morning: presentation of Federgev Emilia Romagna, the partner association of this project. Federgev Emilia Romagna is an accreditated association of the National Civil Protection and it had been an important role in the relief activities in the areas of Central Italy affected by the earthquake. The participants had the opportunity to learn more about National  Civil Protection, its institutional tasks and its methodology to intervene in natural disasters.  

Afternoon: visit to the Dunes of Massanzatica. Not far from the location of the camp, it is an example of the local eco system in the Po Delta, the most important river in Italy. An eco guide illustrated to participants the geological explanation of the dunes and the main specimen of the local flora. Participants had been involved in an environmental care activity as the eradication of weed plants.

Friday
Morning: Federgev Emilia Romagna involved participants in an environmental education activity in the local Forest of Porporana, an area near the city but with a high environmental value, biodiversity tanks and ecological nodes important for its maintenance. Participants had been involved in cleaning some areas and paths of the Forest from garbage.  

Afternoon: visit to a local center of environmental protection, the Nutcracker center. Activity of wooden bird nest restoration and installation.

Saturday
Morning: guided visit of the city of Comacchio. A small city far few kilometers from the sea that is famous for the canals that cross the city center, like a small Venice. Visit to the local Museum of marinated fish: Comacchio is well-known for the breeding and the processing of the eels.

Afternoon: Free time at the beach.

Sunday
Federgev Emilia Romagna organized a visit to the Park of Gessi Bolognesi. The park, situated on the first hills of the city of Bologna, includes a strip of chalky outcrops, which gave birth to a karst complex of extreme interest. As far as the past mining activities are concerned, the Bolognese plaster is one of the main naturalistic areas of the region, with valleys, plateaus, rocky valleys and cliffs that shape the landscape and have a vegetation characterized by Mediterranean variety and species linked to higher altitudes.

Monday
Full day to the beach.

Tuesday
Guided visit to the city of Ferrara and its main famous monuments. The Castle and the Diamond Palace. The guide led participants through the city center and its Middle Ages and Renaissance districts.
Treasure hunt through the streets of the center.

Wednesday - Full day to the beach.

Thursday - Return to home. IBO staff and FederGev provided the transport.

Educators and participants have shared daily life and activities for over 7 days, creating new relations and friendships. Each participant has brought an adding value, with his/her experiences, expectations, attitudes as, for example, the two boys of the second shift camp who often played music with their accordions in the evenings.

Thanks to GlobalGiving and all our donors to support this opportunity for young people from Central Italy!

Since the first earthquake in Central Italy occured on 24^th August 2016, IBO Italia has been supporting the relief activities of FederGev Emilia Romagna, one of the many Italian associations involved in emergency activities under the coordination of the National Civil Protection Department.

After the emergency phase, it is now important to support local communities and population to re-constructe, not only buildings, but also a daily life as “ordinary” as possible.

IBO Italia, together with FEDERGEV Emilia Romagna, is committed to keep on supporting those communities and people living in the affected regions, on the basis of the core activities of our organization.

For that reason, IBO Italia and FEDERGEV Emilia Romagna have organized, for the next summer, some opportunities of voluntary and educational experiences for children and teenagers aged 11-17 living in municipalities affected by the earthquakes. The goal is to give them a chance for a different summer experience based on volunteering and recreational activities, as an opportunity to take a short break from the “ordinary” complexity of their new living conditions.

A similar experience took place in the summer 2012, after that an earthquake hit some areas of the province of Ferrara. Thanks to the support of local associations of neighbouring provinces, IBO Italia promoted a summer recreational camp when groups of children could spent some days far from relief camps and temporary houses. The experience helped children to relax and to suffer less from the psychological stress due to the post – disasters conditions.

The next summer camps will be organized in three different shifts form the 20^th of June until the 27^th of July. Each shift will last 10 days and will host a group of maximum 20 children supported by a camp leader and two educators. The children will be hosted in a big house located some kilometers from the city center of Ferrara. The house, belonging to a local parish, has been recently renovated and it is equipped for the hosting oflarge groups of people(up to 42 beds and a big kitchen with canteen are available). Outside there is a large garden and a green park with a soccer field for outdoors activities.

The scheduled daily programme will be a mix of leasure activities, volunteering and visits to local interesting places. Following FEDERGEV's core mission on environment issues, children will be involved in environmental care activities as cleaning of the paths in a local small forest not far from Ferrara and they will meet local volunteers and association involved in this field. Local environmental associations will also lead the visits to the cities of Comacchio and Bologna with this "natural" point of view. Two days will be spent to the sea and local beaches as leasure times. A guided visit of the city of Ferrara will be also planned. Furthermore, a day will be dedicated to the National Civil Protection system: its organization and management and how it works in case of natural disaster and emergency as earthquake. National Civil Protection and its hundreds of local associations had been a fundamental actor in the first emergency phase and we think it will be an opportunity of civic education for children to be more aware of this important social player.

IBO Italia and FEDERGEV will provide the transport of the children from their cities to Ferrara through minivans that will be used also for local transport during the camps.

In these weeks, IBO Italia is forming the groups of children for each shifts. Several municipalities, schools, parishes and local associations of the affected areas have been contacted to spread this opportunity.

Stay tuned on our website www.iboitalia.org for more news on this project!!!