CASA IBO has been active for a few months and activities continue to increase! The renovations are finished and, except for some few adjustments to the interior spaces, everything is now tested to host meetings and volunteers at the start and the return of their volunteer period!
Below we present some of the most recent activities realized and hosted in our new spaces!
June:/September: Let’s start a Solidarity Summer!
From the beaches of Sicily to those of Madagascar, our volunteers have chosen the local community where to engage and make their own contribution, places far apart but with the same need for support and help, whether it is manual or human-level activities, giving affection, love and attention. Volunteers from all over the world have shared their days alternating work and leisure time, a great opportunity to learn more about other cultures, exchange opinions, ideas, fun and, day after day, hear within that sense of belonging to the host community that welcomes them. Thanks to IBO staff who managed, organized and monitored all activities from the headquarters in Ferrara, it was possible to live a Solidarity Summer!
11-12 July: Training course for CCP volunteers
Started in mid-2017 in the sub-urban areas of Lima, the CCP Programmeis a new form of civil defense, unarmed and not violent, that involve young volunteers in the field of peace education in an area of danger of social conflict. Maria and Emanuele, two CCP IBO volunteers, received at Casa IBO a specific training course before their departure, to take on this new challenge.
August 26th Info-Day: how to became a volunteer
Casa IBO organized an info-day about our volunteering actions and in particular about our participation in Summer Children Festival, a cultural project organized by Municipality of Ferrara. During this meeting, previous volunteers met young persons interest in a volunteering experience. It was also a chance to exchange ideas and proposals for events and projects to be implemented or already in the planning phase.
From 3 to 8 September“Summer Children” festival
IBO volunteers took their service at the 25th edition of the“Summer Children” Festival organized by Municipality of Ferrara. The Festival involved children and adults in a rich program of games, shows, theater and workshops in a central square of the city. The presence of IBO volunteers reinforced the commitment of IBO Italia in Ferrara in the sign of children's rights, inclusion and access to education as a tool for growth for the whole community. A way to also create a bridge between the commitment in Italy and that in many parts of the world, from Tanzania to Ukraine and from Romania to Peru, where these rights and opportunities are not yet fully guaranteed to all children.
National Civil Service: Presentation, promotion and selection of volunteers
On September 4ththe national call for the Civil Service was released. IBO Italia is looking for 6 volunteers in Italy (in Ferrara and Parma) and 24 volunteers for foreign branches in India, Romania, Kenya, Madagascar, Guatemala and Peru. From September until today, Casa IBO hosted different informative event about this opportunity and the selection process of all candidates.
September 17thHuman Right Festival: Book reading
Tuesday, September 17th at 6 pm the presentation of the book "The Ark lost in the Mediterranean” took place at Casa IBO as part of the "Free to stay, free to leave" initiative of the Human Rights Festival of Ferrara. The author, Mauro Armanino a missionary doctor in cultural anthropology and ethnology dialogued with Salvatore Marra, International Department of CGIL Trade Union and Raffaele Masto of Africa Magazine. The presentation was moderated by Romeo Farinella, Director of the University Centre on International Cooperation.
21 September: Global Care Day by LyondellBasell
As every year on 21st of September the local branch of the international industrial company LyondellBasell promoted the Global Care Day in the framework of its CSR policy. More than 50 employees, with their families, were engaged in some works for the manteinance of Casa IBO and its garden. Adults and children volunteering all together for a full day in painting of fence, gardening and grass sowing.
25-27 October Post- workcamp meeting
October 2019. The summer season of the workcamps almost ended. Among lived experiences and testimonies, there are many memories that bring home volunteers who have chosen to leave and live an experience of solidarity. From Italy to Europe to the South of the World.
Transforming a former kindergaten school in a state of complete abandonment into at a point of reference for youth volunteering, was a patient, sustainable, sober and organized work, made possible by many people and companies that contributed to the necessary work.
Thanks to a mix of specialized companies and professionals, common cleaning days and the constant presence of volunteers for daily restoration works, what it was used to be a dilapidated place is now an operational structure.
Thank you all!
Links:
Completed the building renovation and the move, Casa IBO opens officially!
From April to July 2019: 3 days of inauguration to introduce the new centre to the whole city, many training activities with schools and volunteers leaving for the workcamps, hospitality of the first international volunteers!
3rd -4th -5th e 17th-18th-19th May – Camp Leader Training
The Camp Leader is the person who mediates between the volunteers and the local representative, interacts with them, organizes the activities, ensures that all the young people feel included and participate in this experience. During two weekends in May, Casa IBO hosted the future Camp Leaders for the training program. They had the opportunity to get to know each other through training activities and moments of relax by receiving useful information for team building and cooperation. Some of them will leave for different destinations but all united by a common goal: to guide groups of teenagers 14-17 years old who will welcome in the Volunteer Camps in the summer 2019
10th May - Training activities with Art School “Dosso Dossi”
CASA IBO is not just a place to coordinate activities and projects, but above all a place where young people can grow in the name of volunteering and cooperation. On May 10th we held some workshops with students of the "Dosso Dossi" Art Institute for a "school-work project"
Here a video report: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=293841171506470
23rd-24th-25th May – Official Opening CASA IBO:
Ribbon cutting, greetings from the authorities, blessing at the Mass on Saturday morning, assembly of the members, guided tours, aperitif on the balcony and lunch with the volunteers of past years: these are the many activities that we have carried out during the 3 days of inauguration. It was really nice to start in this way, in so many and together!
4th, 9th e 16th June – Pre-departure workcamps Meetings 2019.
3 meetings dedicated to teenagers and over 18 volunteers who will leave for the work camps in Italy and abroad. An opportunity to get to know each other and to receive all the necessary information before departure!
13rd June start of Paul's EVS!
From June 13th, Casa IBO hosts Paul, a French volunteer who will carry out his 6 months of European volunteering Service at IBO. Casa Ibo is also this: meeting between volunteers from all over the world, welcoming and inclusion!
The first training activities and the first meetings, the interminable cleanings and the first flowers, the first community lunches and the first volunteers who spend the night here: the first concrete steps of Casa IBO waiting for the inauguration. In few months, Casa Ibo will be not only the national headquarters of our NGO, but above all a reference point for volunteers from Ferrara, from all over Italy and all over the world.
During these weeks our group of volunteers has continued to work on the structure of Casa Ibo, but the first activities and opportunities for meetings have also begun!
Between 3rd and 5th January 2019
The scout troop "Thiene 1" helped us to sand the stairs! It was a bit hard but everyone did their little part and, thanks to our dedication, we managed to complete the work despite the fatigue. As the scout group wrote: "a great goal is achieved only by collaborating and helping each other".
Saturday 16th February 2019 "Casa IBO" Cleaning Day. It was time to start a big tidy round (internal and external) for the next training activities of young volunteers (even before the headquarters moves in).
Thursday 28th February 2019 First day of service for our new community service volunteers! We showed them "Casa IBO" which in the next weeks will become our new headquarters, we started to build the group, to know the neighborhood and cook together!
Saturday 9th March 2019 Second Day of Cleaning at CASA IBO. With our new civil service volunteers we continued the internal and external cleaning of the new house!
Thursday, 14th March 2019 Start of a new training programme (four meetings) co-financed by the Ministry of Labor and social policies and the Italian agency for development cooperation.The first meeting was held on March 14th with the participation of Ilaria Persanti (IBO Italia) and Elena Brina operator of Caritas of Ferrara, an organization which works with people who live in difficult situations offering them different services: soup kitchen , showers, clothing distribution (etc) and since 2014 it deals also with women and children seeking asylum, with the aim of accompanying and supporting the construction of individual autonomy projects.The further meetings addressed the following topics: Teenagers and how to bring them closer to today's challenges (20th March);"Why I do this?" - The Motivation and the Role of Teachers (29th March); Teaching units on Development Goals and the migration phenomenon - The Web Radio communication tool (4th April). Beneficiaries of this training programme are teachers from some middle and high schools in Ferrara. The aim is to imagine together innovative teaching tools about new and foundamental social topics.
Saturday, 23rd March Participation at the second initiative of "My Ferrara" organized by the Urban Center.The theme of this edition was "Spring cleaning in green areas" and one of the areas where volunteers worked was the public garden of Casa IBO.
There is still much work to be done but thanks to the passion of our volunteers we will be able to move soon in the new house and bit by bit we will make Casa Ibo even more a welcoming place for everyone!
IBO Italia is carrying on the renovation of the new training centre for volunteers in the city of Ferrara.
During the last three months, the following construction works have been implemented thanks to local firms and volunteers:
• Ceilings with plasterboard for deteriorated floors
• Grouting walls
• Renovation and painting of the windows on the first floor
• Renovation of bathrooms and kitchen
• Underground and first floor painting
• Terrace reconstruction and paving
• Heater system recovery
• Installation and testing of boiler and new radiators
• Electrical system
• Data system
• Floor sanding
• Gardening
In the next months, the following construction works are scheduled:
• Painting on the second floor
• Sanding parquet flooring and varnishing
• Stair cleaning and painting
• Renovation of external stairs
• Installation external gate for pedastrian
• Installation of a lift platform for the access of people with disabilities
Compared to what we had planned in the first half of the year, Casa IBO will not be ready for January 1, 2019. Here are the next useful dates until the expected inauguration:
• January 2019 | Volunteer hosting area will be finished
• February 2019 | Preparation of the rooms for offices and training
• March 2019 | Open Days for citizens interested in visiting the premises
• Spring 2019 | Inauguration
The renovation work are carried on also thanks to the support of private citizens who dedicate part of their free time to paint, clean up and arrange the premises.
In this report, we particularly would talk about a Volunteer Day held on September 29th 2018, in collaboration with the Municipality of Ferrara. IBO House’s project had indeed been included in the "My Ferrara" program proposed by the Urban Center and aimed at involving citizens on a volunteer day to spread the care of their city. In this way, 40 private citizens participated in different works at Casa IBO, contributing significantly to the progress of the work.
We are pleased to think that Casa IBO, as a new home for volunteering, can actually be realized with the help of many volunteers, who are contributing, with their time and availability, to let this dream come true!
Links:
Project Reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you will get an e-mail when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports via e-mail without donating.
We'll only email you new reports and updates about this project.