Rome (Fides Service) – “On
Arche holidays children and grown ups get up to all sorts of things.
My name is Vincenzo and I like to get up early. I would wake up
early and dress quietly so as not to wake others who wanted to sleep
on. I go downstairs to have breakfast with the volunteers and other
children. All of us, children and volunteers, were put in groups:
this year we had the explorers, the pirates and the mermaids. The
volunteers made a brightly coloured poster with the names and the
groups with the sea, ships and islands. I was in the explorers group.
There were 8 of us six children and two volunteers. We were together
all the time: to go to the beach, or on a boat trip, or to visit
the Trulli or the caves and we sat together at table. This made
it easy to get to know each other and I never felt lonely. We played
games, we swam in the pool and played in the woods, we danced with
the pirates and the mermaids and we had a lot of fun. In the afternoon
there were workshops led by volunteers, painting, clay modelling
kite making and lots of other things to choose from. After the workshop
there was an exhibition of what had been produced and we asked questions
and told others how we made our things. This year I did a painted
decoration no a T-shirt. After supper there was usually another
game or dancing. We went to bed much earlier than at home but we
talked a lot in bed and the volunteers told us stories. I always
tried to listen to the end but I nearly always fell asleep before
the end of the story ”.
The type of holiday lived by Vincenzo focuses on the group as a
protected space in which to experience communication and to develop
abilities of growth in meeting.
“The thing I liked best at the Mottola holiday –Marzia
told us - was seeing old friends and making new ones. I was sorry
that when we went on a boat trip we were not allowed to swim and
I like swimming, especially in deep water. I liked the days when
we used the pool and my best friend was Manuel because he didn’t
hurt me and he played with me. The holiday at Mottola was the best
because we had a lot of fun.”
“Dear Arche, I want to tell you that the holiday this year
was very nice. I saw new things and had fun with the others. It
was nice to be all together and to have fun but it was also nice
to visit new place see new things. Ciao, ciao.” Martina
Andrea one of the Arche volunteers tells his story: “I like
the workshops particularly because the children choose what they
want to do and they can change and do something else the next day.
But sometimes I wished I had more experience and competence. Therapy
is boring but it has to be done I would tell the children simply
avoiding stories and untruths which I heard from the children. It
was difficult to part from the children after 15 days and at that
sad moment I realised I had grown up and that I was part of a group
of operators who worked to make the children happy so that, like
me, they would start counting the days to the next holiday ”.
(AP/PL) (3/4/2004 Agenzia Fides)
|
