GREENER AND HAPPIER 2 as ASL EXPERIENCE

The week spent in the Ecovillage “Fiori di Campo” in Sicily (19th-25th September 2016) was a significant working experience for 18 students of ISIS Malignani who joined the project “Greeener and Happier: Working Together for a Fair Society”, cofinanced by the CRUP foundation (Cassa di Risparmio di Udine e Pordenone).

The project was both an experience of international peace education in lands confiscated from the Mafia and of  practical work. 18 Italians, 12 Belgians and 16 Norwegians students lived side by side to learn how young people can set up and manage a social cooperative like LiberaMente ONLUS that deals with organic agriculture and fair tourism.  More specifically, the participants devoted their time and energy to the restoration of the confiscated property “Fior di Campo” in Marina di Cinisi, workshops on  reuse and recycling, community service, participation in anti-mafia activities and seminars on the mafia, lawfulness and conflict resolution.

The students were also invited to perform household tasks: for example, setting the tables and washing all the dishes during each breakfast, lunch or dinner; the last day they were expected to clean up everything and separate the rubbish in plastic, paper, organic and not recyclable rubbish. The challenge was to combine these practical chores with the social interaction with the Belgian and the Norwegian students, working cooperatively to reach satisfactory results. Sometimes it was really hard to understand the different cultural interpretations of order or cleanliness.

To sum up, here is the students’ general comment of this ASL memorable experience:

The project Greener and Happier was a unique opportunity  to develop our personal sense of responsibility: divided in 4 international groups, we were assigned different shifts for daily household chores. The timetable was hung in the common area to remind us of our duties, but we were free to respect or ignore them. Yet, we all understood the aim of the project (personal commitment for a better society) and the importance of the shared work.  At the end of the week, each one of us had become more aware of the responsible use of his/her personal freedom. We all felt proud because we had done a good job. In conclusion, we positively evaluate this significant ASL experience.

Mian Alberto, 3^ LSA C