A six-day adventure, retracing the legendary journey of Ulysses to return to his island, Ithaca, after having faced a long series of adventures and finally embrace his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus.
Educators and animators of the Maria Santissima Immacolata parish and the San Gaspare Bertoni Anspi oratory have chosen the Odyssey as the theme of the summer camp proposed to children and young people of elementary and middle schools. Immersed in the greenery of Casa Santi Sposi and guided by Father Fulvio Procino, the children were protagonists and participants every day of the adventures that Ulysses faced: from the Cyclops Polyphemus to the sorceress Circe, from the monsters Scylla and Charybdis to the nymph Calypso. But nothing stopped the Achaean, who after many years of wandering and fighting with the gods, managed to return to Ithaca and chase away the suitors. Reliving this mythological story was for the children just a pretext to be able to share some community days, full of meaning.
Learning to be as autonomous as possible, bearing responsibilities, playing as a team to reach a common goal. These are just some of the goals that educators and animators have set themselves by structuring every minute of the day with videos, workshops and great games. But without forgetting the moments of prayer and discussion that, for an association like Anspi, are fundamental points for being together while having fun.
The happiness of the children and young people was easy to see in their eyes, while they were trying to solve the clues of the treasure hunt or simply running around the paths of the estate in their free time. And, like any self-respecting summer camp, there was also a surprise water fight. Everyone expects it but no one knows when it will happen.
«School camps always prove to be training grounds for life – Father Fulvio Procino underlines– not only for the kids but also for educators and animators, because these experiences are never improvised and require months of preparation of the catechesis, the workshops and the games themselves that faithfully follow the proposed plot. Our new animators had a good experience of it and at the final moment of verification, while expressing their joy and satisfaction for the work done, they highlighted that they would never have imagined what was behind the preparation of the school camp».
«A big thank you goes to those who put their life, time and energy into it – continues the parish priest of Palombaio – from those who work with kids to those who prepare food. The hope is that more and more young people will be enthusiastic about the service for the little ones and will want to commit to training as entertainers and educators. In this regard, I would like to underline that a ‘school’ for entertainers will start next October, that this will be an opportunity for a new impetus within our community and an opportunity for renewed life experiences.”
Monday 1 July 2024
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
