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The Municipality of Macerata has activated two specific projects to face the Covid19 Emergency providing help and assistance to its citizens: Macerata Vicina and SOSteniamoci.

The Macerata Vicina project was born with the aim of providing support to the fragile population during the lockdown. During these two months people in need hav had the possibility to call a toll-free number active every day from 08.30 to 18.30. A group of volunteers  was always available and ready to operate from the headquarters of the Social services provider company (Azienda Pubblica Servizi alla Parsona IRCR). During these two months, they offered  their services to carry out home delivery of necessities (food, medicines, bags for recycling and IPR donated by various associations) to all the people asking for help.

The phone number registerd a total of 3,228 calls, all of which were answered to the full satisfaction of the citizens, as witnessed by the thanks that arrived in the feedback. The success of the project comes from the effective networking between public, private and voluntary organizations that have constantly coordinated, 23 meetings and about 2,000 online contacts in just two months!

 

The project “#SOSteniamoci – no one saves himself alone” includes two actions: a crowdfunding campaign and a food collection in supermarkets. For this last action, the following have actively collaborated: the Social Services for the reception of requests for help, the Listening and First Reception Centre for the operational management of reports and the Civil Protection, with the contribution of private social workers and volunteers from the National Civil Service, for the operational collection and home delivery of food parcels; parcels made up of the goods generously donated by the citizens.

Particularly significant was the donation made by an American citizen of Macerata origin, who bought 52 kilos of pasta from a pasta factory in the Sibylline Mountains that had been hit by the earthquake to donate to the citizens most in need, thus combining two acts of solidarity and two continents.

 
Photo by Julia M Cameron from Pexels

Since the end of last February, like everyone else in Italy, the guests of the residential structures of Farsi Prossimo Onlus have been living in isolation without the chance to go out. Beyond the obvious discomforts that it has created, this emergency has made it possible for both the operators and the guests who benefit from the services to adapt and act on their own initiative, and has revealed unexpected opportunities on several fronts.

In an emergency that, even before the suspension of travel and work activities on site, imposed the closure of all schools and the interruption of teaching activities in Italy, Farsi Prossimo Onlus has placed at the centre of its priorities, in addition to guaranteeing the continuity of the provision of basic services, educational and health care assistance, schooling, training and linguistic tutoring of its users.

Why? Would the consequences of a suspension of studies have such a negative impact on the learning path of students in the different communities?

Paola Piras, trainer employed by Farsi Prossimo Onlus, says that the answer has to be found at a relational level. It comes from this intuition ‘From distance learning to close learning’, a training course addressed to the team of Italian as a second language teachers, which focuses on relational needs. From one meeting to another, starting from a reflection on strategies to reduce distances in distance learning and on the ways to relate through the new tools available, they explore platforms and software to interact remotely and their potential, the forms of teaching through synchronous and asynchronous classes.

With the growth of online learning offers, several technical needs have gradually emerged in the various communities. The Intercultural Day Care Centre has been at the forefront with its partners to ensure that the necessary equipment could be available to offer the online courses that have primarily served the communities for unaccompanied migrant children, mother-child communities and women’s communities.

The educators, privileged observers of the recipients of this new mode of learning, stress its critical aspects and advantages. Despite the logistical difficulties (management of spaces; stability of connections; lack of direct interaction with the teacher), all emphasize the student’s empowerment that this modality entails and the strengthening of digital literacy even for younger users, so confident in the use of social media, but often uncomfortable even in elementary digital operations, such as sending an email. Both of them will be precious resources for their greater and personal involvement in future choices.

 
Photo by Iqbal Hussain Topu on Unsplash

The National Child and Adolescents Guarantor Authority, Save The Children and the Italian Association of Judges for Minors and Families approved the Ethical Charter for Voluntary Guardians of Unaccompanied Migrant Children this spring.
In Italy, three years after the approval of the law of April 7, 2017, n. 47 on measures for the protection of unaccompanied migrant children, there are 3,029 voluntary guardians.

Voluntary guardians are people who willingly decide to exercise the legal representation of a unaccompanied migrant children arrived in Italy without any adult reference figure.

Therefore, they become reference figures who, in addition to carrying out important functions from the legal point of view, can really promote the possibilities of integration of children, supervising the application of their rights, making sure that their abilities, natural inclinations and aspirations are taken into account in the choice of the training path and in general promoting their psycho-physical well-being.

The charter is therefore a decisive step forward that can provide guidance for voluntary guardians to make decisions in the best interests of the child in situations of uncertainty. At the same time, the knowledge of the Charter by UASC will make them aware of the tasks of the guardians so that they can be put in a position to enjoy their rights.

To discover more on the Charter and on the Italian System for voluntary legal guardianship of UASC, please consult the website of the Italian Child and adolescent guarantor authority.
Here you can find the Charter, available in Italian.

 

 

logo fadv The project is coordinated by Fondazione l'Albero della Vita