Maria Regina students in voluntary work exchange project

During the last scholastic year Form 4 students from Maria Regina Girls' Junior Lyceum, Blata l-Bajda, experienced a student exchange project with a difference entitled: 'I giovani ed il volontariato nell'Europa unita' (Youth and voluntary work in a united Europe).

It all started a year ago when our school accepted a proposal that teachers of English from the Collegio Arcivescovile Celestino Endrici in Trento, northern Italy, had made to our spiritual director Fr Robert Grech, OCD, for our school to join an exchange which mainly involved students from our school and theirs, and another school in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany, undertaking and observing various voluntary work projects.

In May, 11 Maltese students, accompanied by two teachers and Fr Grech, set off for Trento, where we were welcomed by two teachers of English, Stefania Ravanelli and Luisa Mezzena, together with the project co-ordinator Filippo Galli. We also met the German students from Augsburg, Germany, who were also there on their exchange visit.

All students attended lessons in the mornings and later gave a helping hand in the preparations for a 6.5 km marathon in which all catholic schools in the Trentino region take part and that has been held for the past 20 years.

This year the marathon's theme was: 'Women, Education and Culture' to promote a project in Sao Tome, a small African state in the Gulf of Guinea. Education and work opportunities are almost non-existent in this country, which has a population of 140,000. Not all young people, especially women, have the opportunity to go to school. The €30,780,000 project aims to help to provide education for these young women and help them find hope, be creative, enjoy work and love life in all its fullness. Sr Agnese Teotti, who has lived in Sao Tome for the past 28 years, is responsible for this project.

On the day of the marathon we started off with Holy Mass celebrated in the school grounds, with the main celebrant being the Archbishop of Trento Mgr Luigi Bressan. After Mass the marathon took off and all participants - some 3,000 persons, young and old, together with some pets - started to run or walk, as they preferred. The oldest participant was 93 years old while the youngest just a few months old, in a pushchair of course! All those who finished the marathon were given a small token, and because we Maltese had participated in the name of our school, we were also given a trophy made of Murano glass.

The following day we visited an 'SOS village' in Trento. These villages house children who for some reason or other cannot be brought up by their biological parents. These children live in buildings over quite a large area. Not more than ten children live in each house together with a woman, who is their mother figure.

Voluntary workers join in the afternoons and evenings to help children with their homework or to play games or undertake craftwork with them. The mother figure is always present in the house and the voluntary workers are called aunts and uncles. So it is like being in a family and these children have the opportunity of not missing out the love and caring each child should have in a proper home.

Hermann Gmeiner was the founder of the SOS villages around the world. His dream is written in one of the SOS village homes: Volevo realizzare in tutto il mondo villaggi del fanciullo come segni di riconciliazione e di comprensione. One of his sayings that everyone should think about seriously is: "Every big thing in our world only comes true, when somebody does more than he has to do!"

Besides attending school in the mornings we also had some free time to go round Trento for walks and discover the beautiful sights of this town. We also had two full-day excursions; one to Sirmione on Lake Garda and another one to nearby Verona, the town of Romeo and Juliet!

Earlier this year 23 students from the Italian school came to Malta accompanied by Ms Ravanelli, Ms Mezzena and Dr Galli. They were hosted by families in the San Gwann, Swieqi and Kappara areas.

The students attended an English language course in the mornings, and in the afternoons and on the weekend went sightseeing with Maltese students around the island, on a Grand Harbour cruise and a sightseeing trip to Gozo.

Both the Maltese and Italian students were later divided into groups and assigned to undertake voluntary work in various places including the Eden Foundation, Ir-Razzett tal-Hbiberija and the Ursuline Creche, Guardamangia.

Towards the end of our visit to Trento, there was a presentation during which the Italian students delivered a presentation about their experiences in Malta and Augsburg. All the students benefited from this experience. Besides making friends across three different cultures it helped the participants to mature and become aware that by doing voluntary work one gains a lot more than one gives.

Afterwards all 80 participants - Maltese, Italian and German students and teachers - celebrated with a dinner at a local restaurant.

I must say that this was a unique experience for all of us and surely an exchange with a difference!