This summer, Matteo Radogna,
a journalist
from the national newspaper -
Il Resto del Carlino -
wrote and article about the Exch@nge Camp in the local section sold in all the Bologna province.
Follows the translation of the article.
From Houston to Budrio, in the
name of friendship
Students get together to paint
the sport-centre
Solidarity and good will come
from where you don’t expect it. It happens in Budrio where, during a cultural
exchange between students from Houston – Texas and from the Bologna county, kids,
amongst many activities done during the camp, painted some areas of the
sport-centre. This initiative was part of the English Sport Camp Exch@nge,
organized by YfC Italia and the Baptist Church Impatto A Budrio. Exch@nge is a
camp for local kids aged between 11 and 18 years-old, which offers the
opportunity to improve their conversational English, to practice a lot of sport
and to engage in funny yet educational group activities. The vision of Exch@nge
is to offer teenagers a healthy environment where they can live growing
experiences in the cultural exchange with peers from Houston – Texas, to enrich
each other interacting with themes like culture, sport, fun, life, faith and
much more.
30 kids from Budrio and 10
from Houston joined the Camp with the help of many leaders from Italy, UK and
US. “This year we especially interacted with our community. Alongside sport and
educational activities – explains Stefano Mariotti, a Camp Staff – kids have
been involved in our traditional Service Project, where we painted the athletes’
entrance and stairways of Budrio’s Sport-Centre. It was great to see Budrio
kids working hard side by side with Texan kids in this edifying experience for
our community to learn how to care for our town”.
They didn’t only work, they
also enjoyed their time. “We organised a traditional Texan BBQ on the balcony
of the Torri dell’Acqua – continues Mariotti – for friends and families of the
campers, in partnership with the Torri Lounge”. The perfect ending, before the
Texan team left, was a service for the kids and their families “where we
celebrated together – concludes Mariotti – this incredible week explaining the
values of this project”.
Matteo
Radogna
The Town-Hall magazine, Terra e Civiltà, which is distributed to every resident in Budrio, published an article about the Camp.
English
Sport Camp in Budrio
From the 29th of
June to the 5th of July, we held in Budrio Sport-Centre the second
English Sport Camp Exch@nge with the endorsement of Budrio Town Hall, organized
by YfC Italy in partnership with the local Baptist Church Impatto A Budrio. 30
girls and boys aged between 11 and 18 years-old from Budrio and surrounding
villages, experienced an amazing week with 10 Texan girls and boys aged between
15 and 18 years-old, their 4 leaders from Houston and many other volunteers
from Italy, UK and US. During the Camp we had a lot of fun and interaction in
many activities. Every morning Italian and American kids had the opportunity to
engage with a Talk of 45 minutes on the theme of the day, taken from the Gospel
of John. Every afternoon they interacted with an hour and half of English
lesson with an English native speaker. This year we especially engaged with our
local community. On Monday morning we hosted a team from the Grizzlies Lacrosse
of Prato (Tuscany) and in the afternoon we had the Budrio team of Tae Kwon Do.
On Tuesday morning a group of Italian and American kids had the privilege to
participate in a lesson with the local Parkinson group, interacting and
learning from this incredible group of elderly people. On Wednesday we enjoyed
a refreshing day at Budrio’s swimming-pool. On Friday we played basket-ball and
volley-ball ending the camp with the great Color War! On Saturday we painted
the athletes’ entrance, corridors and stairways of the Sport-Centre. In the
evening we had a traditional Texan BBQ on the balcony of the Torri dell’Acqua
for the campers and their families and
friends, with the precious help of the Torri Lounge. On Sunday morning we
concluded the Camp with a service for the kids and their families where we
explained what we did during this amazing week and what motivates our vision.
We had with us the mayor Giulio Pierini, who thanked us for this great opportunity
we offer to Budrio’s teens. We would like to thank especially the local
authorities and the social workers for their support and a special thank you to
the Sport-Centre staff who hosted us with passion and friendship, and offered
us amazing lunches!
Stefano
Mariotti,
YfC
Italy vice-presidents
Pastor of the Baptist Church
Impatto A Budrio
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