Adam Robson’s experience in Palermo, within YALIM project.
6 months in Centro per lo Sviluppo Creativo Danilo Dolci gave me the chance to live and experience another cultural and working environment, enriching my social skills and adaptability and permitting me to grow professionally.
The chaos of Palermo due to traffic jam and people’s attitude/behavior (as they use to scream everywhere without any concerns) suddenly became part of my day life, involving me and letting me feel comfortable (welcome).
Even if the staff and working atmosphere was globally similar to my cultural/working context as part of the work was focused on EU projects, I had the chance to work at local level getting in contact with the community and getting to know its cultures. As in Palermo more cultures cohabits, people coming from different countries and from different social context/level live together in the city centre with its upsides and disadvantages.
The activities and projects carry on by CSC permitted me to get in contact and deeply know these people with different culture backgrounds, as for example the Leonardo da Vinci TOI project Language Interpreter Training as a Stepping Stone to Work, targeted to immigrants.
The open desk and centre created by the Centro per lo Sviluppo Creativo Danilo Dolci in collaboration with local partners, within the project Inventare il Futuro co-funded by APQ – Regione Sicilia, allowed me to stay directly in contact with young local people living in a disadvantaged area of the city, planning and participating to local workshops target to them. For example, I actively participate at the info-desk for the promotion of mobility for young people fund by EU programmes, as Youth in Action Programme, putting myself as a one example and sharing my experiences. This info-desk and as well the several workshops aimed to increase the activeness and self esteem of young people living in this disadvantaged area of the city.
Moreover, I participated in Reciprocal Maieutic Laboratories, carried on by staff of CSC in local schools within SUSTAIN project and local activities in general aimed to promote this approach, which allowed me to experiment it, getting to know this no formal education method and increasing my knowledge in several thematic faced as legality, citizenship, sustainable development and as well my self esteem.
Within the project GIVE I learned notions about the vocational education and got to know the Sicilian rural context, which I could also discover during my free time.
This experience met my expectations and I think that I acquired knowledge and social skills, that will be useful for my future job plan. For sure I plan to spread my experience and encourage people to do the same.
Update:
YALIM final product is available for download here YALIM Best Practices in Youth field Project Managment