Lorenzo, Eleonora and Luigi joined the scouts as children. Arianna instead started when she was already 25 years old, to follow her boyfriend, who is now her husband and with whom she has two children. Finally, Incoronata was a young girl who was scared of insects and wanted to face her fear… All of them are adults today but they still proudly wear the multicolored headscarf and the blue shirt of Agesci (Italian Catholic Guides and Scouts Association). They are part of the “Community leaders” of the association, that is, they are adult educators of the groups for girls and boys from 8 to 21 years old. As volunteers, they dedicate a lot of their free time to scouting, between preparing activities and going out on weekends.
We met them on a warm summer afternoon in the park of Villa Buri in Verona where, from 22 to 25 August, the National Route of Agesci educators took place, an event that had not been repeated since 1997 and which brought together 18 thousand adult scouts from all over Italy to reflect, train, pray and celebrate. Listening to them, we immediately understood that the experience in Agesci was fundamental in their lives. Not an activity among many, but a path that defined them as people, citizens and believers. It is no coincidence that the five scout leaders carry out professions in clear continuity with the educational vocation and care of creation that they have developed in the association. Lorenzo Albertini, from Riva del Garda (Trento), 30 years old, draws hiking maps for a living; Incoronata Ciavarrella, 31 years old, from San Nicandro Garganico (Foggia), is a primary school teacher; Eleonora Ledda, from Rome, 27, works on programs for the conservation of animal species at risk; Arianna Minguzzi, 35, works in Ravenna in a company that certifies organic products in the agri-food sector; Luigi Cafiero, 28, is an environmental engineering researcher in the field of climate change and, with three other heads of Agesci, he designed and manages a warehouse confiscated from organized crime that, in the historic center of Genoa, has been transformed into an “escape room” on legality, a gaming experience with educational purposes.
“In Agesci I acquired the ability to adapt and filled a “toolbox” of skills that allowed me to face the changes of existence”, observes Luigi. “Scouting”, confirms Lorenzo, “forms you thanks to the many different experiences that it allows you to live and that for me have proved fundamental: they have taught you to plan what I want from life”. “Among scouts you are never alone”, adds Incoronata who participated in Agesci activities even when she was a student away from home in Bologna, “and we understand each other immediately because we all have the same values and dream of a better world”.
(Photo by Beatrice Mancini)
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