Young volunteers with people serving sentences

Young people from Palermo’s “Marco Polo” school volunteer together with people serving external and internal sentences in Social Housing

Palermo – Volunteer activities and listening to people serving external and internal sentences in Social Housing. This is what 15 young people from the Marco Polo school have been doing in recent weeks, under the agreement on school-to-work alternation, drawn up between the Marco Polo Technical Economic Institute for Tourism and the association “Un Nuovo Giorno,” in collaboration with Cesvop. The goal was to foster cultural and social exchange between two very different realities.

Among the activities, boys and girls, from several fourth- and fifth-year classes, engaged in making wooden benches that will be placed in public spaces in the Marinella neighborhood.

Each bench represents not only an element of street furniture but also a concrete gesture of care and love for the city community. In addition to this, painting, theater, gardening and carpentry workshops were also held.

In addition, with a view to the creation of a ‘little newspaper,’ some of them did small interviews with both people serving external sentences and the incarcerated people living inside the Social Housing coordinated by A New Day with the Ortis 2.0 project.

“We had the opportunity to interview some people serving sentences,” says 18-year-old Gaia Prestigiacomo, ”asking them about the kind of mistakes they had made and what their future prospects were at the conclusion of their sentences. They were very kind and helpful people who made me move away from the prejudices one may have about people who have committed crimes. They are people who are trying to better themselves and, for those who have families, to give their children a better future. In Housing, we worked in the garden together with them. Definitely, it’s an experience I didn’t think I would have in my life that changed my mind about people who have done wrong.”

“I asked questions to a Moroccan boy and another Tunisian boy,” says 18-year-old Salvatore Armanio as well, ”and they
told me their stories and their experience in prison. Some of them also talked about their passion for music and cooking. These meetings were like a life lesson for us from which we learned that even those who make mistakes can make up for them if they want to. The Housing surprised me because it is a very well-maintained facility where the detained people are doing well. I was able to tell my family about this experience as well.”

“At the beginning, the young people were a little perplexed about the people they were going to meet,” says Simona Catalano of Un Nuovo Giorno. “Despite this, we explained to them the importance of being able to relate to them for the very purpose of culturally broadening their horizons within the meaningful framework of a re-educational and social activity. The boys met people who, although they have made mistakes, today are in a phase of recovery and change in their lives.”

“Together with people serving external sentences, the young people did craft workshops,” adds Antonio Macaluso, operator of a New Day. ”In particular, they made two benches and planted flowers in two decorative pots that we will put in the outdoor spaces of the neighborhood. It was nice to see how the young people got involved in the different activities, getting to know people who live a reality very different from their own.”

(Serena Termini – Press Release Ass. “Un nuovo giorno” 16/01/2025)

Source and images

• “Un nuovo giorno” Association