Covid didn't stop us and the XIV edition of the Di Liegro Foundation's "Volunteers and families online" training course began on the theme of "Starting again from the crisis" on 3 October. We will continue until December 5th: for us, training and in-depth study on the topic of volunteering are an unmissable event.
The virus has profoundly changed the way we gather: shadowing is prohibited. A small group of course participants, appropriately distanced, meets in our office. The others are connected online. Technology creates a virtual presence that does not make us miss the real one too much and offers new opportunities: this year people who live in different parts of Italy, from Sicily to Lombardy, of different ages and experiences are taking part in the course.
Their stories revealed how strong the impact of the lockdown was on the world of volunteering. Consolidated experiences in supporting the most fragile part of the population have been faced with a challenge. Barred the doors of the hospital wards where pediatric patients, cancer patients and lonely elderly people are helped. Stop the workshops where people with mental disorders find space to enter into relationships with others and express themselves. Adolescents with Down syndrome, in particular, have suffered greatly, as have their families.
Volunteering has reacted to isolation by moving to the digital network, discovering that many people, especially young people, open up more in virtual communication, but also that there are still many who do not have access to the web.
There is a divide between those who have access to IT tools and those who do not, but 95% of the population owns a smartphone and there is also room for volunteering there.
The sociologist is convinced of this Andrea Volterrani, the first speaker of our training course Volunteers and families networking for mental health. Physical proximity is in many cases irreplaceable, but building relationships of reciprocity and trust, which are the basis of a community, it is also possible on the network. Anyone approaching volunteering must know that it takes time and that you cannot be alone. Individual volunteering does not exist. It is the group, the collective, that is successful, even online.
