INTERNATIONAL: Faith and refreshment for <100k youth
Nearly 100,000 youngsters living amid war and extreme poverty are to benefit from youth camps funded by leading Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
About 75 percent of those taking part in this year’s programmes are from Ukraine, Syria and Lebanon and the initiative will be their only chance to take a break from day-to-day lives of great struggle and stress.
The camps, many of them taking place over the summer holidays, combine leisure and sport activities with religious education and formation led by priests, Sisters, catechists and other lay leaders.
Among those taking part are nearly 43,000 youngsters from Lebanon and almost 26,000 from Syria.
More than 6,000 young people in Ukraine, many of them living in the shadow of the ongoing war, will be participating in ACN-funded summer and winter camps as well as retreats.
Camps are also underway in the Holy Land where 350 Arab-speaking and 100 Hebrew-speaking Christian youth will take a break from the strains of poverty and other difficulties made worse by the conflict ongoing since October 7th.
Youngsters from a total of 15 countries are participating in the ACN-funded camps including Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Egypt, Georgia, Ghana, India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.
For many of the young people, the initiatives provide opportunities for faith formation, respite care and trauma relief, as well as the chance to make new friends and develop new skills and hobbies.
ACN Director of Projects Marco Mencaglia said: “ACN’s experience over many years of supporting youth activities around the world is that the impact of the camps in the life of the participants goes much beyond what one can imagine.
“The chance to live some days of serenity in the company of priests, animators and other young people, joyfully sharing the common faith, is often the sole opportunity for them to keep hope and try to heal the wounds of their soul in a context often marked by violence and hate.”