ZAK T-Shirts
It is said that a picture can say a thousand words. If that is the case each ZAK t-shirt can write a whole chapter. If, like me, you have been a ZAK member for many years, your wardrobe will most certainly contain many ZAK t-shirts which all together can write a whole book.
I would like to invite ZAK members who have various t-shirts from various activities to send them to me along with a write-up of the event. For the photo of the t-shirt, just take a good photo with the t-shirt on the floor or a table and I will edit the picture. Otherwise bring the t-shirt along at some time when we will be meeting and I can take the photo myself.
ZAK group T-Shirts
The most recent ZAK activity and it is still fresh on everyone's mind. In fact the Kamp Sajf 2007 is still one of the most viewed pages on the website almost 3 months after the end of kamp sajf. The first white t-shirt in many years shows the kamp sajf logo 'Watts' who is a light bulb. The name given to kamp sajf, 'Watts UR source?' shows the plug of the light bulb reaching upwards, symbolically connected to Our Lord, from where we get all our power/ energy. Something to remember is the fact that the Archbishop of Malta also has his very own kamp sajf 07 t-shirt.
We used these t-shirts during the Annual General Assembly last October. Since they were made for those ZAK members who were going to be working as back stage during that activity, not many were made. The word Crew along with the ZAK logo are on the back while the front is plain. I consider myself lucky to have got one as I like the way they turned out. These t-shirts also signify belonging. Crew simply means that the holder is part of the team, in this case part of ZAK.
This t-shirt is the last one which was poduced. It was seen a lot at De La Salle during the first week of September 2006 for that years' edition of Kamp Sajf. The title of Kamp Sajf that year was 'Blaze' and the quote on the front of the t-shirt is 'Bhalma habbejtkom jien, hekk ukoll hobbu intom lil xulxin (Gw 13,34)'. Everyone who was present for the Kamp Sajf 2006 will surely have a lot of stories to tell to their friends.
The only time that Kamp Sajf was held at Kordin and had to be limited in the number of participants. Despite this and certain other difficulties which crept up while we were there, it was yet again another nice experience for all those who were involved and you can read all about it by clicking on the title above. The name was dott net and the logo depicts a youth throwing a net to catch a fish. The quote from the Bible says 'Naghmilkom sajjieda tal-bnedmin (Mt 4,19).
World Youth Day 2005 - Cologne
This was by far the biggest exodus of ZAK members to a foreign country. Some 80 ZAK members had two each of this t-shirt. The front shows 2 children adoring the cross which is just in front and above them. The quotation is 'Gejna inqimuh - Matthew 2,2' which means 'We have come to adore him'. This is the quotation that was chosen for this World Youth Day by the Vatican. The t-shirt also contains the ZAK and World Youth Day logos. How can we forget all the memories that go with this t-shirt - the boat and coach trip, our time in Bad Mergentheim and other German cities, walking along the river Rhine, singing in the streets wherever we went, the night at Marienfeld................... The list is quite long and the memories are no less lengthy. As is customary at World Youth Day, many ZAK members exchanged one or both of the orange t-shirts with items from participants from other countries.
The red t-shirt, which obviously reflects one of the colours of our flag, was made by the Maltese dioces. Besides ZAK, there were other Maltese organisations who went for the World Youth Day, bringing the total Maltese present to more than 550. All the Maltese had the same red t-shirt so that we would use it particularly on the last 2 days, when everyone gathered together at Marienfeld.
Once again kamp sajf was held at the seminary in Rabat. Now in the third year, it was was entitled H2O and the caption says 'Jaghtik ilma haj'. This year we had a large place and enough leaders so as to have 2 age groups at the same time but separate from each other Those who were present will remember the fountain we made, the police academy, dragostea, an early morning wake up followed by Mass................and so many other nice memories.
Kamp Sajf 2003 was held at the beginning of September at the Seminary in Rabat. Synonymous with this t-shirt is the song 'Chihauhau' which we danced so many times during that week and also occasionally during more recent activities. The logo is a key sitting on a settee and the quote is 'Ejj oqghod, illum jehtieg nigi ghandek (Lq 19,5)'.
First National T-Shirt
It was the first time that ZAK produced a t-shirt nationally which was not associated to an event. There was a lot of work in preparing the front of the t-shirt and many responded when the time came for ordering. The first production of the t-shirt was sold out and a subsequent production was made, all of which eventually sold out. The t-shirt was seen in many activities over the past years both locally and also abroad, with many friends from abroad also having their own ZAK t-shirt. Unfortunately the t-shirt has been used a lot and therefore most of them has now faded from exposure to the sun. You might know that we are in the process of choosing a new logo for ZAK, so I wonder if we will have a national t-shirt featuring the new logo at some time in the future.
Eurocontact 2003 - Alitupa Zawadi
This time the planning team had more experience after having organised Streetwise in 2001 and therefore it was easier to plan. The strange name is 'He gave us gifts' in the Swahili language. After having held Kamp Sajf 2002 at the Seminary, we decided to do the same with Eurocontact as the place was ideal for this activity. There was still a lot of work to do and prepare, but on the whole it was a nice experience. Many ZAK members will remember Alitupa Zawadi and one of the great things to come out of Eurocontact 2003 was the firm friendship between the Maltese and the foreign participants.
The first Kamp Sajf in recent times. There had been previous Kamp Sajf editions, but I don't remember them and very few ZAK members were around back then. This was an experiment which went pretty well. Along with a few other ZAK members, I had just returned from World Youth Day in Toronto and the quotation was 'Salt up... be light'. This is what is written on the front of the t-shirt and Kamp Sajf reflections were all about this short sentence. Besides the reflections, Kamp Sajf was made up of a lot of fun workshops which were enjoyed by the ZAK members who were present.
World Youth Day 2002 - Toronto
Since World Youth Day 2002 was held so far away in Toronto, it was not cheap and was therefore beyond the means of many ZAK members. Because of this, not many of these t-shirts were printed. On the front of the t-shirt is the World Youth Day 2002 quotation "You are the salt of the earth....You are the light of the World" Mt 5:13-14. On the back is the logo of the World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto along with the dates and Malta. The thing about t-shirts when visiting World Youth Day is that they are like a uniform. Hundreds of Thousands of young people from all over the world are present for World Youth Day activities and many times everyone will be in a confined space. There were many times when it was necessary for us to hold each others hands when walking through the crowds. The different coloured t-shirts help to identify you as a member of a particular group. Of course there were many other countries who were using yellow, however it was still easier to find each other in this way.
Eurocontact 2001 - Streetwise
This was the first international activity hosted by ZAK in which I participated and I was looking forward to it. The t-shirt brings back all the memories - many planning meetings, sometimes whole planning weekends at B'kara, going around to look at places which we could use, preparing St. Agata in Rabat, co-ordinating the arrivals and departures of some 60 participants. It was a lot of work but it was a nice experience which allowed me to get to know other ZAK leaders better. It also saw the involvement of Mario Ellul who unfortunately passed away a few years later. I had also created a website dedicated to this activity.
During this edition of Eurocontact, there were 2 sets of t-shirts made. The white one was used by all the participants and all the leaders also had one, however the blue t-shirt, which shows both the ZAK and the FIMCAP logo as a symbol of the co-operation for this activity, was only available to the leaders.
At the Trade Fair grounds during the summer of 2000, there was a big activity entitled 'Festa Zghazagh' for Maltese youth. During this activity ZAK members presented workshops in a couple of rooms designed to look like wagons of a train (the reason for the train on the front of the t-shirt). Vjagg B'Direzzjoni was also an opportunity for ZAK to grow through new contacts made during that week at the Trade Fair. This t-shirt was very common during the year that followed and it will be remembered by those who have been members for a number of years.