| ŻGĦAŻAGĦ AZZJONI KATTOLIKA Żgħażagħ Azzjoni Kattolika has had a year which has been packed with various activities. These activities included Maltese people going abroad, foreigners coming to stay here, training in youth work, live-in’s, exchanges, marathons, etc… The main activities are as follows. |
| Leadership Training Course ▲ During February about 30 youth from the various parishes associated with ŻAK gathered for a weekend of leadership training. The participants, many of whom help out with groups of teenagers, learnt about time management, creativity, understanding and other skills needed to coach youth. The idea was that each person would have some presentation and afterwards the whole group discussed it so that everyone would learn from each other. |
Pope’s Visit ▲ ŻAK members were very active during the beatification Mass which the Pope said on the granaries in Floriana during the month of May. Some of the members were ushers and their job was to help the people to find their places. A group of members was assigned to helping the disabled and elderly, especially those who use a wheelchair. |
| Many ŻAK centres were used as stations during the treasure hunt organised by the KDŻ on the 16th September. Activities were organised at the centres and throughout the day there were youth awaiting the participating teams so as to guide them through the task. Other ŻAK members were driving the jeeps or in the control centre. |
Racism Seminar ▲ Two youth from Malta took part in the seminar on racism which was organised by the EYCE in Romania during last March. Amongst another 30 participations from different countries and denominations, the topic was discussed in great detail. The leisure day included a visit to Bram Castle and a typical Romanian meal. |
FDF – ŻAK ▲ FDF is a Dutch youth organisation similar to ŻAK. During Easter, 9 of their members were here in Malta to experience the Christian celebrations along with their Maltese hosts. While the celebrations were followed in the Churches and there was also a visit to a Good Friday procession, traditional recipes, songs, prayers, etc were shared. |
| About 23 foreigners from Turkey, Italy, Palestine, Sweden and Finland joined 9 Maltese ŻAK members during September for a week. The object of the week was that of ‘Sustaining our cultural heritage’ and each country had a chance to give presentations. These included recipes, dancing and singing, religion, art etc. Many visits were organised so that the visit was not just theory. |
| Some 44 foreigners from Switzerland, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, Holland and Sweden joined 25 Maltese participants and another 25 Maltese leaders. The weeklong activity fell under the title ‘Be Streetwise’ and it encouraged the youth to show what they could do to help people on the streets. This August activity included visits to the disabled, sick and elderly in their homes, visits and participation in various institutions, team building and sharing and ended with a street theatre in B’Bugia. |
Kristu Re ▲ Many youth attended this activity and ŻAK provided leaders who took care of the youth when they were divided into smaller groups. During this time the youth had a chance to voice their opinion. |
BBQ ▲ The start of the summer was celebrated by gathering all those members who wanted to join in on the beach for a BBQ. This activity was very well attended and about 150 youth were present. As it was getting dark, prayers were recited and it was quite impressive to see so many youth gathered in prayer. |
New Years' Eve party ▲ The party was organised for all Maltese members and there was a good turnout. This was a non-alcohol party with Mass included. It was an opportunity for friends to meet once again and so that one year could be seen out and the new one welcomed by all in each other’s company. |
Euroforum ▲ 5 members from ŻAK went to Italy in May to take part in the Euroforum. Activities included technology, information and spirituality all done in a fun way. Euroforum is generally just a weekend long and in these 4 days the technology workshop had to launch a web page. We had to build this from scratch and it had to be full of events done during the Euroforum itself. Like other foreign experiences we had the chance to make new friends with the other foreigners and it is a good idea for others to try going for an activity abroad with other foreigners. |
Leadership training – Holland ▲ A group of 30 participants and leaders gathered in Holland for leadership training. The 5 representatives from Malta enjoyed themselves during the activities. These included being given sparse directions and the participants then had to follow them, proving that they are capable of more than what they had believed. They were also required to prepare spontaneous meetings for the rest of the group, anticipating situations which might arise in their own centres. |
Assemblies ▲ During the Catholic action assemblies, the youth section played big parts. On both occasions the sound, lighting and visual media were prepared by the youth. Plays were organised, a choir sung the songs and presenters were chosen from among the many youth members. Many of the innovative ideas used during these activities were also thought up during brainstorming sessions. |
WSCF/EYCE – Gender Issues ▲ A single participant from Malta went to Denmark to participate in this seminar held in October with 20 participants. The topics covered included women in politics, violence, gender issues as found in the Bible and the culture of Muslims. Though mostly European, there were also Indonesian and Puerto Rican participants so that the situation could be seen in their countries besides in Europe. As usual the seminar had talks aimed at the whole group though there were also workshops so that more work could be done at once. There were also the usual cultural evenings and international banquets. |
Youth and European integration ▲ A total of 20 people from 14 countries (1 from Malta), met in Belgium for this weeklong seminar. During this time many important issues were dealt with, among these there was how much the integration would benefit the members, necessity of more knowledge for members and aspiring members. It was decided that generally it would be better for members to join, but everything must be shown in detail to the public. |
