Leadership Training 16 - 18 ^

May Seminar ^

May is the Maltese Association of Youth Workers and they provide short seminars for youth leaders. ZAK believes in the ongoing training of it's leaders and there were about 20 leaders (half of the people present) from at least 8 different parishes who attended this 3 hour seminar. The topic of today was disruptive behaviour during the meetings and due to the interest generated by this topic there were many who attended.

Leadership Training 18 - 20 ^

Hija esperjenza li jekk ikolli nerga naghmilha, ma nahsibiex darbtejn, ghax hadt hafna minnha. Il-fatt li qassmuna fi gruppi ma nies li qatt ma kont naf qabel kienet l-ewwel darba ghalija, u ghenitni nikber u nsir iktar indipendenti. Kellna nintegraw sew ma xulxin biex nibnu grupp tajjeb li jaf jahdem unit u maqghud, li kapaci jqatta gurnata shiha barra jibni kull xorta ta affarijiet u jfendi ghal rasu. L-iktar zewg affarijiet li laqtuni matul dan it-training kienu ir-relaxion exercise, u l-quddiesa li bhas-soltu dejjem tkun tal-genn. Thank you kbira lil-leaders li mexxew dan it-training, u nselli ghal kulhadd, specjalment lil dawk li kienu fil-bungalow mieghi.

Louise - ZAk B'Kara

Groups Day ^

This years event was held in a school hall and it was very well attended. Many other local groups had their presentation and then almost at the end it was our turn. Our presentation was about the Catholic Action in general though it was ZAK who took care of it. The presentation consisted of a powerpoint show, a song, narration and a short mime.

National Youth Day ^

National youth day was organised at Baystreet and many different groups set up stands. ZAK had a stand along with the Girl guides and the stand was about education. We promoted education through learning which goes on continually through the weekly meetings, activities, exchanges, etc which we continually organise. Through this stand visitors to Baystreet got to know a bit more what ZAK is all about. ZAK members were also stopping by the stand.

Peace March ^

ZAK joined moviment graffiti in a peace march from Blata l-Bajda to Valletta. Some 12 ZAK members formed part of a crowd of about 300 who walked along National Road and on to Valletta in a quiet demonstration against war. ZAK members were holding a banner which read 'Hobb lil-ghajrek bhalek innifsek' (Love your neighbour as yourself) and in fact the banner being held by ZAK members shown in one of the local newspapers.

From Multicultural to Intercultural ^

This seminar was organised by ZAK for FIMCAP member organisations. We were very lucky to have representatives from 15 different countries for this seminar. By Friday evening most of the participants had gathered and we started with some ice-breakers and name games so that the participants could get to know each other. The participants spent the next few days together, taking part in workshops and having plenty of time to speak together. The aim of this seminar was to build stronger relationships when it comes to youth exchanges. Speaking together and getting to know each other and how the groups from various countries work was ideal. Of course, when speaking about different countries, different cultures are met and this was also highlighted during the many workshops and working groups. It was very sad when Tuesday came and everyone had to say farewell as a good seminar was had by all.

Adrian Leone Ganado. ZAK.

Coming from Sierra Leone where we have different background, the Seminar helped me  to become aware of the challenges that go with exchanges of youths from different backgrounds and some useful information on how to deal with them.  It is possible for youths to understand and work with different cultures and languages with ease. I was impressed by the team spirit, the enthusiasm of participants and the wonderful contributions made by all.  It is a learning experience and a challenge for Africa in the near future.

Fr. Daniel Yeboah.

For me the seminar on Malta was a great experience. As the only participant of the Netherlands I knew nobody of the big group of people who joined this seminar. Now it's the day after the seminar ended and almost everybody left. Maybe you know the feeling of loneliness after a summer camp. Having a very good time with a group of people and then you're at home without those people. Too much silence. It was a great seminar and I go  home with a lot of things to think of, new things I learnt, a large amount of memories and a group of new friends and even a new project to work on. I want to thank our Maltese hosts for all their good work for this seminar. It was great.

Frans Wolkenfelt. Jong Nederlands.

World Youth Day ^

The theme for this years World Youth Day was 'We wish to see Jesus'. After the blessing of the palms and Mass, all those present were divided into small groups. ZAK had 3 of the workshops. In one of the workshops the participants looked for pieces of a jigsaw and put it together. When it was ready they saw that the picture was the face of Jesus. We can find Jesus in various places throughout the day. Another workshop was a sort of imagination game where the participants were lead on an imaginary journey and made aware of the various parts of their bodies. They then were made aware of their neighbours and finally reminded that Jesus is in our neighbours. The final workshop was a PowerPoint presentation about past editions of the World Youth Day and some information about the coming edition. There was an evening of variety organised inside the old theatre. During the evening another group presented a dance to the song 'Where is the love?'.

Leaders Night Hike ^

New leaders who attended the 'Building Muscles' leadership training of February, decided to get together to keep the friendship alive. 6 new leaders took care of organising this hike. We all met at Valletta and from there we proceeded to Ghajn Tuffieha. Here there was a game on the sand. We then hiked along the roads and got to the location of the second game. More hiking got us to the parking lot of a Church where we had reflections and a rest. After that a brisk hike got us to Mellieha though we stopped for another break near Popeye's village along the way. At Mellieha we rested and had more games till the coach took us back to Valletta. Meetings like this are very important as leaders from the various ZAK groups get to meet each other and then it is easier to work together in the preparation and execution of international and local activities.

Pentecost Vigil ^

The actual start of the Pentecost vigil was a few weeks before the activity. This is because there were a lot of meetings to prepare for our part in the vigil. A coach collected members from Hal Tarxien, B'kara, Marsa and Iklin and brought them all to Mellieha. Besides forming part of the crowd of about 4000 who heard the Mass, ZAK also had some work to do. Nadia was one of 2 comperes for the evening. Fr. Michael joined many priests who concelebrated. A group of 6 ZAK leaders read out the bidding prayers. A larger group under the guidance of young ZAK leaders was in charge of a dance which was presented almost at the very end of the Mass. Other Maltese local youth groups and organisations also took part and along with our own efforts this years Pentecost Vigil was even better than last years.

Voluntary Fair ^

A Fair for Voluntary Organisations was organised and held at the Naxxar Trade Fair Grounds between the 20th and 23rd May. The aim of the voluntary fair was to increase awareness on the many voluntary organisations present in Malta and Gozo, as well as inviting both young and old to be of service or to make use of the services being offered.
ZAK was in charge of the Catholic Action stand.  A planning team was set up and included Louise Cachia, Daniela Spiteri Camoin, Sephora Xuereb, Gordon Pace, Martin Chetcuti, Adrian Leone Ganado and Rennie Attard. The stand included various photos from the different groups that can be found in the Catholic Action structure. Furthermore, stickers with the ZAK logo and website, and a leaflet with all the information related to ZAK groups were distributed.
 

Sunday Mass ^

Every Sunday Mass is broadcast live on PBS so that those people who can't go to Church will at least be able to hear Mass. ZAK was asked to take care of this Mass for the 6th June and ZAK Zabbar took it up. In fact the ZAK Zabbar choir which plays and sings every Sunday in their Parish Church took care of this Mass. Many members from ZAK Zabbar were present for the Mass. Other ZAK members and AK members including the president were present. Last but not least, Fr. Damian Cachia who is the AK Chaplain said the Mass. This Mass was dedicated to Beata Gianna Beretta Molla who passed away in 1962 due to complications during the birth of her 3rd child. One should take note that she spent many years of her life doing voluntary work for the young people of the Catholic Action.

General Meeting ^

This afternoon some ZAK members joined other Catholic Action members at the premises of the AK at the Catholic Institute. The choir lead the singing during prayers organised by the ladies from Hal Luqa. After a short presentation by the AK president Ms. Ninette Borg Grech, everyone present was divided into workshops so as to discuss the 6 main points in the synod. Each group, which was facilitated by a ZAK member, discussed the work done during this past year and found the positive, negative, opportunities and threats for each main point. The group work was followed by a break and then the results were presented to those assembled. A conclusion was then drawn and all left after singing the AK hymn.

BBQ ^

One month before the BBQ, a group of leaders got together to prepare for this BBQ. Following the number of 450 who attended last year, a target of 550 was set. During the brainstorming many ideas came up and finally we decided on what we would eventually prepare. More meetings followed and the last meeting one day before the BBQ confirmed that everyone had done their part.

During the afternoon, Little Armier was invaded by a large number of coaches. Those groups who arrived early had a chance to swim for a while. The first item on the program was a talent show. This took some 2 hours since there were 23 groups present. Over here one could see a lot of talent and fresh ideas (photos of the talent show will be put on the groups pages in the coming days). We had a break while everyone ate and then there were the reflections. These made use of audio and video besides having spectacular images of a large cross. Fr. Michael gave us a blessing and showed us that Jesus is with us the whole time, especially during prayer. The official number of members was announced - a number which was 100 more than the target. The last hour of the BBQ was taken up by the viewing of a short feature about each group and the points which were awarded for the talent show. At 23:00 the coaches started leaving though the organisers took another 2 hours to dismantle everything and leave the beach in the same condition as it was before we arrived.

Ohloq Tbissima ^

Last year ZAK participated in the marathon 'Ohloq Tbissima' - an event organised by CAM (Centru Azzjoni Missjunarja) and spread over a weekend with sixty hours of non-stop programmes with the aim of collecting funds for charity, aiding countries like Peru, Philippines and Pakistan, as well as Malta.  Following last year's success, ZAK participated in the marathon again this year, with a one hour programme, that was held on the 24th July, at 3.30am - right after the ZAK BBQ!  ZAK leaders and members were invited to join in a live discussion that discussed ZAK's mission, aim and objectives, projects, information on the ZAK groups, activities, the website, amongst others.  Gordon Pace, who was one of the organisers of the marathon, lead the panel, that included Martin Chetcuti, Louise Cachia, Daniela Spiteri Camoin, Sephora Xuereb and Kristjana Borg.
 

Leadership Training - Holland ^

My Experience at Olde Vechte can be described as...FLIPPIN WOW!!  It was certainly one of my best experiences since I have been working with young people.  As a start Martin did a really good job in preparing the Maltese participants (Mario, Louise, William, Kristiana and myself) which meant that we were already a good team before even arriving in Holland. The arrival in itself was classical because we had to use our support system (MARTIN!!) in order to find shelter for the night due to a mix up in the train schedules.  However we ended up sleeping in the kitchens of 2 other Dutch participants.  Meeting other people from different parts of the world is always exciting in itself and definitely an enriching experience. Their training in itself provided us with ample opportunities to share views, reach common goal and assess the needs of the various groups we are involved in, but most of all thought us that we normally get what we create. The 3 day outdoor adventure got the group testing all our nerves! But eventually also proved that we were a united one group. I will never forget my time at Olde Vechte even because we were a bunch of complete strangers at the beginning but brothers and sisters at the end and even after the training.

Gordon.

Blood Donation Campaign - B D Miracle ^

Some months before the campaign, a group of young leaders from various localities got together to start planning for this noble cause. Many meetings were held and during these meetings it was decided what task each leader would take care of and how to go about the promotion of blood donation amongst the Maltese population. A radio spot was recorded, sponsors were found, posters and bookmarks were printed, t-shirts were made and a lot of contacts were made aware of what was going on. Each ZAK youth group was also given the task of preparing a banner which was to be hung in their parish. During the press conference which launched the campaign, speeches were held for those present and these speeches were also later shown during the evening news on the local TV stations. After the press conference a large number of people went to the blood donation mobile unit which was parked nearby to put their words into action by donating blood themselves. During the remainder of the week, the campaign was further promoted by articles which appeared online and in the newspapers and interviews both on TV and also on radio. Thus ZAK played it's part in making it's own members and the population in general aware of the never-ending need for blood donations.

Water, Air & Earth – Celebrating Nature, Improving the Future ^

F'Awwissu li ghadda, jien, Tiziana u Chris, kollha taz-ZAK gejna maghzula biex immorru is-Summer School organizzata mill-EYCE, go Durham l-Ingilterra. It-tema ta' din is-Summer School kienet "Water, Air and Earth" u ddiskutejna l-ambjent u l-problema ambjentali li pajjiz jista jkollu u kif nistghu nnaqsu mit-tniggis. Kienet gimgha intensiva, fejn kellna numru ta' talks u anki attivitajiet fejn kulhadd ta' sehmu. L-attivitajiet kienu jvarjaw hafna, u ghalhekk il-gost kien ikbar. Fost l-attivitajiet li kellna, kien hemm role playing u anki ghamilna xi plays biex nirraprezentaw kif tista ssir id-dinja f'25 sena ohra. Apparti is-sessions kellna ukoll attivitajiet socjali u ekumenici, fejn thallatna mal-partecipanti barranin u b'hekk sirna nafu dwar d-denominazzjonijiet differneti u anki l-kulturi vari tal-partecipanti varji. Wara attivita bhal din tispicca ghajjien, imma kuntent li taghllimt xi haga li tista twassalha lil haddiehor u li ghamilt hafna hbieb.

Robert Zammit minn ZAK Zabbar

Malta - Sierra Leone ^

Marvic and Fr. Michael visited Sierra Leone as the start of a partnership project. The first contact was made with Fr. Daniel during the Multicultural Seminar which was held here earlier on during the year. This was more of an exploratory visit to get to know some of the South African people and to see what possibilities there are. The trip lasted a bit more than 2 weeks and was very enriching. The partnership project will start during the summer of 2005. Read an experience by Marvic.

Krinkel ^

Krinkel means ripple - that ripple which forms when a drop falls into some water. The reason that the summer camp for leaders in Belgium is called Krinkel is because that which is received should then be passed on to the members in the groups they lead. Four of us; Daniela Camoin, Sephora Xuereb, Christopher Borg and Adrian Leone Ganado decided to go for this summer camp. We had a 6km walk (carrying all our things on our backs) from the station to the camping ground. We were in the international camp (35 internationals in all) and we had around 70 Belgians with us. In all there were 2000 leaders spread out over a few fields.

All the leaders were split into living groups with around 12 people per group. These groups would spend the day together, getting to know each other better and doing the tasks, activities or games that they had chosen themselves as a group. During the evenings everyone used to get together once again for whatever was on the program. Since this Krinkel is all about taking care of the environment around us, we did not have any electricity. All waste was being separated at source to help with the theme of the camp. We all managed to integrate quite well with our living groups and it was very nice to meet so many people from different countries. Though conditions in the tent and all the walking made the camp quite tiring, we were sorry when it was time to leave. (Read more)

Adrian.

Summer Camp ^

View the write-ups, photos and comments from this years summer camp. Click here.

General Assembly ^

Like last year the general assembly was held in the Catholic Institute in Floriana. A voyager met a number of people who originated in the Bible. We spoke about the forthcoming projects which are being organised by the various Catholic Action branches. There was a dance and then a spectacular start to the Mass. The ZAK choir animated the Mass with songs. Mass was followed by 2 speeches and the general assembly and Catholic Action songs.

ZAK members had a break before starting a treasure hunt which took them all over Valletta. The treasure hunt had a lot of questions to be answered by looking at the place in question. Each group (made up of members from different ZAK groups) took part in the final game. By now it was time for everyone to leave and have a rest while we put everything away.

Training Course for Youth Workers ^

When I decided to attend for this training course relating to the relevance of animation in youth work, it never crossed my mind that we were going to take and learn so much from such a course. Since in ZAK we do not practice outreach youth work and street interaction, I could not imagine how ballooning and face painting could be relevant to our type of youth work. But besides all, I decided to give it a try – and it was an excellent choice!   

There, we made contacts and met new friends from all over Europe. It was an excellent opportunity to learn about different organizations and what type of youth work they practice.

During the sessions, great emphasis was made on group dynamics and on how young people can express themselves in body movements. We did a lot of concentration games, in order to enhance our concentration and to keep ourselves attentive all the time.  It was really fun and we returned to Malta with vibrant enthusiasm and lots of new ideas which we can use in our groups.

There, we also practiced some animation skills, like face painting, clowning, ballooning, parachute games, and juggling. However, in reality, I never succeeded in mastering juggling!  The animators explained to us how face painting and the other skills can be very useful when dealing with young people.  They explained that, for example, as face painting is very relaxing, a youth worker can exploit the situation to talk in a quite manner with difficult adolescents while painting their faces.

Anyway, if another similar opportunity arises again, I advise anyone who is reading this article, to grasp such an occasion and enjoy it to the maximum because it is really, really worth it!!

Glorianne Grima (ZAK Poala Kristu Re)

New Year's Eve Party ^

Like in the previous years, a small team organised a new year's eve party. The attendance this year was of 170 ZAK members. We recapped the year through a video presentation. The Mass was very well organised with some innovative ideas in design and presentation. This made it a very nice celebration. The hall was cleared up of all the chairs and the party then started. The food and drinks (non-alcoholic) were available to all while the music kept everyone on their feet and dancing. Just before the stroke of midnight everyone was counting down the seconds eagerly. Once everyone had given their immediate friends the best wished for the new year the dancing continued almost unabated till 1.30 when the vans arrived to everyone home. All agreed that it was a very good party.