Five years on – the international rhythm of “Milonga”

An initiative that combines the desire to provide practical help  with the many needs that exist in the world. These are the aims that, in 2016, generated “Milonga”, an international intercultural and fraternal volunteer programme.

A new opportunity, a renewed proposal to bring help where it is needed. This is the mission that “Milonga” is still pursuing today, 5 years after its inception. It developed thanks to  the contribution of New Humanity, Youth for a United World and the Latin American Network of Social Organisations Inspired by the Charism of Unity, with the collaboration of Sociedade Movimento dos Focolares-Brazil, Sumà Fraternidad and Promoción Integral de la Persona. It is an international volunteering platform that meets the needs of an increasingly widespread desire among young people to have global social experiences.

The first volunteers left in 2016 with destinations in Bolivia and Brazil. Subsequently, more than 200 young people have followed in their footsteps, crossing borders to offer their time, talents and professional skills. This is a small but important contribution to overcoming inequalities in the world.

But what is distinctive about “Milonga” compared to other volunteer programmes? For Virginia Osorio, Uruguayan member of the Coordination Team, “Milonga was the opportunity to network with a broad range of people and thus generate a different system of international cooperation which puts fraternity at its heart. In Milonga, service is enhanced by interculturality and training in global and local citizenship, weaving links not only between the north to the south, but in all directions.”

This is how young people aged between 21 and 35 are  working in synergy with the NGOs and are engaged in projects in areas of need all over the world. Marco Provenzale, from Italy, says: “For these reasons, the programme is named after a Latin American dance with African roots and plays upon the NGO acronym. In Italian this would read   “Mille ONG in Azione” – “A Thousand NGOs in Action”.

Communities and little towns belonging to the Focolare Movement  also support the initiative. It offers significant opportunities for action and training for young people who are motivated and want to contribute to society.

In these five years, “Milonga” has made a great impact upon the lives of many young people. “The experience they have with each other reflects upon the role each plays as a citizen of the world,” continues Virginia Osorio, “and stimulates them to want to act wherever there is suffering.” In addition to the many volunteers who have worked in person in these initiatives, during the pandemic more than a hundred have had a virtual intercultural experience online. This enabled them to support actions such as fundraising, helping school children, preparing for exams, practising different languages and much more. Antonella, a young woman from Argentina, did virtual volunteering in Brazil and is now preparing to finally do it in person: “Before, I didn’t participate in things like this. Today, if I don’t do something concrete, I feel empty. My experience with Milonga has given me this new awareness.”

Janeth Lucía Cárdenas and the MilONGa team
(social worker, involved with Milonga and the global communication project)