Cinema At The Bar
Punta Alta is a vibrant city in southern Argentina, whose citizens are known for their initiative. It is the location of the Puerto Belgrano Naval Base, the largest port in the country, which saw its moment of glory a century ago as thousands of youths did their military service there while in the navy. Here in this city of 60,000 open and generous people, there is now a group for “dialogue among people of diverse convictions, friends of the Focolare. In order to open the experience of communication and dialogue to others, a cineforum series has been organized. 
They did not opt for a theater or for the dark silence of a cinema theater. . . they went to Bar Centrale, the most famous bar in Punta Alta, which has been around for nearly 100 years with its typical little tables and grand lounge, pool tables and a small stage where, in the 1930’s small orchestras and dancers performed. The admission fee is one non-perishable food item that is donated to a local Community Center. “Invitations are made personally by email or by not so large but very visible posters, which have been prepared by the bar owner and hung in the windows of neighboring shops. Group size varies between 30 and 50 people,” explains Hector Correa, the passionate cinema expert of the group.
Among the participants were students, adults, some young women Marine recruits in uniform, and also the regular clients of the bar were there willingly joining in with the gathering. When all was ready, the projection was preceded by a brief introduction which explained the meaning of the gathering and the motivation of the group that had organized the event. “Then,” Hector explains, “ my brother Luis and I” presented the film. And at the end we ran the debate, which always has a lot of participation and turns out to be very interesting for everyone. We don’t delve so much into the technical or aesthetic details of the film, but try to offer details about the thoughts and ideas of the film author, the presenation of characters and the historical context of the story. This makes the participants be more interested in the film’s content.” 
“ “Putting the emphasis on reality and stories that have concepts and conceptions of the world within them, which often do not correspond to our ideas,” explains Sisi Deramo, “is an exercize that obliges you to first of all listen attentively to what the other is trying to express, and then to try to make yourself understood within the framework of a cordial and fruitful dialogue, so that the coming together of diverse opinions can enrich everyone and nourish the common understanding.” I asked Kiki Deramo which films had been chosen. “We chose films which we could then discuss: Cinema Paradiso, The Postman, The Truman Show, The Wall, directed by Alan Parker and Dead Poets Society. I don’t think we made the wrong choices.” “It was a very interesting and useful experience for everyone. Let’s hope we can do it again this year,” says Sisi. By Carlos Mana
Do you want to know what makes the difference in life? Basing it on living the Word. This is what the gathering was all about, which brought together 700 youths, many of them very young, from all over Portugal, at Our Lady of Boa Nova, a few kilometers outside Lisbon. 
Some arrived the day before from the Azores Islands and Madeira. The faces of those who got off the buses coming from the north were weary and sun-burnt following the four or five hour-long journey. But at eleven o’clock when the doors of the auditorium were opened, the meeting hall was quickly filled with a very lively and attentive audience. Everyone was “in sync” as the opening song proclaimed. Those who had invited them and had prepared the program filled with singing, choreography, testimonies and reflections, had worked for months on end, during one of the busiest periods at most universities her in Portugal when exams are in full swing. And here is another reason why this auditorium of 700 youths was rather extraordinary. Some of them would have to face exams in the coming days, and some had postponed their exams in order to attend at the event. 
Along with the band, there was also a large sign on stage with the letters: ID GEN. In an era of text messages and twitter, only a few letters are required in order to be understood. These five letters tell of a whole program, and not only that of one day: “ID GEN” (Identity Gen) that is, the life and the ideals of the Gen, the youths of the Focolare Movement who were the animators of the day’s event. The sharings of Joao, Adrian, Tiago, Rita, Violeta, Antonio, Ana, Ricardo and Joana give a taste of what it is like to live the Gospel in the different situations of life. One of them was able to go beyond injustice at the university. One tried to not let himself be swept away by the competition of the work world. One realized that changes in relationships had to begin with giving up some of one’s own comforts. And these were all effects of love. Violeta told of the time she spent studying in Barcelona where she was living an experience with 18 young women of different nationalities. One of the young women was from Egypt and she was Muslim. Her customs were not always understood by the others in the group, but for Violet loving meant not only respecting such customs. “This was the least I could do. I remembered that Gospel passage which says to do to others as we would want them to do to us,” and so she did not leave her friend by herself in certain situations as the others were doing. And these did not remain isolated gestures for very long. Soon, two, three and then other classmates were doing the same. A more united and fraternal world could begin even from here. 
The love they were talking about was a love that meant getting your hands dirty. And this was literally the case for Tiago who was invited by a priest to volunteer in helping people who were living in the streets. It was difficult at first to shake their smelly hands, to wash the silverware they had used, to clean the washrooms at the center where they took turns bathing. Here again it was the Gospel that helped: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me.” And not only did it improve the situation of the people who had rediscovered their human dignity, but also Tiago could affirm that after five months with them: “I could look at them as ‘professors’ who had taught me how to love, to enlarge my heart.” Love even when suffering comes knocking Ana Filipa explains while telling of her experience with two brothers with muscular dystrophy. Her experience was shared by other Gen from her city up until the death of one of her brothers. Ricardo attests to the truth of Ana’s experience using the words of 
And so what has been called “a futureless generation,” faced today with so many uncertainties, can find a way out through this greater love. Although a more united world is still a distant goal for many, it is within the reach of those who love. Ask Joana, who ever since she was a child wanted to change the world, and now she does it by living the Gospel as she does her work in Parliament. The president of the Focolare, 
With its project Petite Flamme, 
The first objective was to offer academic instruction, but it immediately became obvious that the children were suffering malnutrition. They began to provide one meal a day and medical care. In the years that followed, Petite Flamme opened new centers, expanded the school year and extended its services to pre-teens, teens and to families. In 2002 they began “after school under the tree,” sixteen classes beneath sixteen different trees, since there was no school building. The project is supported by various entities and NGO’s, and especially by “Support at a distance” from the Action for New Families (AFN). All of the children receive an educational program, daily food and regular medical care. Once they are enrolled in secondary school, the teens become part of a support program. 
They are located in the very populated quarters or on the outskirts of Kinshasa where there is extreme poverty. Recently two new schools opened: in Idiofa, Bandundu, 750 km from Kinshasa; and in Kisantu, in Bas-Kongo, 160 km from Kinshasa. In Bandundu, Petite Flamme also operates in a poor rural environment. Due to the lack of water, a large cistern and two water tanks were built to collect rain water for the preparation of food each day. The project is supported by various entities and NGO’s, and especially by “Support at a distance” from the Action for New Families (AFN). All of the children receive an educational program, daily food and regular medical care. Once they are enrolled in secondary school, the teens become part of a support program. 2005. “Moyi Mwa Ntongo” Medical Center was opened for AIDS prevention, a malady which is widespread in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “Moyi Mwa Ntongo,” which in the local language means “The Morning Dawn,” was opened in 2005 in Limete, a downtown quarter of Kinshasa. It is sustained by Action for a United World (AMU). It offers quality service at accessible prices, not only for the children of “Petite Flamme,” but for anyone suffering with sickness, and it cooperates with local entities. 
Aside from medical research, the center is also equipped with an analysis laboratory, a pharmacy and a day hospital with fifteen beds. One of its strong points is the ophthalmology surgery, the most advanced in the region, important in the treatment and prevention of blindness, which is very prevalent in this region. There are many other projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for spreading the values of universal brotherhood through concrete action, like the ones carried out by members of the Focolare Movement in Goma (the province of North-Kivu) in the field of agriculture, in micro-credit and in education. [nggallery id=85]
“Together with personalities from the world of politics and culture, we were 9000, glued to our seats-the Gen Verde write to us at the conclusion of the event-in front of the images of the holocaust in the concentration camps. On the 26th January, at Florence, at the Nelson Mandela Forum, from a bare stage, testimonies were given by persons who survived the Shoah.” They were open wounds, like those that are today still victims of genocide, violence, and discrimination. 
Thus, with the title of the meeting “We, sons and daughters of Eichmann?” the organisers sought to make us ask ourselves “could this happen again?” This was the fifth edition, and this initiative was aimed at the students of the superior institutes of all the Tuscan provinces, and was held on the eve of the day of Remembrance, the 27th January, a date that is remembered contemporaneously in many European countries. Recently, even the city of Florence was the scene of episodes of ethnic intolerance, and for this reason the President of the region, stressed and asked those present to commit themselves, by beginning for example, to banish from our common language expressions that are offensive towards cultures and peoples that are different from us. The Gen Verde, in collaboration with a multi-ethnic orchestra from Arezzo, was entrusted with the conclusion of the event with songs and choreographies to bear witness that the dimension of reciprocity and exchange of diverse cultures is possible. And the attention of the youths who in silence and with respect received every intervention makes us hope that we can say with force “never again.” In Spring, new horizons await the Gen Verde: the first is Spain, where the group will be on a tour from the end of March up to the middle May, touching down on, amongst others, the cities of Jerez, Granada and Jaen- while other stops are being confirmed- with the show “Maria”. For information: www.genverde.it
This was the experience of some students and teachers at a secondary grammar school in Sarcelles, a well known Paris suburb. One day at school two foreign girls were engaged in a very violent argument. It was 28 September 2007. What to do? Lower your head and walk away? Pierre Benoit, the Italian teacher, decided to intervene. He proposed a new method, the method of brotherhood. He explained to his students: Each morning you throw a die, the brotherhood cube. Each of its six sides has a different phrase. For example: “Consider every man as a brother, and every woman a sister,” “See the other in a positive way,” “Take the first step toward the other,” “Reach out to your enemy,” “Understand the other” and “The other also sees me as a brother or sister.” Each day that you throw the die, you have a new proposal that you can put in practice. Then at the end of the week, you share how it went.
The teacher’s proposal was inspired by the “
Soon these experiences were featured in short films that were made by the students themselves. They tell the stories of how a reconciling word was able to destroy a cycle of enmity and violence. That same year, in 2007, a festival was planned. It was entitled “Brotherhood in the School, Brotherhood in the City”. More than 250 people participated, including three Mayors.
A year later an association was founded called “
So far in all, 600 youths have participated. After the introductory phase, developed through the analysis of both Italian and foreign spots and publicity campaigns, the project was continued with two investigative workshops: on the use of the female image in publicity (with psychologist Anna Granata and anthropologist Anna Casella) and on the influence of fashion on the behaviour of youths (with ballerina Liliana Cosi and psychologist Ezio Aceti). 
In the fourth round, Raffaele Cardelli, publicist and expert in communication, and member of 
With this appointment, the project “Spot, we are recording!” has reached the halfway stage: from the technical analysis, the youths will go on, in the coming months, to pin pointing a real publicity campaign centred round social issues that are of particular relevance in their city (dependencies; man-woman relations; multiculturalism) that will be analysed, in confrontation with various spokespersons, also with representatives of the institutions and the local media. Then for each of the themes a spot will be made that evokes fraternity and that will constitute the conclusive message of the project offered to the citizens by the