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And yet it was much more than a simple series of events around the globe: the thousands of young people from the most varied of cultures and traditions who took part in the week’s activities and projects were a visible demonstration of that united world that YPUW World (Young People for a United) live for.
Even though taking an overview of each of the week’s events would be like going on a fascinating trip around the world, it would be too long to fit into one article!
For now we’ll just take a quick glace at some of the activities. We’ll start from the Middle-East, a zone that’s experiencing a historical moment of change initiated by young people. The video that the YPUW from Egypt prepared (using the same title as the Meeting in Rome that kick started United World Week) was full of meaning: “Make visible change”.
(link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYr664g4b6g&feature=player_embedded#at=63)
The YPUW from Lebanon held an ‘interreligious movie night’, a sports day, an ecological project and a social development day.
The social arena was also a focus point in Latin America. In Cuba, for example, the YPUW visited children who live in a shantytown in Havana that sprouted up under one of the city’s bridges.
In Guatemala, a series of events coloured each day of World Unity Week in a different shade: Giving, Being the first to love, Dying for your People, Forgiveness, Ecology, Weaving Relationships were the various titles of the 6 days of events.
Our last stop in Latin America brings us to Rosario, Argentina where two groups of 25 young people did a variety of mimes- on the footpaths at traffic lights- about building a united world!
In various countries events were held for Japan in the light of the country’s natural disaster last month. In Los Angels a “Hike a thon” was held to raise funds for the population of Fukushima. In Florence there was a dance marathon and the main square of Frascati (Rome) was livened up by an open workshop on Japanese culture.
In Goa, India, a day was dedicated to Chiara Luce Badano. The local YPUW presented the life of this young member of the Focolare- who was beatified on 25th September last- through songs, choreographies, traditional Indian dance, experiences and videos.
In Chiara Luce’s home town of Sassello, with 1200 young people present and others following via internet, United World Week had its official closure. A musical called ‘Living the dream’ was preformed by a group of young people from Genoa: fruit of an exciting workshop with Gen Rosso. The musical was inspired by the life of two boys from Genoa who are also on the road to beatification: Alberto Michelotti and Carlo Grisolia. Then there was a special tour of the Badano house with Chiara Luce’s parents Ruggero and Maria Teresa. The replay of the event is available on: http://media.focolare.org/ClSMU2011.wmv. To top the day off there was an exciting announcement: Genfest 2012 will take place on 1st and 2nd of September in Budapest. Watch this space for further news on this!
Detailed articles on World Unity Week can be found in Italian and Spanish on the blog: www.mondounito.net.
