{"id":307444,"date":"2020-07-17T01:00:07","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T23:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/when-an-obstacle-becomes-an-opportunity\/"},"modified":"2024-05-15T20:41:08","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T18:41:08","slug":"when-an-obstacle-becomes-an-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/when-an-obstacle-becomes-an-opportunity\/","title":{"rendered":"When an obstacle becomes an opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gen Verde’s experience during the lockdown<\/em> \u201cWe were right in the middle of our tour in Spain when we received\u00a0some very disturbing reports\u00a0from Italy about Covid-19 and the rising number of new cases.\u00a0In a very short time we had to decide whether or not we should suspend the tour and return to Italy – and to communicate that decision to the organizers. The next day we boarded the boat, which turned out to be the\u00a0 last passenger ferry\u00a0from the port of Barcelona.\u201d\u00a0It all happened a few months ago but for Mileni from Gen Verde the memory is still very vivid and clear. In these last four months, Gen Verde has transformed this difficult situation into\u00a0an opportunity: \u201cAlmost every day we were hearing from friends who had caught the virus.\u00a0 They were asking us to be close to them – says Annalisa \u2013 and so we asked ourselves, how can we help them?\u00a0 How can \u00a0we let them feel they are not alone, while respecting social distancing? Then we had an idea:\u00a0why not connect with them online from our home?\u201d This is how the first live stream adventure began: with a few instruments and a not-so-stable internet connection, they decided to try even if they weren’t sure how many people would have followed. In the months that followed Gen Verde held many live streams broadcasts, as well as several dozen online appointments through zoom, Instagram, Skype\u2026 all of them an occasion to meet young people and adults all over the world: from the Philippines, Argentina, USA, Romania, Italy, Australia. These months also provided space to create new pieces, ranging from the dramatic theatrical piece called\u00a0Il silenzio<\/em>\u00a0(The silence) to the instrumental,\u00a0Tears and Light<\/em>, not to mention the new videos produced to be able to celebrate the Easter Triduum together despite the distance. \u00a0\u00a0All that was created was shared immediately on their YouTube channel and through social media. Clearly all this required a great deal of work, maybe even more than what is required while on tour, but Gen Verde never held back, and never said no to those who asked to share a moment with them. \u201cWe are very happy \u2013 says Marita \u2013 because during these months, despite the difficulties we faced, we were able to meet hundreds of thousands of people through various on line meetings.\u00a0<\/em>Of course, it\u2019s not the same as meeting in person, but I have to admit that we had never met this many people in the space of just 4 months. For those of us in Gen Verde it has been an experience way beyond our expectations.\u201d And now, having concluded the last of this first round of live streams, Gen Verde will dedicate their time to the creation of new projects and ideas, which they will share soon. Gen Verde is always on the go, always looking ahead.\u00a0 What\u2019s their secret? \u201cWe try to live not thinking of ourselves but of those around us \u2013 explains Sally.\u00a0 What is important to us is to build relationships based on universal fraternity. \u00a0\u00a0In these months of the pandemic we have received a lot of feedback after our direct streaming and these impressions are what kept us going forward, always striving to give our best. \u00a0\u00a0We are honest with ourselves and with everyone else: this pandemic was no joke and in many countries the situation is still very critical.\u00a0 However we believe that what we have done has been for many, a positive moment from which they could emerge relieved and refreshed. Now, we\u2019re moving on to prepare new programmes, and launch new songs to give hope to a world so badly in need of it.” <\/p>\n

Tiziana Nicastro<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gen Verde’s experience during the lockdown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-307444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-categorizzato"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307444\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}