For the fifth consecutive year, VAL PESCARA - Protezione Civile, an PROCIV ARCI affiliate, has organized a training camp from July 21 to 27 as part of the "I Too Am Civil Protection" initiative. The camp took place on the grounds of Don Orione Institute in Pescara.
Twenty-seven young people between ages ten and sixteen participated, including five with cognitive disabilities. Together, they deepened their knowledge of environmental protection, land management, and community safety. The inclusion of young people with specific needs was made possible by Val Pescara's sustained commitment to disability awareness—a focus the association has maintained for several years—and through direct partnership with volunteers from Psychologists for Peoples Abruzzo.
Living in tents and working as teams under the guidance of civil protection volunteers, the participants had a formative and unforgettable experience. The camp also welcomed two volunteers with hearing and visual disabilities, living proof that any citizen can become an active civil protection operator.
The organizers planned extensive activities, games, and lessons both within the camp and through partnerships with civil protection agencies. Participants met the Carabinieri flight team, the Fire Service, the Pescara Coast Guard, State Police, and the K-9 unit of Civil Protection Association L'Aquila 2009. The young people also completed a course in Italian Sign Language (LIS) basics.
On July 24, a coordinator from the "Able to Protect" working group and an official from the Department of Civil Protection visited the camp. All the young people participated enthusiastically, and full inclusion was achieved throughout.
"Among all the work we do, we place special emphasis on inclusion and disability. We have a deaf volunteer, and we've organized a short LIS course with him. The young people are engaged and attentive to these activities. This year, in addition to our deaf volunteer, we also have a new blind volunteer who is very active," said Antonio Romano, the camp director, and volunteer Fabrizia in an interview with the Department of Civil Protection.
The young participants themselves spoke with enthusiasm about the experience they had just completed.
https://www.facebook.com/campiscuolaprotezionecivile/videos/895396384129530/
Source: Able to Protect