BARI, National Eucharistic Congress – “Children + Rights” an interactive journey in our children’s world: For the Lasallian Youth Movement (LYM), the much expected event of the National Eucharistic Congress finally arrived. In Bari the Italian Catholic Church joined together to underline the importance of the day of the Lord. “Without Sunday, we can’t live” was the title of a week-long meeting.

Groups of young people were invited by the CEI (Episcopal Conference of Italy) to organize a special area reserved for Youth Ministry. The LYM presented an interactive show on the theme of the Rights of the Child: “Children + Rights”, our Lasallian vocation’s fruit. The exhibit space was in a space of about twenty feet in which the user was asked to stop four times:

1. LET’S START! Three videos projected non-stop stories of minors who suffered violations of their rights. It was narrated by their contemporaries.

2. LET’S INTERACT! In two computer models, the user, through a method of case studies, interacted with a girl’s story, which in her apparently “normal” life, concealed violations of her rights.

3. LET’S KNOW OURSELVES! A large poster explained how the Lasallian Youth Movement pursued its goals, rooted in John Baptist De La Salle.

4. LET’S GET TOGETHER! Finally, after having educated ones conscience on the subject, the visitor was asked to “get involved” by cutting out an outline drawing of a child on paper. This was done so that the participant could reflect on the violations of the rights of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters.

One of the visitors to the exhibition space was Bishop Angelo Comastri, who left on our guestbook a splendid message: “Each child is a ray of light, coming from God’s Heart.”

But Bari is only the first step in the long journey that our exposition “Children plus Rights” is expecting. Indeed, the project from September on will travel to other schools and Lasallian Institutions offering a program of educating people about Children’s Rights, sensitizing the Province of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Italy.

Our hope is to form a common consciousness of our Movement in order to continue following with deliberation the educative work of De La Salle and to impact situations around us wherever we, the young, are the principal actors.
^{(Claudio Mennini)}

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