Teenagers with frailties discover sailing on the lake

09 September 2023

GARDA. Sailing to discover places and people, trying out new experiences in natural environments such as water and wind, socialising and solidarising, strengthening one's self-esteem and overcoming one's limits. This is, in short, the meaning of the 'Vela Adolescenza' project, which started on 26 August in Garda and of which today will be the second outing. It is a project conceived, in collaboration with the Lega Navale Italiana (LNI) - Garda Section, by the centre for adolescence and the family (Caf) of the Santa Giuliana hospital of the Istituto Sorelle della Misericordia, dedicated to people with psychiatric disorders, accredited by the Veneto Region and affiliated with the National Health System. The Caf, for which Dr Amedeo Bezzetto is responsible and which is supported by the Fondazione San Zeno of Verona, offers an intervention of prevention and support to the psychological social-relational fragility of adolescents, to whom it offers a different experience, precisely with the Italian National League - Garda Section, which, for the first time, collaborates with a hospital.


Outdoor rehabilitation
"This experience," says Dr. Silvia Gagliardoni, the Caf's psychologist contact person, "has shown that, in non-clinical contexts, rehabilitation intervention in the open air, in natural environments, helps to work on oneself and one's relationship with others. Today, young people, 'digital natives' often trapped in virtual exchanges, lose the ability to confront their own bodily, imaginative and social dimension, which is fundamental to the adolescent growth process. A blockade exacerbated by Covid ". The reality of sailing," he continues, "a real sporting practice that allows one to get into a boat, on the water, to simultaneously control the rudder with one hand and the mainsail sheet with the other," he exemplifies, "to keep several elements in mind, such as wind direction and wave motion, managing different situations and unexpected events with others, is ideal for strengthening the sense of 'self-efficacy' and self-esteem. Opportunity offered by the project, which includes one theoretical and four practical lessons. With the availability of the LNI - Garda Section, six Caf youngsters, accompanied by two educators, the psychologist, and two skippers, will take part in four outings to be held every fortnight, on Saturdays, after the theory lesson on 24 August at the Caf.
Giorgio Castellani, one of the skippers and president of the Garda Section of the LNI, points out: "With two of our boats we will set sail at 9.00 a.m. from the buoys at the headquarters on the Pincherle lakefront and return at 1.00 p.m. On board we will provide the youngsters with practical notions so that they can learn, in progression, how to sail. At the end of the course, the boys will have attained the ability to steer the boat as a group". Gaiardoni concludes: "Relationships and sharing, between companions and reference adults, are the guiding thread of a course that aims to work on relational dynamics. Sports experiences in groups represent one of the main expressions of self and communication among adolescents. Through the achievement of individual and team goals, they allow the potential of each individual to be highlighted'.


 Article on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=805016894960128&set=a.529937832468037