Project Description
“Need4Neets” in Milan is a project co-founded by Kahane Foundation, supporting and reducing the number of Youth Not in Education, Employment and Training-NEET in Barona and Crescenzago neighbourhood, a neighbourhood with a high percentage of children in economic, cultural and social poverty.
The Needs4Neets program has allowed boys and girls who attend the project to reflect on their future, the opportunities offered and on the strategies to realize their dreams.
The Meetings with the Role Models (Workstream A: “Think about yourself in 10 years”) are developed so that Neets can gradually identify their passions, define a goal for the future and decide the steps to achieve it.
The youth involved in the project met several Role Models: a student of the University; a student who decided to volunteering abroad and when he returned he reinvented himself finding a new job; a young coordinator of a social project; a photographer and filmmaker; a sports coach and a lawyer. In the next months, they will meet the manager of a social enterprise, a baker, an architect and a mechanic.
During these moments of confrontation and dialogue, the boys and girls who attended the meetings got a new attitude on the future and identified possibilities for themselves, raised from the experiences heard directly from the voice of the Role Models.
Said, 13 years old, says that he has found in project Needs4Neets “a place to get encouraged, where you can talk freely and feel welcomed”. Additionally, “In the Meetings I found so many people to talk to and new friends”. When she grew up she would like to be a mechanic like her uncle. Thanks to this activity, he realized that he wants to create a company with his two cousins: Moustafa who will work in the workshop with him and Karim who will be a mechanical engineer.
Paul, 17 years old, wants to be an architect. Paul has offered the other guys participating to the activities to design the studio and office where they will work. The young aspiring architect said that thanks to the Meetings he was able to define his dream, and the Role Models were a source of inspiration:“I recognized myself in the story of Mattia – the coach – who clarify what is necessary to realize each one’s dream. I realized that you need to have intermediate goals, for example, I started putting money aside to buy a bicycle. We need commitment and courage to achieve our goals”.
Angelo, 11 years old, wants to be a football player and thanks to the Meetings he has understood that also to become an athlete, it is needed lot of effort:“Here I learned that it is important to have courage”.
Marwa, 14 years old, wants to be a pharmacist. From the Meetings she learned not be afraid to pursue one’s dreams even if they seems to be unreachable. “I realized that you must love what you do and trust yourself. To realize your dreams you need: courage, work, friendship and commitment “.
