Ten teenagers leave the nest and fly abroad thanks to scholarships. An initiative for young people and communities

Ten scholarships for secondary school students who will spend the next year abroad. Two of them will depart from Verona to Honduras and the Philippines.   

It is an initiative of Cariverona Foundation in collaboration with Intercultura Foundation and Intercultura ODV that focuses on young people and aims to promote the culture of encounter and dialogue that is the basis of the development of open, tolerant, and inclusive communities. The ten scholarships are intended for students residing in the provinces where the Cariverona Foundation operates and they will leave, for the 2023/2024 school year, to eight countries distributed in the continents of Europe, America, and Asia.   

It will not only be an opportunity to learn a new language but also, most importantly, to become engaged and step out of their comfort zone to make a difference in the world. “Getting out of my comfort zone – explains Diamante, the student who will leave from the province of Verona to Honduras – will be my motivation to this great adventure; a further step in becoming, not a tourist but a real adventurer and explorer of the world”. Diamante is leaving without any prior expectations, ready to seize the opportunities and experiences that come her way.

“I will tiptoe into a reality that doesn’t need me – she continues – and I hope I can find my place and best understand how to be of service. I do not want to be a tourist who observes these dynamics from outside, without giving and without receiving anything, I want to make my contribution”.

While Kushal, another student from Verona, tells of the moment when he discovered he had won the competition: “What did I do? I laughed; I laughed out loud. I was so happy. I will be bringing my host family two cultures;  Italian and the Indian one and acquiring theirs, the Filipino one”.   

Intercultural encounters have an influence that extends beyond young people’s personal and professional development. The research conducted by Fondazione Intercultura using SROI methodology highlights the initiative’s beneficial and measurable benefits on the whole community, from family to friends and school. This is an investment in young people that has even tripled: for every euro spent, 3.13 euros of social benefit are created.