My DYT experience as youth worker

By Karen

A real discovery and a real learning experience on the ground! The Draw your thoughts project was a very enriching experience for me, which allowed me to learn and train myself in the methods of storytelling and graphic facilitation.

It all started in June/July 2022 when I participated, together with other youth workers from France, in the training organized by the Centro per lo Sviluppo Danilo Dolci in the framework of the project. It was Pistes Solidaires, the French partner of the project, who proposed me to participate. The week spent in Palermo was a discovery for me, especially regarding the graphic facilitation method! I thought it was only for people and facilitators who were good at drawing - but in the end I realized that I could do something good with it too!

I took up the challenge and tested graphic facilitation with our young people - the CLAS young people from the social centre. We set up 2 cycles of workshops, one on the development of personal skills and the other on the creation of awareness campaigns on themes/problems thought out and proposed by the young people themselves.

It was great to see how drawing, and images in general, allowed young people to find other ways of expression. Even the most reticent of them gradually got into the game and wanted to try drawing. One introverted young person, who had difficulty expressing himself verbally, said that he used to draw icons in his notetaking and homework at school.