CAS Trips Italy
CAS Trips Italy
Italy has it all: a rich history, beautiful architecture, magnificent landscapes and its legendary food. Italy is home to the greatest number of UNESCO World Heritage sites in the world. These include the historic centers of Florence, Naples and Rome. Visit the Vatican and marvel at the Sistine Chapel. Re-live history with your students, and they can also come to grips firsthand with modern issues of homelessness and the refugee crisis.
Activities
Activities
Destination Highlights
Feed and care for the homeless and refugees in Rome, take a guided tour of the Vatican Museums, enjoy a cycling tour in Puglia, climb Florence’s Duomo, eat pizza in Naples, and go hiking in the Dolomite Mountains.
Volunteering Opportunities
Feed the homeless and refugees and gain insights into what it is like to live on the streets.
Experiential Learning Opportunities
Participate in a cooking class and take Italian language lessons.
Cultural Immersion Opportunities
Explore Italy with local tour guides and enjoy cultural tours in Rome, Florence, and Venice.
Sample Itinerary In Italy
Sample Itinerary In Italy
Day 1 Arrive in Italy
Upon arrival into Rome, you are greeted at the airport and transferred to your hotel. You have a welcome dinner and settle in to your surroundings.
Pre-dinner presentation of the days ahead, with your volunteer coordinator, Mary, and your tour guide / host, Steve, who lived on the streets of Rome for 7 years.
Hear how Rome’s invisible street people live and survive and to hear how you can work with the homeless and refugees in Rome.
Day 2 Volunteering at Refugee Center
From 10am we have a day at the Refugee Centre helping in the kitchen chopping vegetables, shelling eggs, mixing, stirring and helping the cook, with a team of kitchen volunteers. Or sorting clothes into sizes and types, helping refugees find their size. Then serving lunch, clearing up and finally winding down by around 4pm.
Organized and hosted by Mary.
Evening – a night walk with Steve to see where the homeless sleep.
Day 3 Cooking class and volunteering with the homeless
Morning, a private cooking class with an expert chef.
Afternoon, assemble and box up meals with Mary, sort donated clothes and new sleeping bags, etc., pack vehicles and transport them to Tiburtina.
At 8pm at Tiburtina bus station, take part in handing out food, shoes, clothes and sleeping bags to the homeless who meet us there.
Late dinner.
Day 4 Papal address and living rough tour
Attend the Pope’s address in St. Peter’s Square, 10.30 – 11.30am, followed by a light lunch and then a tour of the Vatican Museum.
After the tour, Steve will take you on a `homeless’ walk through Rome, to the soup kitchens, to meet a nun at the Vatican who oversees a canteen where the homeless queue on a ticket system, the first 50 get in, the others get a panini outside, to the places they use to wash themselves.
Steve will explain what it’s like to live on the street, how people survive, the tips and hints for getting through each day.
Day 5 Cultural tour
A classic tour of Rome, visiting the Forum, Colosseum and Pantheon, with your private tour guide.
Day 6 Departure
After breakfast, depart for the airport for your flight out.
Essential elements:
Volunteering: Helping refugees and the homeless
Experiential Learning: Cooking class
Cultural Immersion: Local guides, market visit, cultural tour, Papal address
Curriculum: Religious Education, History