Between 8 and 10 May, three students from the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Portuguese Catholic University - Braga took part in the Training of Mentor Trainers Workshop of the European Language Buddy project, held in Malta.
This international initiative, promoted under the AMIF programme and funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), aims to promote the linguistic and social integration of young migrants by setting up mentoring programmes between higher education students and young people who have recently arrived in host countries.
The event brought together participants from eight European countries and provided moments of intensive training, sharing of good practices and joint reflection on the challenges of inclusion in educational contexts.
FFCS was represented by three students who actively took part in all the programme's sessions and activities.
Larissa Camargo, a Psychology undergraduate, emphasised the importance of understanding the transformative role of mentoring in the lives of migrant teenagers, and expressed her desire to apply the project in Braga schools.
Sara Rodrigues, from the Social Work Degree, emphasised the relevance of the tools acquired during the training and valued the contact with colleagues from different cultures, perspectives and social realities.
Damiana Ribeiro, a student on the Master's programme in Applied Social Gerontology, found the experience deeply enriching on an academic, professional and personal level, reflecting on the challenges of integrating migrants and the role of educational institutions in this process.
The FFCS recognises the contribution of its students in this project with a European dimension and highlights the relevance of their participation for the next phases of implementation.
New information about the training course to be launched as part of the Language Buddy project, as well as opportunities for other students in the academic community to get involved, will be released soon.
For more information, contact the Portuguese project team:
pcdias@ucp.pt | cmartins@ucp.pt | crsilva@ucp.pt | rrmonteiro@ucp.pt
This project is co-funded by the European Union through the Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund.
