Fondazione ISMU, Milan, 10-11 October 2009 - 7-8 November 2009

Fondazione Pastore, Rome, 17-18 October 2009 - 14-15 November 2009

In Italy the MAPID training programs were implemented and managed by Dr. Laura Zanfrini of the ISMU Foundation in cooperation with the Scalabrini Migration Center (SMC) and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO). The beginning of the training activities in Italy was marked by a conference held at the conference hall of the CARIPLO Foundation in Milan on Friday 9 October 2009. The event, entirely financed by the ISMU Foundation, counted more than 300 participants. All the attendants were provided with a copy of the volume “Migrants’ Associations and Philippine Institutions for Development. Italian Report,” authored by Laura Zanfrini and Annavittoria Sarli.

Program of the Training Sessions

The training programs in Italy were organized in three sessions divided into modules. The training programs were organized in a live-out setting.  The MAPID training programs in Davao and Tagaytay followed the following curriculum:

1. Introductory Section

• The MAPID Project

2. Strengthening of the Organization

• Human Resources, part I: The Organization Empowerment          

• Human Resources, part II: Conflict Mediation

• The Organizations in Action

• Opportunities and Projects, part I: Association Building

• Opportunities and Projects, part II: Project Development  

• Networking and Visibility

3. Migration and Development

• Understanding International Migration Development Nexus

• Financial Literacy, part I: the Italian Side

• Financial Literacy, part II: The Filipino Side

• Philippines Institutions for Development

• Entrepreneurship, part I: Microcredit and Sustainability

• Entrepreneurship, part II: The Business Planning

The Training Sessions  

On 10-11 October 2009, at the ISMU Foundation meeting room, the first and second sessions of the training programs in Milan were held. On Saturday 10 October 2009, after the registration of the participants, Dr. Fabio Baggio delivered the welcome remarks and introduced the MAPID Project. Then Dr. Maruja Asis presented the major findings of MAPID research activities in the Philippines and Dr. Laura Zanfrini summarized the major findings of MAPID research activities in Italy. Dr. Giulio Valtolina, Psychology professor at the Catholic University of Milan, acted as resource person for the topics “Organization Empowerment” and “Conflict Mediation.” The day concluded with the module on “Organizations in Action” delivered by Dr. Massimiliano Monaci, sociology professor at the Catholic University of Milan.

On Sunday 11 October 2009, Professor Loris Favero, holder of a master degree in international cooperation, acted as resource person for the module “Associations’ Building” and “Projects Development.” The module on “Network Building and Visibility” by Ms. Charito Basa, a member of a very active Filipino association in Rome, concluded the second day of the first session. These sessions were attended by 26 participants (104 percent of the target participants), all members or leaders of Filipino associations or communities in Milan and Turin. Some of them were second generation migrants. Atty. Golda Roma attended the first session of the training program as CFO representative and interacted with the participants during meals and coffee breaks.

On 17-18 October 2009, at the meeting room of the Fondazione Pastore, the first and second sessions of the training programs in Milan were held. On Saturday, 17 October 2009, after the registration of the participants, Dr. Fabio Baggio delivered the welcome remarks, introduced the MAPID Project and presented the major findings of MAPID research activities in the Philippines. Then Dr. Laura Zanfrini summarized the major findings of MAPID research activities in Italy. Dr. Giulio Valtolina, Psychology professor at the Catholic University of Milan, acted as resource person for the topics “Organization Empowerment” and “Conflict Mediation.” The day concluded with the module on “Organizations in Action” delivered by Dr. Massimiliano Monaci, sociology professor at the Catholic University of Milan.

On Sunday 18 October 2009, Professor Loris Favero, holder of a master’s degree in international cooperation, acted as resource person for the modules on “Building of Associations” and “Project Development.” The module on “Network Building and Visibility” by Ms. Charito Basa, a member of a very active Filipino association in Rome, concluded the second day of the first session. These sessions were attended by 19 participants (76 percent of the target participants), all members or leaders of Filipino associations or communities in Rome. Some of them were second generation migrants.

On 7-8 November 2009, at the ISMU Foundation meeting room, the second session of the training program in Milan was held. On Saturday 7 November 2009, after the module about “Migration and Development” was held by Dr. Maruja Asis and Dr. Laura Zanfrini, Dr. Giorgio Rettani, expert in financial consultancy and Insurance Intermediation, delivered the module on “Financial Literacy: Italian Side”. Subsequently the issue of financial literacy was further deepened by Atty. Josè Maria Palabrica, from CFO, who brought into focus the peculiarities of the Filipino landscape. Finally Dr.Maruja Asis, assisted by the Philippine General Consul in Milan, who also expressed his satisfaction for the training initiative which was going on,  delivered the module on Philippine Institution for Development. The Philippine General Consul requested and was provided with a copy of the MAPID written materials, in order to be able to disseminate them. Because of the late arrival of the Philippine General Consul, the Saturday classes closing time was a bit delayed. 

On Sunday 8 November, Dr. Giuseppe Mozzillo from Permicro Social Lending Co, a microfinance institution, who replaced Dr. Corrado Ferretti for health reasons, tackled the topic of microcredit and of how to do a feasibility study. Subsequently Dr. Elsa Bettella, expert in enterprise creation and SME development delivered the module about entrepreneurial culture and business planning. Upon explicit request of the participants, Dr. Elsa Bettella expressed her willingness to provide volunteer consultancy to MAPID participants in the future. Later on, Atty. Josè Maria Palabrica and Dr. Maruja Asis presented the main best practices of co-development emerged from the MAPID research in the Philippines. This topic was completed by the module held by Mr. Modou Gueye, a Senegalese migrant who described his successful experience of co-development started up in Italy and in his country of origin. Upon explicit request of the participants, Mr. Modou Gueye expressed his willingness to network with Filipino associations and to help to be Filipino actors of co-development in organizing their fund-raising campaigns. He also participated with the MAPID trainees to the following module, devoted to the discussion of the participants’ proposals. While Maria Teresa Scherillo, a member of Sodalitas Foundation, which organizes managers' volunteer work in favour of the non-profit sector, animated the discussion and gave some suggestions, the project assistant took note of the emerging proposals, in order to create a basis for the preparation of the follow-up activities. Also Maria Teresa Scherillo, upon explicit request of the participants, offered her mentorship for the presentation of project proposals or for the putting up of small business or social enterprises.

On 14-15 November 2009, at the Pastore Foundation meeting room, the second session of the training program in Rome was held. On Saturday 14 November 2009, after the module on “Migration and Development” was held by Dr. Maruja Asis and Dr. Laura Zanfrini, Dr. Giorgio Rettani, expert in financial consultancy and Insurance Intermediation, delivered the module on “Financial Literacy: Italian Side”. Subsequently the issue of financial literacy was further deepened by Atty. Josè Maria Palabrica, from CFO, who brought into focus the peculiarities of the Filipino landscape. Finally Dr. Maruja Asis, assisted by the Philippine Ambassador in Italy, who also expressed his satisfaction for the training initiative which was going on, delivered the module on Philippine Institutions for Development. The Ambassador was provided with a copy of the MAPID written materials and he engaged himself to disseminate them within the Filipino community. Because of the late arrival of the Philippine Ambassador, the Saturday classes closing time was a bit delayed. 

On Sunday 15 November, Dr. Giuseppe Mozzillo from Permicro Social Lending Co, a microfinance institution, who replaced Dr. Corrado Ferretti for health reasons, tackled the topic of microcredit and of how to do a feasibility study. Subsequently Dr. Pasquale Campo, a member of Seniores Italia, a non-profit association of managers providing free consultancy in business management, marketing and sales to small enterprises, NGOs and non profit organizations, delivered the module on entrepreneurial culture and business planning. Dr. Pasquale Campo expressed his willingness to  provide volunteer consultancy to MAPID participants in the future. Later on, Atty. Josè Maria Palabrica and Dr. Maruja Asis presented the main best practices of co-development emerged from the MAPID research in the Philippines. This theme was completed by the module held by Charito Basa, who presented the study which her association, within the framework of the UN-Instraw project, carried out on co-development best practices started up by Filipino migrants living in Italy. She also participated with the MAPID trainees to the following module, devoted to the discussion of the participants’ proposals. While Pasquale Campo animated the discussion and gave some suggestions, the project assistant took note of the emerging proposals, in order to create a basis for the preparation of the follow-up activities.

Unfortunately, the short time available and the variety of topics to be tackled made it impossible to enrich the training program with some workshops, which would have been very useful in order to transform the ideas learned into feasible programs and activities. Hence, in order to improve the effectiveness of the training initiative, it was decided to avail of some resource persons to volunteer as consultants for Filipino associations, and to organize, according to the findings from the MAPID research, a follow-up activity consisting of a continuing mentorship. The Italy MAPID project assistant was assigned the task to coordinate this activity, by keeping in touch with the MAPID participants, collecting their needs and requests and acting as a bridge between them and the competent resource person. The opening of the Milan Municipality’s call for proposals Milano per il Co-Sviluppo, on 16 November 2009, represented a very timely and profitable opportunity. Besides, the Italy MAPID project assistant would inform MAPID participants about any other useful opportunity, such as new calls for proposals or further training initiatives, suggested by the MAPID staff or by resource persons.

At the end of the training program, the participants were told that there is a useful tool available on the ISMU Foundation’s website, that is, an online course of Italian language. This resource was really appreciated by the MAPID participants, who, during the training program, realized very clearly the importance of mastering the Italian language. This was suggested by their oral comments and their responses to the evaluation questionnaire. It worth noting that MAPID participants coming from Turin, from the association A.P.Fil., were able to attend the training program, thanks to the financial contribution which their organization provided them with, which covered their travel and accommodation expenses.

The training programs in Italy involved some of 90 percent of the target participants. All the attendees committed to participate in the third session. The training materials and additional references were highly appreciated and the participants said they will disseminate them to other Filipino associations in Milan, Turin and Rome. Only a few of the represented Filipino associations were officially registered in Italy; the representatives of the unregistered ones committed to register their association within the end of the year 2009. Upon the explicit request of the participants, some resource persons offered mentorship for the development and preparation of project proposals. The participants requested SMC and ISMU Foundation to organize other sessions or training activities in 2010 aiming at deepening the topics presented in the MAPID training programs and engaging more Filipino associations.

At the end of each session, an evaluation questionnaire was distributed to all the participants. ISMU Foundation collected 19 evaluation questionnaires in Milan and 12 in Rome. The assessment of the training programs was very positive both in Milan and in Rome, even if the level of satisfaction was a little higher in Milan, a trend which characterizes al the results. The need for further training emerged very clearly: all the topics tackled were indicated as issues to be studied more in depth.

Regarding plans or new development projects envisioned by the participants in Rome and in Milan, following are the suggestions: a) To set up a business in Italy (e.g. newspaper, travel agency and child care center depending on what would be suggested by a feasibility study; b) To establish an association for Filipino migrant mothers who find it very difficult to work and to have time for their children; c) To import products (e.g. handicrafts) from the Philippines and organize a “Filipino fiesta” to be sold in a Filipino shop, in partnership with various associations; d) To establish a new organization in order to promote development projects; e) To transfer to other Filipino migrants the knowledge they acquired during the training programs; and f) To involve Filipino youth and their parents in a financial literacy program, in order to encourage them to invest for the development of the Philippines and of Filipino migrants in Italy.

Only few of the Filipino migrants’ associations represented in the training programs were officially registered in Italy. Several participants planned on registering their association before the end of the year 2009. Two of them have already started the process of registration.