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Historical
In the year 2000 Santiago De Marco (21, Argentinean) and Sandra Gamarano (23, Brazilian) arrived in New Zealand to live and work in Hohepa, a therapeutic community caring for children with special needs. Santiago had worked as a young volunteer in Monte Azul, San Paulo previously, where he met Sandra, who had grown up in this community and later had became an educator there.
In 2001, together with Tim Durrant, Heidi Stevens and later Eloise Valdivia, they started a youth movement, which led to the organization of the October 2002 Youth Section conference in Hastings, New Zealand. It was at this conference that Elizabeth Wirshung, Valentin Vollmer, Santiago and Sandra first met one another. Several important meetings took place between them at this time.
In December 2002, on Christmas Eve, Santiago (South America), Valentin (Europe) and Anna Dowd (Australia, Oceania) met to discuss and draft a proposal for a social Youth Network (later named IDEM). More or less at the same time, in the course of a conference in Sweden, Juliana Hepp and Eric Hurner discussed almost identical ideas. This idea has since flowered and been put into action, the two groups have joined with one another and as a result, there have been various international exchange programs in the world which empower young people to take action and through this shape their own identity.
An Outline of the activities carried out in New Zealand
In 2003, Thiago Farias da Silva from Brazil (from Monte Azul and an active member of the Question and Answer group) went to work in New Zealand for 2 years.
Later that year, through the same initiative, Ute Craemer went to NZ to take part in the annual anthroposophical conference (The World Child), as the main speaker. During the conference, Ute took part in the Youth Section meetings. Through her visit, the Alliance for Childhood was founded in New Zealand.
Santiago and Sandra spoke to many young people and were able to organize the first NZ volunteer, Kaspar Beech, to travel and work at Monte Azul, Brazil, in 2004.
It was also the year in which Aramitan was founded (Santiago, Sandra, Ute). This is to be a community for endangered children and youth from the Sao Paulo (Brazil) and a forum for young people from around the world to go and actively experience social responsibility. Aramitan is in the process of being completed.
In July Josefina, also from NZ, went to Brazil to work as a volunteer for a year in both Aramitan (first live-in volunteer) and Monte Azul.
Also, in October 2004 Claudemir Gomes Lemes from Monte Azul (Brazil) came to live and work in Hohepa for 2 years.
Valentin Vollmer once again visited New Zealand and further discussions and meetings took place.
Since 2004, IDEM NZ and Monte Azul have organized 3 work camps at Aramitan.
In early 2005, Rodrigo Luna, another young Brazilian from Monte Azul, arrived in New Zealand to live and work in the Hohepa community.
During the same months Manuel De Marco from Argentina (living in Spain) also went to NZ to work at Hohepa.
In September 2005 Santiago went on a trip around the world carrying the ideas of Aramitan, Monte Azul and IDEM. He visited Sweden for the initiative meeting of the international Youth Section, and at the same time Spain (visiting people from Triodos Bank), Turkey (helping a family with an autistic boy), the Dominican Republic (visiting Rio Limpio to plan a work camp project for 2007), Guatemala (helping with the victims of Hurricane Stan), El Salvador (meeting with Carolina Merino (local activist)), Brazil (Aramitan work camp 2005 and Monte Azul) and Argentina (meetings at the Steiner schools and at the Christian Community).
July 2006, 10 young people from NZ were able to take part in the Connectivity conference and participate in the work camps at Aramitan.
Thiago Farias da Silva has returned to New Zealand this September with the help of Monte Azul and Santiago and Sandra to continue with the work in Hohepa and also to study anthroposophy by correspondence from Australia (EDU care).
The near future
In December 2006, there will be another international work camp at Aramitan, which is being organized at the moment by IDEM NZ, the international IDEM Network and Monte Azul.
For Easter 2007, IDEM NZ is currently planning a work camp in Rio Limpio (Dominican Republic). Also for this year, the plans are to find support for a young man (Juan Tejada) from Rio Limpio to work and live in Brazil (Aramitan-Monte Azul) for a year.
Thanks to the inspiring work and support of Monte Azul, in which the ideas of social networking have been active for over 25 years (youth international exchange) and the support of the Youth Section, Idem-NZ has become an active and committed group through the commitment to the social anthroposophical impulse carried by Ute Craemer, Santiago De Marco and Sandra Gamarano.
All this work will once again be shared with the international IDEM and Youth Section communities at the Initiative Meeting of the Youth Section in Dornach, Switzerland in January 2007.
IDEM NZ
Reported September 2006
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