“There was an enormous and contagious joy among the volunteer team leaders”, informed the WYD Lisbon 2023 Reception and Volunteering Department (DAV) about the Boot Camp that took place on July 5, 7, and 9 and that gathered, in Lisbon, about 150 volunteer team leaders from all over the country.

The venue chosen for this initiative, which aimed to “train” the team leaders, was the headquarters of the Local Organizing Committee of WYD Lisbon 2023, in the former building of the military administration in Lisbon (Antiga Manutenção Militar de Lisboa), in Beato. It was also an opportunity for these young people to get to know the whole environment of the organization in one day, and they could pray together and “realize that they are not alone, that there are more young people who want to serve”, quoted Margarida Manaia, director of the DAV.

In each of the days of activities there were games, case studies of their tasks as team leaders and short lectures with some volunteers from previous WYD that helped the young people present to reflect on what it is to be a volunteer. These were days of interaction and training in a lively and inspiring format.

Team leader Beatriz Charola, 19, shares her joy at participating in the first day of this activity: “I think the Boot Camp has given us great tools to be proactive leaders, that is, to be able to have a perception and quick action to solve problems in real cases”, said Beatriz. For Alice Pinheiro de Melo, who participated in the second day, this Boot Camp was “the most palpable and real introduction of what we can expect as team leaders”.

Carlos Pereira, 19, also a participant on the second day of the boot camp, highlights the spirit of unity that was produced: “a very unique spirit that will help when people from all over the world arrive, feel a different energy here, know that they are welcome and that the team is prepared to receive them in the best possible way.” For the 19-year-old, upon learning that the next WYD would be in the country where he was born and where he lives, he felt that he “had to do something more” and so he decided to take on the responsibility of being a team leader for other volunteers.

Addressing the team leaders, Bishop Américo Aguiar, president of the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation, emphasized that “they are the most important people of WYD” and that without them “the day could not take place”.

All the initiatives were prepared by a team of about 30 monitors. María García de Castro is a member of this team, who reveals that “one of the contributions of this training was to get the idea of the importance of being at the service” and also to know how to “manage expectations”. Another monitor, Bernardo Texeira, already noticed a “great joy” among all those preparing for WYD Lisbon 2023. “The day is already being sung and vibrated”, he said.