The Regional Director for Youth welcomed the two young women from Faial, Mariana Rosa and Miriam Pinto, sailors of Horta Nautical Club, for their "courage and bold attitude to participate in an international educational project on board a vessel for six months," an experience he considered to be "highly enriching."
 
Lúcio Rodrigues spoke Wednesday in Horta on the sidelines of reception ceremony to about 30 secondary school students from all over the world, including the two young women from Faial, who are participating in the "School at Sea" project.
 
This Dutch educational project, which brings together young people from all over the world, aged between 14 and 17, consists of an experience on board the vessel "Thalassa" for one semester.
 
The young participants left Amsterdam in October last year and have already travelled to Tenerife, Cape Verde, Saint Martin, Saint Eustatius, Saba, Dominica, Curaçao, Aruba, Panama, Providencia, Cuba and Bermuda.
 
The island of Faial is the penultimate stopover before the conclusion of the project, which ends in April in the Netherlands.
 
During these stopovers, young people took part in eight-day trips on land, where they established contact with local people, learned about their culture and disseminated the culture of their native region.
 
Moreover, they also participated in expeditions, cultural and social activities, exchanges with local schools, always connected to their schools via distance training. While on board, they were also accompanied by teachers in their most important school subjects.
 
Lúcio Rodrigues emphasised the "educational component and the richness of the experiences lived by these young woman, which were not detrimental to their school path and, eventually, benefited them." As he revealed, the project "had the support of the Regional Government through Regional Directorate for Youth."
 
In turn, the Regional Director for Youth congratulated the Horta Nautical Club for joining this project and for "asserting itself as a catalyst for the participation of young Azoreans, as has been happening over the years."
 
"Mariana Rosa and Miriam Pinto are a perfect example for Azorean youth, due to their attitude and courage of moving forward and doing things differently. They will surely gain more experience and expand new horizons," Lúcio Rodrigues said, adding that their "role as true ambassadors of the Azores in the places where they travelled was equally important."