ABF Global Gathering 2026
In today’s world, marked by deep inequalities, geopolitical instability, and growing social isolation, building genuine relationships between people separated by culture, language, and living conditions is both one of the most urgent challenges we face and one of the most powerful opportunities for change.
In today’s world, marked by deep inequalities, geopolitical instability, and growing social isolation, building genuine relationships between people separated by culture, language, and living conditions is both one of the most urgent challenges we face and one of the most powerful opportunities for change.
The Global Gathering was created in response to this reality. It is not simply an event designed to present a project, but an opportunity to bring that project to life, making it tangible and shared. It is where educational pathways developed in very different parts of the world come together and recognize that they are part of the same journey.
The Global Gathering is rooted in the ABF Voices Of program, which uses music and choral practice as educational tools to support children and young people in developing the skills that are essential to their personal and social growth. Yet what happens during the Gathering goes beyond the program itself: it is the lived experience of a global community taking shape.
It is a moment when young people, regardless of where they come from, can recognize themselves in others and understand that their own story, voice, and journey have value that extends beyond their place of origin, within the setting of a true “Global Village”.
The Global Gathering is an international meeting that brings together young people from different geographical, social, and cultural backgrounds, united by their participation in the local projects of the ABF Voices Of program.
It is not simply an event, but an immersive and transformative experience. During the Gathering, participants share daily life, educational activities, artistic workshops, and choir rehearsals. They spend an intense period together, during which relationships become the true focus of the experience.
Music plays a central role. Singing together means listening, adapting, respecting others, and finding a balance between individuality and the group. In this sense, choral practice becomes a tangible metaphor for living together.
For many participants, the Global Gathering is their first experience outside their familiar environment: their first journey, their first encounter with other cultures and the first time they feel part of something larger. It is an experience that leaves a lasting impression, challenging perceived boundaries and opening up new perspectives.
Why the Global Gathering?
The Global Gathering is based on a clear educational vision: personal growth cannot be understood as an isolated process but as an experience deeply shaped by relationships.
Across the different project locations, ABF Voices Of supports the development of transversal skills: listening, collaboration, communication, emotional awareness, and the ability to build relationships. These skills, however, find their fullest expression only when they are put into practice through genuine encounters with others.
The Gathering is the moment when an individual’s journey opens up to a collective experience. Participants discover that they share emotions, vulnerabilities, and aspirations with other young people who may live far away geographically, yet feel remarkably close through their common human experience.
The impact is transformative. It changes the way young people see themselves, others and the future. It strengthens confidence, broadens their sense of what is possible and creates a feeling of belonging that extends beyond borders.
At the same time, the Global Gathering creates value for the communities that host it by encouraging intercultural dialogue, strengthening social and institutional relationships and contributing to the development of communities that are more open, connected and aware.
Scale, Reach, and Impact
The Global Gathering is part of the ABF Voices Of program, which operates internationally in Italy, Haiti, the Holy Land, and Uganda. It represents the point at which a broad and structured educational ecosystem comes together, involving more than 200 young participants directly each year and generating an impact that extends far beyond its immediate beneficiaries.
A wider network develops around these projects, including families, educators, professionals, and local communities. This brings the number of indirect beneficiaries to several hundred people and makes a tangible contribution to strengthening the social fabric of the areas involved.
More specifically, ABF Voices Of currently involves 56 students in Haiti, 61 in Italy and the Holy Land, and 60 in Uganda, creating an educational community that is geographically dispersed yet closely connected. They are joined by more than 400 indirect beneficiaries, including family members, educators, and local professionals, who either participate in or indirectly benefit from the educational experience, significantly extending the program’s reach.
The scale of the program, however, cannot be measured through numbers alone. What stands out most clearly is the quality and continuity of participation. The young people involved do not simply attend activities; they choose to return over time because they recognize the projects as stable, safe, and meaningful spaces. This continuity is one of the most significant indicators of impact, showing that the pathways created respond to real needs and become points of reference in participants’ daily lives.
The resulting impact develops across several interconnected levels. On an individual level, young people acquire skills that are essential to their growth, from managing emotions and working as part of a group to communication and self-confidence. On a relational level, the choir and shared activities foster genuine bonds grounded in listening and collaboration. At the community level, the effects extend further, involving families and educational communities and helping to strengthen trust, participation, and social cohesion.
Many of the effects generated are indirect, but they are deep and long-lasting. They lead to more meaningful future opportunities for the young people involved, greater resilience in fragile contexts, and stronger social relationships within communities. The value of the program, therefore, lies not only in the number of people it reaches but in the quality of the change it generates.
The Global Gathering makes all of this visible. Through one shared experience, it brings together the complexity and depth of a process that usually unfolds over time: people meeting, individuals growing, relationships forming, and communities becoming stronger. It is the moment when impact ceases to be a dispersed process and becomes a shared, tangible, and immediately recognizable experience.
The Educational Value of the Global Gathering
The Global Gathering represents one of the most significant expressions of the educational journey at the heart of ABF Voices Of. It is neither a concluding event nor simply an opportunity to perform, but an intensive educational experience in which the processes developed throughout the year are given a unique space in which to consolidate.
For many children, it is their first experience of living alongside peers from different countries, cultures, and faiths. Spending several days together means sharing time, spaces, responsibilities, emotions, and challenges, while learning to build relationships that extend beyond linguistic and cultural differences.
The Global Gathering also provides an important opportunity to develop personal independence. Away from their familiar environments, children are supported as they take on new responsibilities, build confidence in their abilities, and navigate unfamiliar situations within a safe educational setting.
At the same time, the Gathering offers an opportunity for growth for educational teams, musicians, and families. Preparing for the experience and supporting participants as they return to their communities require a shared effort that strengthens collaboration among everyone involved and encourages the exchange of practices, expertise, and perspectives across the programme’s different locations.
The experience of the Global Gathering extends beyond the days spent together. The relationships built, the skills developed, and the experiences shared become part of each participant’s personal journey and are carried back into their respective communities, helping to enrich local contexts and strengthen their sense of belonging to an international educational community.
The Value of the Project in Each Community
Haiti
In Haiti, ABF Voices Of operates in one of the most complex environments, shaped by extreme poverty, instability, and limited access to essential services. In places such as Cité Soleil, children and adolescents face daily risks that affect not only their educational opportunities, but also their ability to imagine a different future.
Within this context, the choir provides a protected and consistent space where young people can experience stability, relationships, and a sense of belonging. It is both an educational and a human point of reference: an environment in which they can feel safe, recognize themselves, and build trust.
The Global Gathering gives visibility to this experience. Even when it does not take place in Haiti, it carries its meaning and value, showing that growth and change can be fostered even in the most fragile settings.
For the Haitian participants who attend, the experience marks an important step: meeting other young people, moving beyond the boundaries of their own environment, and seeing firsthand that other possibilities exist.
Perhaps the deepest impact, however, is symbolic. The Gathering gives recognition and dignity to the stories of these young people, showing that their experiences are not marginal but form part of a global community. It represents a powerful shift: from being recipients of a project to becoming active participants in a shared journey, in which their voices matter and contribute to building something larger.
Uganda
In the village of Nabikabala, Uganda, children and young people often grow up with limited opportunities and without regular access to structured educational and cultural experiences. Within this setting, the choir is much more than an activity: it is a familiar and stable space where young people can meet, build relationships, and discover abilities and qualities that might otherwise remain hidden.
When they take part in the Global Gathering, the experience immediately breaks with the boundaries of daily life. Meeting young people from different cultures, languages, and backgrounds introduces a new possibility: seeing the world as an open and accessible place in which their own voices also have a place.
It is not simply a journey or a performance, but a quieter, more personal transformation in how each participant sees themselves.
The most significant change often becomes apparent over time, once they return home. Young people bring back a new awareness: the understanding that they are part of something larger. This can lead to greater participation, responsibility, and self-confidence.
In a fragile environment, the Global Gathering therefore becomes a catalyst for resilience. It does not change external circumstances, but it strengthens young people’s ability to face them and imagine a different, attainable future.
The Holy Land
In the Holy Land, between East Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the Global Gathering takes on a meaning that extends beyond education and reaches deeply into the social and human dimension.
The young people involved come from communities that experience division, complexity and a shortage of neutral spaces in which to meet. In this context, even the opportunity to spend time together becomes rare and valuable.
The choir already provides a space for connection, where music makes it possible to build relationships when other forms of dialogue may be difficult. The Global Gathering expands this experience by placing it within a wider international setting, where young people encounter not only others from the same area but also stories, cultures, and perspectives from around the world.
The Gathering allows participants to experience a different possibility first-hand: being together, listening to one another and creating something shared, without allowing differences to become barriers. It does not remove the complexity of their circumstances, but it offers a real and tangible alternative.
Its impact can be seen in the way young people begin to perceive others. Where there was once distance, the possibility of connection emerges; where there was separation, a space for mutual recognition opens.
In this sense, the Global Gathering is not only an international event. It is an experience that encourages coexistence and leaves a lasting impression on participants and, indirectly, on the communities to which they belong.
Italy – Camerino
In Camerino, the Global Gathering takes place within a community deeply affected by the 2016 earthquake. The rupture caused by the disaster did not concern physical spaces alone, but also habits, relationships and the community’s sense of identity.
Within this context, ABF Voices Of has helped create a stable space for young people, where they can rediscover continuity, relationships, and a sense of belonging. The Global Gathering adds another essential dimension to this process: openness to the wider world.
Bringing the world to Camerino—or bringing Camerino’s young people into the world—offers them a new perspective. Their community is no longer seen as isolated or defined solely by its vulnerability, but as an active participant in an international network of experiences, relationships, and shared meaning.
For participants, this changes the way they see their own environment. It is no longer perceived only as a limitation, but also as a starting point.
The Gathering strengthens both individual and collective resilience, contributing not only to rebuilding what was lost but also to creating new possibilities for the future.
Italy – Napoli
In Naples’ Rione Sanità district, the Global Gathering is an experience that can profoundly affect the identity of the young people involved.
In a complex urban environment, where access to educational and cultural opportunities is often unequal, the choir provides a tangible space for alternative experiences, relationships, and self-expression.
The Gathering expands this opportunity by enabling young people, even temporarily, to move beyond their neighborhood boundaries and encounter different realities. Yet what happens goes beyond geographical movement: it is a change in perspective.
For many, it is the first time they feel part of something global. It is the moment when they discover that their voices can be heard, that their talent has value, and that their stories are not defined by the circumstances in which they live.
This has a significant effect on self-esteem and on their ability to imagine the future. The Global Gathering does not simply offer an experience; it opens up possibilities. It allows young people to see themselves differently, and this is one of the most transformative aspects of the entire journey.
Global Gathering: What Happens Next?
The Global Gathering does not end when the event itself comes to a close. Its influence extends far beyond those days and becomes part of an ongoing process in participants’ daily lives.
What remains is not only the memory of an intense experience, but a change in the way young people see the world. They return to their own communities with a new awareness: that they are not alone, that they belong to a wider community, and that they can build relationships across geographical and cultural boundaries.
The relationships formed during the Gathering continue over time, contributing to a global network that develops organically. This often leads to greater involvement in local projects, more active participation, and a stronger sense of responsibility.
For many participants, the Gathering is a turning point. It is the moment when something begins to feel possible, when a real experience changes the way they imagine their future. It does not remove the difficulties they face, but it provides inner resources with which to address them: confidence, openness, and the ability to connect with others.
At the community level, the impact is equally significant. Individual experiences are carried back into groups, families, and educational settings, strengthening the social fabric and creating new connections.
In this sense, the Global Gathering acts as a catalyst: it is not only a moment of encounter, but also a point of departure. Its effects continue over time, influencing relationships, personal journeys, and future possibilities.
The Global Gathering is much more than an event. It is an experience that makes a deep educational and social process visible.
Through music and human connection, it shows that genuine relationships can be built even in complex circumstances.
Supporting the Global Gathering means contributing to this process. It means investing in people’s growth, strengthening communities, and helping to build a future that is more inclusive and more closely shared.