REACHING OUR GOALS

REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES DONE BY GHANDI TEAM DURING THE PERIOD 24th March/14th April 2015.

By Carmen Nieves Hernández Brito.

The Gandhi Team has taken part in two different campaigns or solidarity projects.

The first one is part of the High School Project on Solidarity. The IES Canarias Cabrera Pinto is currently participating  in three Educational Nets (Solidarity Schools Net, EcoNet and Equality Net), our group chose  CHILD SOLDIERS. It was carried out with the collaboration of the Atención Educativa teacher, Dácil Melián Huguet and students in 1º Bachillerato B, who are part of the Ghandi Team. 

The objective of the activity was to raise awareness on an important problem which is affecting many children worldwide, that is,  using children in armed conflicts. First, in class, they looked for information about this terrible issue, and then wrote summaries of the articles they had found on the internet, and  posted them in  their blog. They also made  a poster with pictures and some facts. All the information has been taken from different sites on the Internet. There are posts about stories of children like Natalia,  showing how they are recruited, others from organizations which are working to help these children like SOS Children, and others about the countries which are using children as soldiers, and the number of children killed in these conflicts.

On the 25th of March, they went to the town centre and put their poster on the middle of a very touristy area, next to the Concepción Church, and they asked locals and tourists to share their views on this issue. Some of them wrote messages and opinions on their cardboards! Many people congratulated them on their action!

By the end of the day, they found out, a lot of people are worried about this problem and shared their views. 


However, they felt, that somehow, mature people had shown more interest than younger ones, so they thought it was necessary to do something else to raise awareness. 

For that reason, they have put this poster in the School Entrance Hall. It is there so that anybody can write a message, their opinion, etc. 

From the 13th to the 17th of April, "The Cultural Week" is taking place in our school.

There will be different lectures and workshops on Children's Right, Gender Equality, and about Gender Discrimination... 

It will be a good moment to take different groups on a Tour to see all the different projects done on the school, and that all the groups have the opportunity to write their opinion, "every grain counts".

The aim of the activity was  to raise awareness, not only in the group of students working on it, but also in our community and back to school again, making it visible for the whole school!  

The second project "A BOOK IS A DREAM. BE PART OF THAT DREAM" has been carried out during the first weeks of April. In this one the English teacher and tutor of the group of 1º Bachillerato B, Carmen Nieves Hernández Brito, has collaborated. The team wanted to do an event and raise money for children in need. 

They had read a newspaper article that pointed out that our region, was at the top in education inequality and child poverty. 

They had many ideas to do it, donating different items and then selling them, and giving the money to charities, and many more, but there was a problem, we didn't have much time to put their ideas in practice, at least not in time to meet the Euroscola deadline, so, they decided that it would be a good idea to collect books that they had at home, and that they had read and enjoyed, and offer them to other kids. 

First, they created a poster to promote the campaign, and they went to all the classes in our High School and put a "solidarity box" there. 
Then on Friday the 10th and Monday the 13th, they went to the classes and picked the boxes. 


Finally they counted the books and they will be given to the charities before the "Book Day" on the 23rd of April. During the cultural week, the books will be handed to the charities. UP TO THE MOMENT OF SENDING THIS BLOG THEY HAVE REACHED 600 BOOKS!

This project has been important in different ways, first showing that teenagers care about their mates, and are worried about their community, and are ready to work to reach their goals, also,  for the children receiving the books. We know they will feel they belong to a community who cares about them. The idea of writing a message in the cover of the book for the receivers to read, was also very sweet!

We also hope they start enjoying reading, and economic difficulties don't hinder their future. Reading is the way to having an enjoyable experience and to knowledge!

It also has to do with sustainability. Many of us have books at home that are in perfect condition, and we are not going to read again! So, it is a good idea they can be reused, and enjoyed by others. 

The Ghandi team wanted to get as many books as possible, so they decided to include a prize _something sweet and a diploma_ for the class which had donated more books! The prize to the most solidarity class!

I would also like to mention that in addition to the Euroscola project, some of the Ghandi Team members, are working on  "Mediation" and other Solidarity Projects in our High School. They meet every Thursday in the school.  "Mediation"  is aimed at creating "positive leaders" among students. I must say, this campaign has been a great example these students can become those leaders!

Finally, as an English teacher, this experience has been incredible for my students, and Dácil thinks the same about her subject, "Atención Educativa"


Searching for information  about the Millennium Goals on the net, in English, and writing their posts! Superb work! It has been worthwhile the effort.

Throughout these weeks, we have encountered many difficulties, not enough time, none of us knew much about blogs, reading and writing in English is not always easy, but we have discovered that a lot of things can be done if you have a goal in mind, so by asking other mates and teachers, by using tutorials in youtube, we have managed to do something we are very proud of. 

As Diana Scharf Hunt once said, "Goals Are Dreams with Deadlines"

Our BLOG has reached 2,350 visits. 

Really amazing! 

I would like to say, thanks to all the people involved, of course, Euroscola Team for organizing this contest, and specially the members of the Ghandi Team for their hard work, and showing how important "values" are for them! 

WELL DONE!

COUNTING DONATED BOOKS

OUR SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN CAME TO ITS FINAL COUNTDOWN
By Gandhi Team

After an intense week on Friday the 10th and on Monday the 13th of April, we went to all the classrooms in our High School to take the "solidarity boxes" and see how many books  we had managed to get!

We were excited because we got a lot of books, nice looking books, and we knew our campaign had been a success story, but we wanted to know how many we had managed to collect!

Our class brought many books! We took a picture to remember this campaign.

Afterwards, it was time  to start going to all the classes and picking up the "solidarity boxes".

We had some good anecdotes while collecting the books. 

The 3º ESO A classroom had 133 books! We needed a lot of volunteers to take the books down. We heard two of the students talking, one of them said: 

"Goodbye to my childhood books!" 

We felt sorry because they would miss their books, but were very thankful for their generosity, thanks Andrea and Elena! We know you love reading and books, but they will be enjoyed by other mates!

While we were putting them in boxes and preparing them to be picked up by the charities, each of us discovered great books we had enjoyed in our childhood. We couldn't resist opening its pages and feeling some nostalgia for our childhood times. 

Other books reminded us when we started at the High School and we read that really exciting book. We are sure, some kids will have the same experience!

Some students forgot to bring their books, and said they would bring them the next day. So, the number of books collected will increase after this blog is sent.

Other people outside the school have also known about our campaign and have donated hundreds of books. We would like to mention Ana María Hernández and her daughters Estela and Carlota. We have received  such lovely books from them! "Pepe the Chicken", a cute one.

We feel proud of what has been done. As Swami Sivananda used to say:

"Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success"

This is what we have done!

Monday 13th April has also been a special day in our High School. We have been  celebrating a "Solidarity Day" 

There have been  different lectures and workshops about solidarity, human rights and gender equality. We feel this week more than ever we are "learning important things", not only contents which will be asked in our next test.

Well, at the end of the day,  we counted all the books, our High School has donated 600 books for children in need. 

And there are more books that students haven't been able to bring today. We will go on till we reach 1,000 books!

Thanks to all The IES Canarias Cabrera Pinto High School Community of students parents and teachers, and the rest of people who have helped us with this solidarity campaign.

Here you can see some of the pictures we took while counting the books and preparing them to be delivered to different charities!

SOLIDARITY PAYS OFF

SOLIDARITY WORKS

By Inés Piñero

In our High School Solidarity is something important. When the school year starts, we can join different projects.  

You can choose to go to the Old People's home and help them for a month, just a few hours, when you talk to them, help them eat their food, in some cases, or go for a walk with them, you can also help other charities.

In my case I volunteered to collaborate with a charity association who works with people who have physical and mental problems. They are called "Hermanos de la Cruz Blanca". 

The first day we felt a bit uneasy because it was something new for us, but we soon started to enjoy while we were having a walk with them, talking to them, etc.

I highly recommend volunteer work, because you meet a lot of wonderful people and you feel what you are doing is important! 

THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND MORE

SOME VIEWS ON THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

By Raúl Viñas, Gonzalo Rivero and Óscar Sola

      The Millennium Goals appeared when the world leaders came together at The United Nations Headquarters in New York and created the Millennium Declaration. Since then, The United Nations have been working hard to get all the goals done.  This document, the Millennium Declaration, had a deadline of 2015 , our year, when all the goals had to be achieved. As we have mentioned before, there are specifically eight objectives for the European development:

1.   ERRADICATE EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER.

2.   ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION

3.   PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWER WOMEN

4.   REDUCE CHILD MORTALITY

5.   IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH

6.   COMBAT HIV / AIDS , MALARIA AND OTHER DISEASES

7.   ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

8.   GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT

         We think they are very good and can improve the world where we live by eradicating poverty, reducing child mortality… But we also know that all of them have not been completely achieved, so we hope that in a few years all the Millennium Development Goals will be accomplished and other objectives will be started!

And now, as the deadline for The Millennium Development Goals is finishing, we  have been reflecting on which goals should continue been the same and which should change or should be expanded in one way or  the other. One we propose to be expanded, is the right of childhood. In the Millennium Development Goals there are three goals referring to childhood: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education and reduce child mortality. Instead of these three goals we propose to include all in one, being this “ensuring children’s rights”

Ensuring children’s right would encompass all the rights that children should have. From education to nourishment, including freedom and as much happiness as possible.

Lots of children are being used to work in mines and textile mills and they also used for war, turning them into soldiers since they are six or seven years old, we would like to define a new goal that would protect the children's rights to the full.. 
We propose "ensuring children's rights", but we also wanted to listen to adult people, some of us interviewed our parents.

What do you  think about the Millennium Goals? Would you like to redefine them  in any way or would you like to add new ones?

We have interviewed some parents and here is a summary of what they have answered.

Well, most of them think the EU is doing a great job. All the countries are part of a greater Community which is stronger, for trading, politically, etc. Although it is true that some countries have had problems after the euro, as Spain, Portugal, Greece, etc.

When we asked if they considered it was a good idea including other countries, they definitely agreed. For example, some mentioned including Turkey would be a good idea.  80.000 million inhabitants and new trading possibilities with the Middle East! In addition to showing our Community is diverse, different cultures and religions too, but willing to live peacefully. However, we also had some answers saying they were not so sure about it.

Finally, all the people we interviewed thought the Millennium Development Goals were great. In order to create a new, peaceful world, it’s essential to eradicate poverty and hunger, empower gender equality, reduce child mortality and of course ensure environmental sustainability.

CHILDREN AT WAR

CHILD SOLDIERS

By Javier Ballesteros

In a world where millions of children “play war games” with toy guns or video games, other boys and girls are pushed into real war, becoming young fighters. 

For them WAR is not a game, but real life. They learn to solve conflicts with weapons, kill others and very often become addicted to certain drugs, which are provided by their captors. 

Afghanistan, Colombia, India, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Mali, Pakistan, Thailand, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen are using child soldiers. They sometimes take part in suicide missions.

Soldier kids haven’t got any rights,  just victims, whose  future has been truncated. 

Some of them have been kidnapped, others recruited by force, bribed or deceived, other times their desire to take revenge because their family have been killed or suffered violence. 

We should try to change this situation, but for many of them coming back to normal life will be very difficult, if not impossible!

I strongly believe this is one of the most important problems in the world. 
How could we help to solve it? If you are interested, you can find more information in this link

http://www.rescue.org/child-soldiers

THE EARTH DAY

OUR NEXT GOAL  IS TO CELEBRATE THE EARTH DAY.

The EARTH DAY  is an annual event which is celebrated worldwide to show support for the environment.

 It was first celebrated in 1970. 

The Earth Day Network is in charge of coordinating the events that are organized worldwide.

Watch the video PLEDGE AN ACT OF GREEN, and join the campaign "A Billion Acts of Green"

You can organize anything you want. It could be  making our High School more eco-friendly by reducing the water we waste, planting a tree or using the suitable container for our rubbish.

You could also organize an act outside the school, with a group of friends or your family: riding your bikes through our Town Centre could also be a great idea! We need more cycling lanes!

Going to the beach/park/ and picking up the rubbish we find... anything you would like to do with a group of friends  that means we care for the EARTH and we are ready to take action!

The important thing is to be aware of the power we have if we do things together!

LET'S TRY!

MARCH 29th THE EARTH HOUR

A DAY TO REFLECT ON THE SUSTAINABILITY OF OUR PLANET

By Raúl Viñas 

Forests, oceans, glaciers and mountains, deserts, parks, gardens and lakes, all of them have their own life, biodiversity and even their own soul, according to some. All of them are unique and irreplaceable. Every single day, all of us admire what nature has created, perfect places we find all over the world where we would like to be. Nowadays it’s impossible for us to visit them, but we would like to travel there sometime in the future. However,  we fear that in a few years all those incredible places may disappear and with them, all the animals living there, and its exotic vegetation. 

Will we be able to enjoy them in real life, or will we have   to know about them in books and pictures?

Even though we know it is happening, experts and scientists have shown evidence, and insisted on emphasizing there’s a last opportunity to stop it, we insist on pursuing this disaster. And why? Just because of “money”.

However not everything is going in a bad direction, there are people, hundreds of thousands of people, who are using their power to change our future, and our environment. One of the actions they are supporting is, just turning off the light for one hour, it is called the Earth Hour.

This year, it was on 28^th March 8:30 PM local time and 172 countries worldwide took part in the biggest celebration of the planet in the world. We met in our town, San Cristóbal of La Laguna, in the Concepción Tower, and  the lights were turned off in some of the official buildings of the area. It was a great experience of sharing and empowering people to take action. Next time, it is going to be the 10^th Anniversary of Earth Hour. 

Will you use your power?

Earth Hour 2015 Official Video

As Barack Obama has said, we are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change, and the last generation that can do something about it.

And you?  Do you know any other way to save our world?

Watch this video. It is really interesting

DONATE ONE BOOK

DONATING A  BOOK FOR CHILDREN IN NEED.

"A book is a dream you hold on your hands. Be part of that dream"           
After all the research we have done, our team has decided  to take action! The force moving us is

"Think globally, act locally", so we have launched a campaign to get  books for children without resources!

If each one of the students in The Cabrera Pinto High School donates one book, we will get more than 500 books! 

We are asking for books that have been  read, enjoyed, and that are in a nice condition.  

Once we get the books, we are going to offer them to  different charities: Spanish Red Cross, Aldeas Infantiles  and Caritas. 

We hope all the books will have reached children and young people by 23rd of April, and they can all celebrate this day, reading a book!

This is the poster we have created to promote our campaign. First, we contacted different charities to see if they would like to help us deliver the books, next our group informed all the students in our High 

School, and  solidarity boxes  have been placed in all the classrooms. Just just now all of us are busy looking for books we have read when we were younger, and that we would like other children to have.  

We are all encouraged to write something on the first page of the book, to pass a message on to the child receiving it!

We decided to start up this campaign after we read about  child poverty in the Canary Islands! We are at the top of the regions where children are suffering the most.

We were really impressed by the report that has recently been published by Cáritas. It pointed out that there are many homes in the Canary Islands where there are fewer than 50 books! We are fighting for equality in education,  trying to help children who are suffering hard economical crisis, and finally, we are trying  to promote solidarity among all our mates!

Our final goal is getting as many  children reading as we can. It is  a really enjoyable way of  dreaming and learning!

"Think Big, Read"

DO YOU LIKE BANSKY?

ART CAN HELP RAISE SOCIAL AWARENESS, THIS IS WHAT BANSKY THINKS

By Inés Piñero

In this picture we can see a child who dresses like one of the characters from the Simpsons. This child is writing on a blackboard that he should not copy what he  sees on TV,  is just the opposite of what he is doing.

Banksy claims that society is heavily influenced by what they see on TV. Especially children are most affected and they copy everything they see. 

In my opinion this drawing expresses a very present reality,  we often try to hide. What do you think? Please leave a comment!

In this other image we can see the character Mickey Mouse and Ronald Mc Donald hand  in hand with a girl, this girl was taken from a photo in which she was running naked with wounds on her body, in the Vietnam War. She was wailing "Too hot, too hot", and running away from a burning village.

I think Banksy is trying to highlight the lifestyle of children with economic resources against those who do not.

Vietnam fought in that war against the USA (where these characters are from). 

Placing  this child next to the  American ones he is  highlighting the devastation it has caused  in her country.

I found  this picture very impressive, especially after seeing the original. I think everyone should know this work of Banksy! And you?

WHAT OTHER THINGS CAN BE DONE TO RAISE SOCIAL AWARENESS?

CHILDREN HAVE THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION

VIOLENCE AND WAR   BLOCK  THE WAY TO EDUCATION

"One child in three is out of school in countries affected by conflict"

By Raúl Ramos Afonso

Children’s right to a decent education is as basic as their right to food and water – for many, it’s their route out of poverty. It gives them the knowledge and skills to improve their own chances in life and, ultimately, the lives of their own children. Yet, one child in three is out of school in countries affected by conflict. 

Getting children into school and delivering good-quality education in war-torn countries is a huge challenge. Teachers may not have been trained and schools are increasingly being targeted for attack.

Education funding is shockingly inadequate – in 2008, $1 billion education aid was pledged to countries affected by conflict – just one-tenth of what was needed. Only $113 actually reached them.

It is estimated that there are almost 40 million children out of school in conflict-affected countries, that means that more than half of the children out of school live in conflict-affected countries. Given all this, many people think it is just too complicated to improve the situation in countries affected by conflict.

This situation needs to be changed really fast, as war is growing in many countries in the world and the number of children that can’t go to school gets bigger and bigger.

Here are two projects that can help these kids:

http://www.warchild.org.uk/issues/access-education

http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/education/rewrite-the-future