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!