Comenius Project 2010-2012 "Problem-busters a European dimension in the fight for human rights.

Dealing with problems through drama and intercultural co-operation".

Partners: Bulgaria, Razlog Estonia, Tstamaa - Tstamaa Keskkool France, LAigle - Lyce Napoleon Norway, Trondheim - Charlottenlund videregende skole Poland, Gdynia Gimnazjum nr 1 w Gdyni im. Gdyskich Harcerzy II Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej a coordinator

February March 2012

The Problem-busters project takes up a subject of human rights and creative ways of solving problems. The students (14-18 years old) started from interviewing some youth and adults in each participated countries about happiness and problems to find out the differences in their approach to above-mentioned. Results were compared with all partners. We aim to create ways of solving problems, increase students motivation and make learning more attractive. We also want to strengthen intercultural education and its contribution to social integration and links between school education and civil society using drama. We would like to prepare base of educational materials devoted to human rights including examples of active methods. Another aim of the Problem-busters project is participants awareness of European dimension in the fight for human rights. To realise and monitor the activities and to disseminate their results we would like to use some tools such as the Internet, web portals and communicators. Thanks to this project the participants will be able to have some impact on their community in a positive way disseminating their awareness about human rights, sharing experience and materials devoted to active and innovative pedagogical methods.

All partners participated in the official opening ceremony. Each of the participants introduced themselves, their schools and presented their work on Problem-busters Project: movies, articles, summaries. The common works were collected and published in brochure (as a final product). All partners visited the City Hall and participated in meeting with vicepresident of Gdynia Mrs Ewa owkiel. The teachers and students took part in dance workshops Dance as a source of Happiness. The participants took part in drama workshops (devoted to Happiness and creative ways of solving problems) by dr Adam Jagieo Rusiowski and Ahmed Sarhan at the University of Gdask. All partners participated in Drama Festival. Groups from Bulgaria, Estonia and Poland presented plays devoted to Happiness. French group introduced movie about human rights and Norwegian team acquainted partners with role of students at their school. All partners took part in Movie Evening devoted to our slogan I have the right to Happiness. We presented film The game about daily-life in Palestine and our drama teacher Ahmed Sarhan. All participants had possibility to ask about human rights and Palestine topics. We took part in ecology workshops in Hel. We observed feeding and training of seals. On the last day the teachers summarizied work on PB project.

Reflections by Laurie, Nicolas and Perrine (LAigle, France) What we thought before the trip: We were afraid before of the plane, and the families because we didnt know if we could be understood with our english. But, we soon discovered that families were very nice and the correspondants were really nice! We had great fun ! What we liked in Poland: Everything. It was amazing. Africas dance was very cool, meals at Hollywoods restaurant were delicious. We liked the gingerbread. We were very surprised about frozen sea. It was funny when we walked everywhere in Gdynia. We liked every evenings with our correspondants. Polish people are so nice. We liked speak with the others students even if some people were younger than us. We liked the estonian play, and the polish also. We liked Hel, going up in the lighthouse (to bad it was foggy, we couldnt see the landscape). What we learnt: Human Right arent respected everywhere (Ahmed). The way of life of polish people is a bit different than ours. We learnt we can communicate without knowing the language. This trip was really great. It was hard to say goodbye.

Reflections by Selin (LAigle, France) Im beginning to write this reflection right now and I dont know how I must explain and describe this project and how it is great for me to contribute to it. All began due to my ex English teacher when she asked me in September if I want to do something for a project about the Human Rights and I just said yes. I could just said yes because it was a great idea and I knew that it would be a good experience. 6 months later, some good ideas later, some projects later and some deceptions later too, we were sitting in the plane to Gdansk. How can I describe this trip? It was really a good experience to meet so many people from Europe. It was not always easy to understand what the others were thinking but it was a really good thing to entertain with some people because our life are simultaneously very different and the same. We visited a lot of nice places but the best place ever in Gdynia for me was just this beautiful frozen sea. It was exceptional because we cant see something like this in France and I will always remember this place. So I can just say thank you for this week, your kindness, your generosity, your creativity, your patience and all your smiles. Its maybe brief but I think that it recap well this week all together. Everybody knows today that the young people from Europe are fantastic. Thank you very much and dont forget the Human Rights because its the first most important thing to be happy. Reflections by Maria (Razlog, Bulgaria) The whole trip was a really good experience but the most memorable moments for me are African dances and Drama plays and workshop. I`m really keen on dancing and acting. I take lessons and these things aren`t only my hobby. They are a way of life for me. It was really interesting for me to learn and to try dancing African dances. The movements weren`t as easy as they looked but it was so funny. These dances gave me happiness and good mood. We all like drama and drama plays were a really good way to show our skills and to express our thoughts and feelings. Working with Ahmed was enjoyable and of course very funny. I`m happy when I`m dancing and acting and I`m happy that I could do these things during the meeting in Gdynia. Reflections by Aleksandar (Razlog, Bulgaria)

Except for taking part in the compulsory activities within the Comenius Problem Busters project, all the participants in the project had the opportunity to travel to the amazing Hell peninsula and visit the seals aquarium. The servants there gave us a presentation about the world ecology. I was happy because I slid on the frozen Baltic see. Pleasure, laughter and fun were our constant companions. Reflections by Mario (Razlog, Bulgaria) I spent one unusual and unforgettable week in Poland. I made some new friends there. My staying in the Polish family was amazing. My happiest day was the Saturday when I had a wonderful journey with Robert`s family. On this day I saw some beautiful and interesting places such as: The Longest Plank in the World, The Upside-Down House, The Largest Piano in the World, the old part of Gdansk and so on. It was tiring but a really fantastic day. I realized that Polish people are helpful and honest. I will never forget my visit there. We are all happy that we had the opportunity to take part in the meeting in Gdynia. We would like to say a big THANK YOU (Dzikuj ) to the Polish team for everything!!! Reflections by Kristel (Tostamaa, Estonia) I waited that trip to Poland since that time, when was meeting in Estonia. As I met wonderful people in Estonia, I already knew that this meeting in Poland will be even better, because I knew that to Poland will come more students. And I was right that meeting there was just amazing. Some days before the trip, I was very excited. I was thinking: maybe I dont like to that family, where I will live, maybe my English wont be good enough Our long trip from Estonia to Poland lasted over 24 hours; it was hard, but fun. Finally, when we arrived to Gdynia and I saw my friends, who were in Estonia and other Polish students, I was just so happy. I totally forgot that tiredness, what was caused by our long trip, and I was just happy. Then I and my host went to her home, where I met her mom and dad. They were really nice, and my fear, that they dont like me, disappeared. They were just so nice and caring. Later that evening, we went to some big department store, where I met other students from Norway, France, and Bulgaria and of course Poland. We were talking there, having fun, laughing.. . and I realised, that with those people, that week will be super. On next day, was meetings opening ceremony, there I met more new people. Some Polish students were singing, playing guitar. It was great. Whole next week, every single day, was super. We had different workshops: drama workshop in Gdansk by Ahmed, dance workshop, ecology workshop in Hel. All those workshops were very teaching, and also, there was a lot of fun. My favourite one was drama workshop. We also saw seals in Hel, we were walking in absolutely amazing old town in Gdansk, saw beautiful town
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Torun. It was all so amazing. In the evenings, we were just hanging somewhere outside or in some mall, talked, laughed. My favourite day was that one, when in the evening was Drama Festival. It was all so fun. Whole that time was fun. What I will remember the most from Poland? I remember all those wonderful people. I am just so happy, that I got that opportunity, to take part of Comenius. I experienced real life of Poland by living in Polish family, it was amazing. Im missing everybody, and hope that in future, we all will meet! I will come back there, I promise! Reflections by Maret (Tostamaa, Estonia) At the beginning of March, I had a chance to take part in Comenius meeting in Gdynia Poland. It lasted about one week. During the meeting I had many new and good friends and I visited many beautiful places. I was very happy when I heard that I can go to Poland. I already knew some people from Poland because of the last meeting in Estonia. Then we started to practice our drama play and we had lots of fun. Suddenly it was time to pack our bags and hit the road. We travelled with 4 different buses and 1 train. Our trip to Gdynia was veryvery long. When we arrived to Gdynia I finally meet with my host Natalia. I was so happy, because she was so friendly. At the first night in Poland we met other problem-busters in shopping centre. Next days were full of activities. At the second day we had opening ceremony with really nice performances. Then we visited Town Hall where we heard some interesting facts about Gdynia. At the end of the day we had African dance workshop. It was really cool experience. Next day we visited University of Gdansk where we had drama workshops. There we tried to solve problems through drama. I enjoyed it very much. When we arrived back to Gdynia, it was finally time to perform our plays. It was really nice. I liked that there were so many different interpretations of happiness. Fourth day we went to Hel to watch seals. We also visited lighthouse, where we saw really beautiful view to the Baltic Sea. Next day we were supposed to be with our host families, but we decided to go to Gdansk with friends. We visited a really big shopping centre. Sixth day we went to Torun to planetarium. There was very beautiful old town and river Wisa. Then arrived the last day. It was really sad to leave Poland because I had really good friends and Gdynia was like second home to me. I had very good time in Poland. I already miss all the people I met and time we spent together. I hope that we will meet again some day. Greetings from Estonia. Reflections by Andrus (Tostamaa, Estonia)

Well Comenius project in Gdynia was amazing actually more than amazing. I would like to thank you all, who organized the meeting in Gdynia. Also I thank all the students who spent time with us and who showed us many popular places, historical places and a lot of other things. All the workshops were amazing. Drama workshop I know a lot more about solving problems and how to be myself without trying to be somebody else. Ecology workshop also was very interesting now I know much more about ecology system in Baltic Sea. The museum was very interesting as well all these old clothes what are made from seal skin. Dance workshop African dances very cool. Very good way to spend time and also funny. Dance teacher was really funny. Visiting the down hall was quite interesting. The knowledge what they gave us was very good.I think that my biggest emotion was related with polish everyday life to be in host family, to see how they live and do things it was great experience to me. I liked to go to University of Gdansk and to learn drama and how to express ourselves. Reflections by Kristel (Tostamaa, Estonia) I got so many new friends. I learnt a lot about Poland and polish. I am happy that I decided to participate in the project because I have learnt so many things drama, self expression, African dances, about new culture and etc. And the trip to Poland it was full of new emotions, learning moments and etc. I am happy! Reflections by Karl (Tostamaa, Estonia) I learnt self-expression, polish culture, many new things I liked to meet new people and to see new places. I am happy that I had opportunity to go to Poland, to Gdynia. Reflections by Keiu (Tostamaa, Estonia) I learnt a lot about Poland but also about drama and self expression. I liked the family and my new friends from Poland and from other partner countries. Reflections by Kaarel (Tostamaa, Estonia) I liked many things in Poland new friends, my host family, nature and ice in Hel. I learnt some new skill in drama, self expression I would like to go back to Poland. I like the project I got possibility to go to Poland and to get new friends. Teachers reflections:

by Kaarin (Tostamaa, Estonia) I am not working so close with working on the project but i did some writing and drawing with children on topic Happiness. I am satisfied with the trip to Poland. I didnt know anything about Poland and after visit I knew more of its culture and land. I got to know polish kitchen, learnt how the school system works there and I saw lot of Poland (e.g. citys and old towns). by Triinu (Tostamaa, Estonia) I liked the trip very much because I got to know lot of new things about Poland: - Problems in educational system are quite same in Estonia and Poland. - How beautiful country is Poland. - I found out how wrong are some stereotypes about Polish. - Our similar history helps to understand each other. - Hospitality is great in Poland. - There are strong families and values in Poland. - I learnt some polish words and plasticised English. - I found out new characteristic in my group members. - Life in cities and in countryside is very different. - People are great. About the project: - Cooperation between partners are good if preparatory work has done well. - Group work is necessary for pupils and teachers. - Interesting and enthusiastic team makes project good. - These type of projects are necessary because gives a possibility to meet colleagues from other countries. - Contact gives input to new projects. - Travelling is necessary to broaden the mind. - New people and situations helps to avoid fall in routine. Reflections by Bendik (Trondheim, Norway)

When I first heard about the Comenius project I was really excited and I got so happy when it was decided that I could go to Poland! This trip would give me a lot of different opportunities and experiences. I would meet new people, a new culture and just being at the Comenius project would be an experience in itself.

When I was sitting at the plane going to Gdansk I was starting to think about how this stay would be. Would me and my correspondent get along? Would there be any huge difference in culture? How was the people I was going to meet? I knew beforehand that all of us from Norway were going to be older than most participants in this meeting, so I was also wondering how this would turn out.

When I arrived in Gdansk, I first meet my Correspondent Oskar Glaza. He was the one taking care of me for the whole stay and I am grateful of that, so thanks to him and his family! I got to settle down in his apartment and relax before we were going to the school where the meeting would be held the next day.

So the next day we went together to the school. The school seemed nice and large. When I got inside the school I was met with many happy faces and an outgoing personality. Something that was new to me was their school uniforms. We don`t have this in Norway and I think it was interesting to see. Everyone was so easy to talk to and everyone was nice and kind to everyone. What really amazed me was the extremely good atmosphere, it was really fantastic!

At the first days, each country was presenting their materials, drama plays and findings from research, all of which was very good indeed. It was nice to see that each and every country had made such a nice preparation for this meeting. Later the same day we had a dancing workshop which was really fun, where we danced African dance and could do some of our own moves as well. (the dancing teacher was amazing) The Polish (or Oktawia?) had worked hard and prepared a lot for us, in addition to lunch and dinner they had also prepared different excursions. We travelled to the university of Gdansk , here we did a lot of different stuff. But what I remember the most from this visit was the story of Pawe and Gawe and the different activities we did, taking basis of that story. On this day we also had some special
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Polish sweets, they were very good, but also extremely sweet. We also visited the town hall and met the vice president of Gdynia, which was an interesting meet. We also went to Hel to watch seals, we visited a planetarium and we also got to have a magical experience making gingerbread in Toru. Also, we got to see a very interesting movie, with Ahmed also in the film.

All of these activities were very interesting but what I always will remember the most from this trip was the people that I met. : ) When we had a long bus trip I always found someone to have an interesting conversation with, and when we had spare time from the Comenius, we gathered in a large group and had so much fun together! We chilled at cafs, malls, had sightseeing in Gdansk, played bowling and even ate in a restaurant together! I will always remember how pleasant and nice the people I met in Poland were and I hope we will meet sometime soon. Thanks to everyone for making this possible and special thanks to Oktawia Gorzeska for arranging this amazing Comenius meet! Reflections by Nikolett Blachowska (Gdynia, Poland) I knew that some people from partner countries are going to visit us in March. But months were passing and I forgot about it. School-life was more time-consuming than any event. In January started organization works, but in little steps. But in February it changed into solid, hard work of lots of students. Two last weeks passed under symbol of intensified activity and time spent at school. Meetings, posters, literal doing, long rehearsals Everybody was doing their best to achieve perfect results. Its interesting part of project too. I could meet nice people from my school, who I hadnt known before. It was the beginning of integration process, as important as exploring guys from abroad. Project forced us to wonder about Poland and its attractions. How can we show it in positive, but true light? What do we really know about place, where we live? What we can recommend? Pluses, Comenius increased our interest about partner countries and stereotypes. We had a lot of questions What kind of people are going to come to spend the following week with us. Are French arrogant and interested only in fashion? Are Estonian slow and shy? Are Bulgarian not-educated and backward? Are Norwegian serious? What are we going to do? Will we find any way for communication? Will everything go well? Will they be glad after visit? Will we take appropriate care? Unspoken questions were multipling in our heads, in the meantime of another preparations. Projects coordinator had a lot of in her head, but everybody felt stressed. Our common effort resulted in visit, which started on 1 March and ended on 7th. Visit in Gdynia City Hall, Gdasks University, Hel, Toru, workshop of African dance, meeting about problems in Palestine, Drama Festival and one free day for showing Tricity on teenagers pint of view. We didnt have any calm
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moment we were at work all the time. During these 5 days we showed important areas near Gdynia. Seal Centre, lighthouse, Copernicus monument, Old City in Toru, new part of University, the biggest Polish planetarium, Gingerbread Museum Even our school was full of international life, because one of the pluses of our activity was that we could have taken part in the interesting events about culture. Each of attraction required from us creative way of thinking. Of course, it was very demanding and hard work, but was worth doing. Now, some time after the end of the meeting our life is quiet and a little boring. We came back to our normal responsibilities, but our lives arent the same like in the past. We have new friends and I believe that they can last for long time. We are talking about our friends journey to Poland during our summer holiday. I am looking forward to it and hope that itll be as great as their visit in March.

All partners participated in: the official opening ceremony, meeting with local authorities in the city hall, sightseeing and workshops devoted to human rights in Memorial (Caen), town game in Caen, cooking workshops, lessons, Conference on the Human Rights Day. We evaluated the first year of co-operation (activities, advantages, disadvantages). The teachers took part in meetings devoted to projects issues, they planned common work and watched documentary movie: Please, vote for me. The partners presented plans and ideas for development of the project in the classroom
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(topics: eg. political rights, tolerance, equality, children rights, rights to chose...; activities: lessons, special thematic weeks, movie meetings, Drama workshops; dissemination: articles for newspapers, exhibitions, Open Days, other events).

Reflections by Maria, Aleksandar, Mario ( Razlog, Bulgaria ) France-romantic, beauty, new friends. Once Paris been visited, a man wishes to go back there again. Beauty, exquisiteness and magnetism-it is Paris. When we arrived at LAigle- Normandy, we carried in spirit to the Middle Ages with the magnificent castles and kings. Lycee Napoleon LAigle surprised us with its size and interesting school subjects. We have learned to cook delicious French dishes. We have never forget the school kitchenmodern and comfortable. LAigle is a very beautiful town-clean streets, old buildings and a lot of flowers. How nice it will be if a man go back to the old places again! Maybe they will be more beautiful! Thank you friends! Reflections by Kalina (Gdynia, Poland) Before holiday break I found out that Im going to take part in a Comenius exchange. I have to admit that I had huge luck because I sent my essay few days before final term. As for my novelette I didnt like it at all so I was really surprised when I realized that in October Im going to France. I used to take part in other projects but I have never travelled alone without parents. I was afraid of the aeroplane flight but the main reason of my fear were questions what if I wont communicate with others? what if my new family wont accept me? But when we arrived in France, all my worries vanished. School in France is much different than ours. It consists of multiple buildings and as for the breaks they last about one hour, so students have a lot of time to rest. Perrine, my new sister turned out to be very friendly and talkative person. We were talking a lot about our countries and we were comparing for example our education system, which is quite different in Poland. In school I took part in English and French classes, but whats more I participated in cooking lessons which allowed us to talk more with each other. But as for me, the most memorable point was a trip to Paris. Eiffel Tower, all these shops and streets made that I fell in love with Paris. I think that it was the best moment of our exchange. But project its not only fun and visiting new places. Thanks to the Comenius project, we learned about new culture and what is very important we improved our language. Trip to France was for me some kind of experience. I could meet new people and I learned a lot of things connected with tolerance, so it means that its possible to study without handbook. Reflections by Kamila Buan (Gdynia, Poland) The October trip to France was my first encounter with any project. Its hard to expect much from something we do not know. Thus I felt a little bit
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nervous. When I had learned that I would sleep with a French family I was really happy. Later,my joy vanished.What if I will not be able to communicate with these people? Is this a girl or a boy I am going to live with? What if I have to sleep in one bed with a French? I had one million concerns, which immediately disappared when I met my family.They were really nice and open people. If they asked me to come again I would go for a few days without hesitation. I lived in a house in a small village, so it was a nice change. The school in Laigle was very different from our Jednyka.There were a few separate buildings and about 1,000 students. We spent a lot of time in the room called rotund. In that place students were waiting for their lessons.We had plenty of time to talk or make friends with the French. Most of the days were passing the same. But there were also some interesting activities. The events that I liked most were cooking and of course visiting Paris. I love to cook, so these activity coincided with my taste. It is a pity that it took place only once. Paris is a very beautiful city. It was wonderful to visit that city!

All in all, I liked the project because I could get to know many new people, see how people live in France, go to the Eiffel tower, learn about human rights and do many other interesting things. Reflections by Monika Sciubilecka (Gdynia, Poland) I heard many things from my friends, mainly that there were problems with organisation. I agree with that, but I think that there will be something to remember with a smile on our faces. We were spending many hours in one circle room, that was boring, but now I know many things about teenagers from France. I saw that they have long breaks between lessons and during that time they are in a rotund (that circle room) and they talk together. I like it, because they are getting closer to each other and they know each other better. All teenagers from that city and people from the cities, which are close to LAigle go to the same school and I think that they know each other better thanks to the time spent together. I know that at this time we could do something more interesting, but I think that it learnt us something too. The most fantastic things which we did in France were cooking and last dinner in the restaurant with Polish people, where was good food and funny men who played the guitar. I want to come back to LAigle because my family was FANTASTIC! Im trying to convince my parents to go to them next holidays and I want to invite them to Poland. Elisa is a fantastic person, she was really nice for me, when I had a problem to pack my suitcase she helped me and she told: - When you dont sleep, I will not sleep too! I will help you and well do it together!
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And that was really nice, her parents where fantastic too, her mother tried to talk with me in English, her father cant speak English and all the time he asked me about Polish words and later he talked with me in Polish. Her sister cant speak English too, but she was trying all the time and smiling to me. I love that family and Im really happy that I lived with them! Im sad that this time is over, I would like to come back. Even only for few days

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The most popular values (3):

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Bulgaria: tolerance, right to chose/decide; to believe)

travel,

freedom

(eg.

to

speak;

to

Estonia: freedom (eg. to speak; to chose/decide; to believe), equality, freedom of information (to be informed properly) France: equality, freedom (eg. to speak; to chose/decide; to believe), tolerance Norway: freedom (eg. to speak; to chose/decide; to believe); equality, democracy Poland: freedom (eg. to speak; to chose/decide; to believe); tolerance, equality

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The most popular values (3): Bulgaria: tolerance, right to travel, right to vote France: freedom (eg. to speak; to chose/decide; to believe), equality, tolerance Norway: freedom (eg. to speak; to chose/decide; to believe), equality, democracy Poland: freedom (eg. to speak; to chose/decide; to believe), equality, tolerance

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The most popular values (3): Bulgaria: tolerance, freedom to work, freedom (eg. to speak; to chose/decide; to believe) Estonia: freedom (eg. to speak; to chose/decide; to believe), right to travel, freedom of information France: freedom (eg. to speak; to chose/decide; to believe), freedom of information, equality Norway: right to vote, freedom (eg. to speak; to chose/decide; to believe), tolerance
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Poland: democracy, freedom to work, right to travel, equality

Razlog, Bulgaria by Ivan Parapunov Desire for Knowledge Te best result of education is the tolerance. Most of what I need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be, I learned in the nursery school. These are the things: Play fair. Dont hit people. Dont take things that arent yours. Clean up your own mess. Say youre sorry when you hurt somebody. Then in the first year in the primary school I learned how to read and write and started discovering the marvelous world of the book as a herald of knowledge, humanity and wisdom. It teaches, and gives birth to heroes who remain in peoples mind forever. There is some magic in the book, some invisible power which enchants those who are able to guess its secret. Millions of people discover this unusual, boundless and different world of books every day. So do I. Opening it I can meet kings and queens, heros and villains, Im able to swim in strange and distant seas and touch unusual animals and amazing plants. Thus while Im growing up the book always accompanies me and gives me knowledge and wisdom. But I need more and more of them. And here are my teachers-intelligent, strict and helpful, warriors daily doing battles against peer pressure, negativity, fear, prejudice, ignorance and apathy. But they always win because they have great allies: intelligence, curiosity, creativity, faith, love and laughter. Ive learned from them a lot too. After school another source of learning waits for my desire for knowledgemy PC. Just click and you can read the latest news and human records, make a new friend, play funny games and chat. What a wonderful thing is this invention! But I still think it isnt enough for me.

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Maybe my grandmother is right. She told me that a man learned most from the real life. I just have to keep my eyes and mind open and no matter how old I am everything I need to know is in there somewhere. LAigle, France Many people, One fight ; the total abolition of the death penalty ! The death penalty. Everyone knows what it is. But who knows that it is still practiced? We reach out to artists who, through their exhibitions tell us the different aspects of the death penalty is still present in the world. Is it not cruel to judge a man for his crime and kill him in return? Killing a man who has killed does not make us clean killers? The meeting with artists was amazing and interesting .We learned that Texas is a state that practices the death penalty more. It's a revolting reality. Practices vary from state to state. The electric chair is still the most common way in the US .But the most popular method to kill a convict is lethal injection.Firstly it relaxes you and puts you to sleep, then it is intended to stop the lungs by blocking of the respiratory muscles. One gets the impression that the inmate is asleep, but in reality he is aware, when the lungs stop.He feels suffocated, but nothing appears from the outside. He can not scream. And he was suffocating until her heart stops. However, the artists feel that there is no death more cruel than others. One artist said : I prefer to live in my country then in that same country there in 200 years. there was in France the death penalty thirty tears ago. Today the mentality has changed. The image that has mos caught our attention was the one where we see the fat man in front of his television. In the background we see a death row inmate who is about to be executed. There are also people who witnessed the execution and it looks pretty happy.

Ignorance

This image shows two different faces ; There are those who ignore them and live in this world without worrying about their surroundings. Who prefer to watch TV programs that are not educational and eat something fat to prevent standing up. And There are those who have need for revenge and say this is cruel. These are people who do not think. Their faces are drawn in a way that we understand that it is not very intelligent. This picture reminds me of the power of television and the singer who wrote
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in his book: "You know what, your own death will be broadcast live at home! When the world ends it will sound on television instead of watching the stars. " After seeing the exhibition artists, and talking , we made ourselves an opinion on the question. It was a very interesting exhibition, which probably helps to answer some questions for some of us.

Death penalty articles By the syudents of 1 re es From the 13th to the 16th of October 2011: the lyce Napoleon held an exhibition on the abolition of the death penalty in France in 1981. It is the thirtieth anniversary of the abolition. The following are some of the articles written about the exhibition by the students of 1res after seeing it and talking to the artists: the photographer, Caroline Planque and the painter, Olivier de Rivaz by Martin A Fight against the Death Penalty by Marion Boubetra Caroline Planque is a young french journalist and photographer living in the United States of America . For six years, she has been fighting against the death penalty because in her opinion, too many nations or countries are still in favor of the death penalty, for example , in the US, the States of Illinois and Texas, and in Europe, Belarus.. Her photos show close relatives of the condemned or participants in the Capital Punishment: men, women, parents, guards with their testimonies. This exhibition called ' Until death parts us can make people discover the other part of justice ignored by most. One picture and testimony of the exhibition affected me a lot. This picture represents a former inmate who spent 19 years on death row. He seems peaceful whereas he has committed a crime. He is married and a religious man. How can he be?... In his testimony, He says that once you are condemned, a roll call erases your name. An act that which dehumanizes. They are human beings with their own life and family. It's very stupefying to notice that human beings can be considered like animals or things even if they have committed the most horrible mistake of their life. So, I don't understand how the justice system can do that. In my opinion, a man is already punished with death penalty. Even if he deserves to be considered like an animal, justice must be just and show the example by treating people with respect. But as Martin Allen Draughton
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said: 3 it's easier to kill a thing than an animal. I think That Caroline Planque has a lot of courage to talk about the death penalty because it's not an easy subject. These photos enable us to get in an unknown world,. A lot of people pronounce Death Penalty as an ordinary word while behind it hides a murder. A killer who has removed a life from another person is unforgivable, I agree, he has to be punished. However, I don't understand how justice system could take away the life of a person when the law forbids killing. Moreover, as many innocent as guilty people can be condemned to death. Can we really call this justice? The death penalty doesn't heal the pain of losing somebody. To finish, I think that in a country, as long as the death penalty will be enforced, people will be living in a violent society. by Delia The Death Sentence by Amandine Rocher The 10th of October being the International day against the Death Penalty, it's a perfect time to talk about it. The dictionary defines the death sentence as the killing of a person who committed a capital crime, but is it always deserved. Indeed, many states that have not abolished the death penalty; particilarly the United-States where the death sentence is applied in 34 out of 50 States and has killed 1254 people, the majority black men. According to many testimonies, the living conditions for the condemned are the lousiest, first of all they are treated like animals, called by a number. Their cells do not exceed three meters by two, they are cut off from the rest of the world and some suffer from Death Row syndrome; depression, mental illness, apathy, withdrawal, heightened distrust...). Worse still, it's bad and unnecessary that the convicts suffer in this way but their families also as said the sister of an inmate, they are criticized by people or even tried to knock down her children in the street. What concerns me most in particular, is what feel all these people without any reason. For me, the death sentence needs to be abolished everywhere. Too many people have paid too much for nothing. Nearly 3300 await their sentence on death row. by Celia Pereira Capital Punishment The death penalty was abolished in fourteen countries in 1945, and by 1997, there were about a hundred more countries that abolished the death penalty. Before the abolition, the condemned were shot , hanged, or beheaded... The exhibition explains the death penalty through the testimonies of family, friends and ex-prison worker testimonies. In this exhibition, I noted a quote which says: The death penalty is irrevocable. by Silne, Pauline (1L), Flora (1ES)
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We are not at the beach! For many young people: it makes no difference whether they dress for sports or leisure or school, if they take what falls first in the closet. Stefan Dehne, Head of Willy-Brandt-Schule in Munich, North says this attitude towards school is not appropriate. So he wrote a letter to parents: You should ensure that your children do not appear in sport or casual wear in the classroom. Otherwise students may be sent home. by Marion, Charlotte (1ES), Gabrielle (1L) We will respond to your article, in which a school wants to introduce new rules for school clothes. On the one hand, it is true for the education of these children. Students must respect others and that is to wear decent clothes. It is an opportunity to learn social life, that's good for them. On the other hand, the students must remain free and express themselves, that's their right and this right must be respected. For this reason, we must ensure that there are rules, without losing freedom. by Jordan, Marie (1ES), Anne-Sophie (1L) We children go to school and we want to respond to the article of the school principal. We have many parents who think that the school principal's right. Our children have rights but they also have responsibilities: You can get dressed as you wish, but you have a duty to the other students and adults too, to wear appropriate clothing. We find that girls wear to school short dresses and ripped jeans for boys, it's not Right. Students should not wear provocative clothing, because the school is a public place. We are sure that young people learn to respect boundaries, without losing their freedom. by Silne, Pauline (1L), Flora (1ES) The article No. 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to a proper living for himself and his family's health and well-being, including food and clothing" We note that it is not the case for all people. For example, if the winter is here, many people live on the street and they can not eat properly and dress. The state should help them, but many associations play this role and assist the homeless. Although it is the role of a principal to establish a school policy, which sets the rights and obligations of the students but the first duty is that all children and young people have an acceptable minimum standard of living. Gdynia, Poland by Anna Woukanis Friendly world that's world where living people respect each other Liberty of expression population's opinions was limited by males, church or authorities for many years, and in some countries it is still like that, Muslim
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women haven't had permission to vote till now. Telling racist and chauvinistic opinions should be banned. Humans with black skin often don't have job because of their colour or origin. They are humiliated. We exploited them ages ago and even now a lot of people don't accept them. Is this the way it's got to be? Many females have worse conditions of life, work etc. than males. Today we have contacts with different people - for example: poor and rich. We meet millions of different people in our life but nobody is better than another person. There are no perfect people in this world. Although I can't say I'm like you I can say I'm equal with you. We shouldn't choose a person because he/she is better or has more money. We can't treat people as objects or judge by appearance. Inhabitants of many countries don't have freedom of speech and expression their opinions. If they say something what is forbidden to say they will be arrested. We are often not nice to emigrants. We are afraid that we will lose our jobs or something wrong will happen to our children etc. All in all, I hope we can unite. It will be better for us if we like each other.

by Robert Kosk Should 16 years old teenagers have a right to vote? Teenagers whose age is about sixteen belong to very varied group of people. Among them, there are people who aren't interested in anything, they don't care what happens in our country and unfortunately they haven't any views of the world. For them the most important things are parties, friends and various kinds of stimulants. They live "from hand to mouth." But fortunately in our country there are a lot of young people who have interests, they aren't afraid of saying their own opinion, they are full of positive energy, and most of all, they have some ideas how to change their lives. Often teenagers are interested in politics. They are aware of difference between political parties, they know election plan and what is very important - young people perfectly know who they would like to see in Polish government. But what about the right to vote? To do it in a proper way we should own our opinion which shouldn't be imposed by anyone. Of course it can be good or bad-but what is the most important, it has to be our own. When we

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acquire own opinion, we are allowed to choose the government which is going to decide about our life. So it means that we should find a political party which will be responsible for making our life easier. It's a very serious matter, so should teenager take part in voting? I can say yes, because young people are interested in politics. On the other hand, some adults can say that teenagers aren't inexperienced and they are very naive. Let's think that a group of sixteenyear-old people is interested in politics, that they really want to change life for better. Often young people are changing the world. They follow the rule that world should go forward. What about adults? They can be against right to voting for sixteen-year-old people, because they are afraid of choice which young people might make. If teenagers choose badly or naively, old people will have to pay for mistakes and wait for the next election with hope that soon situation will be much better. Adults are conservative - in contrast to teenagers - they are afraid of changes. Old people prefer to live in peace, even if government misrules. It gives them feeling that they are safe, but does it make that our country starts to work better? As we can see, it's very hard to come to an agreement if teenagers should have the right to voting. Young people are very active, they want to change things and often they know election plan better than parents or grandparents. But on the other hand they can be naive, so it means that they believe in all promises made by politicians. Another important fact is possibility that teenagers can vote only for fun. Taking into account all arguments, I think that teenagers should own the right to voting. As I mentioned earlier, young people are interested in politics, situation in their country, they want to change something - so maybe we should allowed them to take part in it? Of course if young person doesn't want to vote - they don't have to. It isn't required. If teenagers want to vote - let them try. I think it will do a lot of good to our country. by Justyna Haftka Should sixteen-year-old people have the right to vote? These days teenagers usually do not have influence on things which are connected with them. They know, that their life can be changed only because of good results at school, nice relations with parents and friends plus evolving skills. Youth does not have impact on the decisions associated with their lives.

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In my opinion, thanks to different point of view of teenagers' some problems would be noticed by them in different way. Therefore everybody would get profits from it. Who knows better needs of youngsters then they know? For example building special walls to graffiti would permit to develop skills of young artists. What is more, there would be no graffiti on buildings, because youth would have better opportunities to create their work. Unfortunately, there is no flow of information between youngsters and authorities. The reason of this situation is that teenagers are not aware of the fact that somebody would like to know their opinion. Ability of voting for sixteen-year-old would teach them taking care of common ground and responsibility. It would show how important is freedom of speech and would make youth appreciate it. Giving the right to vote to young people would be a great step forward. Teenagers are the future of the world so creating better conditions of life and giving them opportunity to develop their skills and interests should be important for everybody.

Bulgaria We have done:

Poll devoted to the European citizenship. Photo exhibitions Students from 6th - 11th grade took part in the competition for pictures about Some tolerance/diversity/equality/respect/discrimination/citizenship. best 10 pictures at the working meeting in Razlog.

photos were made by all students in a class. We are going to show the

Girls from 6th and 9th grade manufactured posters on a topic Save the Earth. They used various techniques and materials of drawing paper, canvas, oil paint and so on.

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Charity campaign the students and their parents produced different hand-made things. They were sold in a bazaar in the city center. The students gave away the collected resources to poor children.

The students from 12 th grade have made a movie. Theyve shot a film based on the celebration of the students from 5th grade where they showed they can be tolerant, equal and diverse.

Preparation for the working meeting in Razog. Dissemination of results:

Articles in the school newspaper and the school website http://sourazlog.net/Documents/broi1-2011-12.pdf

Articles in the municipality website http://razlog.bg/news-and-announces/news/1290-2011-10-28-12-3211

Estonia Filming from November 2011 till February 2012 After project meeting in France, LAigle, was Tstamaa School project-team busy with several activities. We started to prepare short movies to film festival in Razlog, February 2012. Our films are ready and first premier of movies were in December 21st 2011. Movies were presented during school Christmas party where were all pupils and some parents. Our Comeniusfilms will be published later in internet www.youtube.com and links are published on www.tostamaa.edu.ee and http://problemsbusters.wordpress.com/. Information about movies (links) will be sent to all our partner schools too. December 12th till December 16th was TOLERANCE WEEK Different activities were held during the week. Greetings of the world - On Monday we introduced different kind of greetings around the world New identity on Tuesday had all pupils chance to change their identity. On Monday each student cast lots and everybody had a chance to get new identity for Tuesday. Some of students were homeless, some of them were homosexuals, some of them were immigrants and etc. Each student decided by her/himself how much, or not at all, they show up their new identity.
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Game of mines each class (from 5th grade till 12th) had opportunity to play a game of mines. We were talking about land mines and problems related with land mines. Description of game is published on www.maailmakool.ee. New nationality on Thursday we had Day of Cultures. Students and teachers could choose new culture and to dress up in different way. Some of pupils were Native Americans, some Hindus, some like pure Estonians. Taboos- on Friday we presented different kind of habits from all over the world. On TV we presented different eating habits, behaviour habits and etc. POLL Tstamaa School conducted the poll Which values are important to you in Europe? during December 2011. In total participated 66 youth from our school and 11 adults from parish. FOTO CONTEST Photo contest take place from January 2012 till February 2012. We will choose the best photo; reward the winner and best photos will be printed out to take them to Razlog. Virtual photo exhibition is published on webpage http://pildid.tostamaa.ee/2012/com_foto/ and voting is on webpage http://form.jotform.com/form/20344426266. DRAMA Our Comenius team wrote and brought on a stage short drama play Does devils have rights? Drama will be presented during the project meeting in Razlog in February 2012.

Our teacher Dorota Hintzke taught polonez during phisical education lessons. Dissemination Dissemination of project activities has been done in different ways: electronically via internet and we have published article in local newspaper Tstamaa Tuuled. Article of the project meeting in France is published in October in local newspaper Tstamaa Tuuled http://ajaleht.tostamaa.ee/2011/tt_10_11.pdf Photos of the project meeting and other information related with the project are published on Tstamaa School website: http://www.tostamaa.edu.ee/default.asp?id=106.

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France We worked on a journal for open-house on Human rights, where the kids wrote articles about freedom and democracy, also their opposites obviously. The articles were written in French (Neila Ammar) German (Nicole Olivier)and Spanish (Marie Le Dreau) also in English (DR, Sonia Binet ) obviously. Genocide, homelessness, child labour, fair trial and the death penalty, the right to be as we wish. Dictatorship. The students also worked on Voltaire and the Callas case, where the famous man defended a protestant accused of killing his son, with Marie-Christine Phal-Bellesort ( he was accused because he was a protestant in a Catholic world) in French AP class. In History with Estelle Canet and Laurent Prisset they worked on th great conflicts and dictatorships of the 20th century. In English class they worked on ecology with DR and Emmanuelle Mauviel Fontaine. The students prepared exposs on different human rights subjects. The Comenius group and English AP ( with DR) prepared two plays of 5 minutes each on tolerance and on freedom. Students independently, prepared photos and small plays. as well as the survey and wrote the articles for Neila. We will diffuse the project through open-house day on March 10th with an exhibition of the students work and meetings and in the local newspaper( we shall see the journalist on the 10th) as well, on the intranet and internet sites of the school. We have done an exhibition in parent teachers meeting We have been sending regular information to town hall and we will send them a copy of our journal and film. We invited a photographer to our school to talk about the death penalty and its link to fair trial. Norway The topics of this year have been civil rights. All of our students learn about the democratic and political system in Norway and in EU. This is a part of the social subject all students have to learn in the first year and some in the second year. Unfortunately I do not have photos from these classes and works. But I will tell a little about some projects that different students have been working with, connected to Problem-Busters Comenius project about Human rights. Students should be able to discuss relationship between the government, rule of law and human rights Give examples of how religious and ethnic diversity affects culture and society 1. Service and transport: These classes worked with some problems about Rwanda. They had a grnder camp where they were working with business-ideas for people in
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Rwanda. This project lasted for one week, from Monday to Friday. purpose for this project was to make money from tourism.

The

Students discussed about conflict between groups of the population. They saw the movie: Shooting dogs and made a speech about it. Some discussions were also about why it is so important for Rwanda to connect groups of the people in spite of holding them apart. These days they try to create an identity of being Rwandans instead of Tutsi and Hutu. One of the discussions in this project were about whether the Gacaca-court is a good way to take care of criminals of the murderers of civil people in Rwanda in 1994 compared to an ordinary court . Sources for these discussions were the texts: Human rights in Rwanda and An oppositional politician in jail, What could the UN have done to avoid these murders? Drama students, service and transport-students, design and craft students, builders and media students are cooperating with a drama production. This drama is about a Turkish family who come to live in Norway. The play follows this family over three generations. Topics in the drama are difficulties with language, integration and how to understand the society.
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A girl in this family falls in love with a Norwegian boy, and the family does not like this. The parents have already chosen another boy for her. Choices are a central topic in this story. The girls that are producers of the play say that they focus on difficulties in a family when they have to choose. For each thing you choose you also lose something. Drama class 2MD is responsible for this project, and they have dedicated this work to Gizam Dogan, a girl who should have attended their class, but who lost her life on Utya last summer. Some people have opened a center for children living on the street, in Turkey that is named Gizam- Dogan Center. There people give children food and education in creative subjects. This will help building self-confidence. Instead of using money from the performance for themselves, all these students give all profit to the Gizam Dogan center. Poland The students conducted poll devoted to common values, they asked also inhabitants of Gdynia about tolerance. Teenagers shooted movies and prepared presentations on project topics. The main aspects were civil rights. Youngsters prepared posters on which they show the most interesting aspects of equality for them and a person who they admire as a personality fighting for equality in the world.
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They wrote interviews and interviewed adults and teenagers to learn what they think about equality, human rights and democracy. Afterwards they analysed, presented and discussed the results. The students from first class studied a subject of happiness as a kind of medicine, they read an article about "clown doctors" and discussed importance of happiness friendship and support of other people in our life and in difficult situations. They took into consideration the law to be happy even in serious and harsh situations. They prepared posters about different environmental problems. They have been working on posters "Save the Earth". Drama class worked on equality topic prepared short performances devoted to project topic. We organized also photo competition and collected articles about civil rights. We also watched movies devoted to human rights and discussed topics of freedom and its limits, right to work, right to chose etc. Dissemination of results We prepared new web-site devoted to all international projects. Some materials were sent to lecturers from University of Gdask.

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written by Rositsa Tumbeva, Dorothy Remond, Mona Bollandsas, Gisle Daae Johansen, Liina Kaar, Toomas Mitt, Anna Leszczyska, Oktawia Gorzeska collected and compiled by Oktawia Gorzeska

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