Community Action in Spain

Through the BEST project, participating schools from throughout Spain implemented various activities to encourage community solidarity. These activities helped students learn different lessons about community and teamwork. One example of these activities is one in which a group of university students worked with an Adult Education School to send BEST postcards to prisoners and another group of students worked with prisoners to send postcards to adults from the Adult Education School. After each group did the activity separately, the students reconnected to discuss their views on fraternity and solidarity. Then there was a final session where the adults got to read the letters from the prisoners and reflect on the activity and the interactions between the groups. This activity was very effective in promoting community solidarity because students had to work with groups of people who have diverse perspectives and life experiences.

Through this, they had to understand these different perspectives, understand each other, and reflect on how those with different views can all live together in peace. Understanding diverse perspectives is a key value in encouraging community solidarity
and this is something that is seen throughout the other activities as well.

The activities were not just focused on older students, activities were held throughout all age groups. One activity was focused on students between 3-11 years old where they learned how to take care of a garden. Another was for students between 14-17 years old where they “flew” to Mali and learned more about African countries and cultures.

Overall, by having students work with each other and with groups of people different from themselves, along with teaching them about other cultures and values, students are able to gain a better understanding of how to work within a community and encourage solidarity in any situation.