"We are going on a trip. Destination: Africa!", workshop at the secondary school IES Doramas, from the city of Moya, Gran Canaria (Spain)
This workshop is a result of the work with BEST Project solidarity postcards in one of the partnered highschools: IES Doramas, in Moya, Gran Canaria.
One of the postcards mailings was delivered to the local center for unaccompanied foreign minors. After that, the idea of carrying out a community integration activity in the highschool appeared, celebrating the Cultural Week that occurs every year during the last week of the second term.
A group of 1st year of secondary students organized and developed this workshop, in coordination with some teens from the center for unaccompanied foreign minors.
Ariana, a 3rd ESO student (equivalent to 9th grade) in the subject "Education for Citizenship and Human Rights" at IES Doramas, tells us her experience in the workshop:
Last Monday, April 4, the 3rd ESO A students found out that we were not going to attend a common class on Education for Citizenship and Human Rights as usual, but rather we would enjoy a workshop of the Cultural Week entitled «We are going on a trip. Destination: Africa!
After Miguel, our teacher of this subject, explained to us the few he knew about this workshop, a 1st year student, characterized as a flight attendant, welcomed us to our beginning of the trip to Africa. Then we left the class in order, following the "stewardess", to reach the entrance of the classroom "La selva de Doramas", where two more stewardesses were welcoming us, and gave us a passport and made us understand that we were going to get on the plane.
Inside the classroom we found the chairs placed in rows and some panels that simulated the interior of an airplane. Even an audio accompanied the created atmosphere in different languages , as if it was the usual message in which the captain informs when starting a real flight.
After a brief introduction by one of the hostesses, all the group pretended that we had arrived in Mali, a West African country where two of the students of our highschool came from. They both explained to us a little about the characteristics of their native country. They told us about its capital, Bamako, the eighth largest country in Africa. Also related about its population, which is around 20 million inhabitants. They also told us about their favorite sports, their music, food and typical clothing.
After a short explanatory video of the country, another inhabitant of the African continent appeared on the "flight”. Time for Gambia, another African country. This kid told us about some of its main characteristics, both of the nation and his personal preferences of his native country. He told us that it is located on the banks of the Gambia River and that its capital, Banjul, has 1.7 million inhabitants. His speech was also followed by a short explanatory video.
To end this experience, the hostesses gave us stickers from the respective countries so that we could use them on our passports. They also offered us sweets that were distributed on a typical wheels table that we can find inside airplanes. The capitán audio that we listened to before was repeated, this time thanking us for our attitude during flight. We were dismissed from the aircraft, not before stamping our passports with the two stamps that certified our travel through "Africa."
This experience seemed very original and enjoyable to me. I think we were all able to learn a little more from our colleagues from other countries. We were all thrilled with the characterization of all the participants in the workshop. It is a very good way of learning, both for those of us who enjoyed it and for those who prepared it. I think it has been a very well designed activity by the students as well as by Sasa, the Philosophy teacher and tutor of 1st A Group students.
This story was published at Miguel Rodriguez's personal blog. He teaches Philosophy at the IES Doramas center. You can read the full story here (in Spanish):
https://miguelrguez.wordpress.com/2022/04/21/mi-experiencia-en-africa-sin-salir-del-ies-doramas/
And also here, in the webpage of the partner member of BEST project, Fundación CIVES (also in Spanish):