2019-2022 REM - The Reality of European Migration

Presentation of the province of Lugo to Italians.

Dissemination. Newspaper article about REM.

Programme of activities done during the Austrian students’ stay.

SCHEDULE FOR SHORT EXCHANGE AUSTRIAN STUDENTS

Sunday 19th January

Austrian students will arrive at Coruña airport at 12,45.  Families will wait for them in front of the high school at approximately 14,20 and will take them home.

Monday 20th January

-Gathering at school hall around 8.45, where headmaster will welcome Austrian students. Once finished, we will show them the school. Two students (Alba Paz and Andrea Vidal) will be in charge of this.

-At 9.35, two Spanish students (Jorge Atanes and Lucía Seijas) will make a small presentation about our town and its main cultural places.

-At 10.30, we have a welcoming reception at the Town Hall.

-At 11, brief pause for a coffee.

-At 11.45, talk about immigrants news and record videos (English room).

-In the afternoon, they come to classes with their Spanish students.

Tuesday 21st January

-At 8.45, watch the documentary movie (English room)

-At 10.30, radio interview (dissemination of the project)

-At 11, brief pause for a coffee

-At 11.30, bus to Viladonga’s Castro. Guided visit.

-At 13.45, we return to school.

-Free afternoon with families

Wednesday 22nd January

-From 8.45 to 11.15, they will go to lessons with their exchange students

-At 11.45, discuss main ideas of the film (room 3.14)

-At 13, go for a walk to Lugo’s historical centre and Roman Wall

-Free afternoon with families

Thursday 23rd January

-From 8.45 to 11, they will attend classes with their Spanish students

-At 11.15, start orienting race in Rosalía Park. This activity will be organized by students of physical education cycle.

-Around 13.45, we come back to school.

-Free afternoon with families

Friday 24th January

-Classes from 8.45 to 11.15 classes with Spanish students

-At 11.15, taste Austrian and Spanish products (English room)

-At 12.30, guided visit to Lugo’s Old prison.

-At 13.45, end of the tour

-Free afternoon to stay with families

Saturday 25th January

Families and exchange students accompany the Austrian students to school, where a bus will take them to Coruña airport at 10.30. Please, be punctual!

-Treasure hunting. Activity done inside our school with clues to find the final treasure and questions related to immigration.

-Posters migration. Different posters dealing with a campaign promoting respect and tolerance for migrants.

-Museums opinion. Opinion of the visits to Roman Wall Centro de Interpretación da  Muralla and Domus Mitreo, connected with the first migratory movements in Galicia.

-Migrant talk opinion. Talk of a migrant student at school about her own experience.

-Human flow opinion. Watching a movie about the difficult situation migrants undergo when travelling to Europe.

-Schedule for Italian students. Programme of activities done during short exchange Italian students.

-Lugo presentación. Presentation of our town, Lugo. 

-Logo intercambio. Our logo, decided by all the participants’ voting.

On 2nd December students from 1st BAC had the possibility of attending a talk by Red Cross explaining a lot of important details about migration. Some of them did not participate in the project directly but some others did, but all of them were attentive and made a lot of questions, making the event very interactive and fluent.

The talk lasted one hour and 15 minutes and we learnt a lot of things about  immigrants and the problems they faced when trying to adapt to a new country, namely Spain.

There is a great quantity of Moroccan people and also migrants from Venezuela. The former have a lot of problems with the language in our town, while the latter find it so easy to communicate.

What most of these people do is to apply for the programme of International Protection,consisting of helping migrants with national funds to make them adapt to the new country. They give them accommodation and money to spend on basic needs. The accommodation they are given is normally a flat shared by more immigrants, where they have access to every room, except their personal bedroom.

Once a week, The Red Cross does the shopping with migrants so that they are familiar with prices, foodstuff, supermarkets and so that they know how much they can spend.

This programme lasts for 18 months, after which they are supposed to find a job for themselves and live in the country. It is divided into three different phases: induction, adaptation and final process.

Sometimes, people apply for this programme for humanitarian reasons, like migrants from Venezuela or people from countries at war like Syria.

We discussed very important issues, such as the fact that dealing with them with respect and empathy is crucial for the acculturation process.  It was very useful for us to work on our aims and aspirations, since these are two words that we will take into full account with our  activities.

In brief, some interesting ideas came to light that gave us the scope we needed to make our project realistic, updated and different.