10. - 16. February 2014
The students were staying in a very nice hotel in Bratislava at first. The first activity was a discussion with a representative of "Foundation of Milan Šimečka". The representant of this non-profit organization spoke about the numbers of immigrants coming to Slovakia and their life conditions.
Everyone became friends shortly and went visiting various places, including sights such as the Bratislava castle and city square, making interviews with random people passing by, gathering signatures on their t-shirts form them. But they also visited several embassies (Namely Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Austria, Belgium), where they were searching for answers to questions, whether young people can live in some other European countries. They also visited the informational office of European Parliament, where they learnt about the function of European Parliament and participated in a small quiz, where they tested their knowledge from this area.
On Wendesday they moved into Svit, where they visited High Tatras mountains close to Poprad. They have encountered heavy snowing and nature in it's full winter glory.
They were discussing where they would like to live in the future. Students also created a map of Europe, where they marked down towns which appeared to be the most interesting for them. They wrote essays, in which they expressed their thoughts, why did they pick the countries they did. Another activity was a contest, where a group with most signatures on their t-shirts was picked. Victorious group had gathered 26 signatures.
In the end of the meeting, a conference, which was dedicated to the life of Roma minority took place. The guests were a student roma musical band, which played roma songs and spoke about their lives. Another guest was a director Jaroslav Kerner, who directs movies about Roma people. He showed us a movie about a successful Roma student, who, thanks to her hard work and presistence, reached success in life. Finally, everyone returned to their home countries to prepare for next meeting in Czech Republic.
OUTCOMES:
1. Visit to the Milan Šimečka Foundation in Bratislava During the visit to the Milan Šimečka Foundation in Bratislava one of its representatives discussed with the participants the issue of the immigrants. The students took the opportunity to ask various questions for this issue.
2. Interviews of foreigners in Bratislava Groups of students from each partner school held interviews of foreigners in Bratislava.
3. Visit to the National Council of Slovakia During the visit to the National Council of Slovakia the participants were briefed of the Republic's history and had the opportunity to attend a parliamentary session which showed how policy making is made and how democratic procedures function.
4. "Where would I like to live?" Presentations of the work at each partner school based on the theme "Where would I like to live".
5. "5 Schools 5 Messages" Participants discussed a,omg themselves the issue of discrimination, concentrating mainly on the question whether they could live and study in another EU country without feeling being discriminated.
6.Meeting with the Romas Participants met with Roma students at the school and discussed about their problems, concerns and dreams. Later a Roma band played music for all participants.