Review of the day's workshops at Torpoint

Just home - an hour and a half drive north from Camborne to Torpoint. Though the scenery on the approach is lovely, the town itself doesn't seem overly prosperous. There is nowhere to buy a cup of coffee and breakfast except Londis - never a very good sign.
The school is a tough school: the staff talk about racism and and antagonism to foreigners. It's a monocultural area, even there is a lot of movement due to the naval base nearby (a girl in one class had moved 12 times in her life, and she is now 13. So she really understood the experience of moving to start life anew).
The sessions reveal a lack of understanding of the role played by migrant workers and their importance in the local economy.... We had to work hard to define the term and then explain that they were not 'here taking our jobs' and sponging off the state.
I think Inga Riaukaite, who has helped so much on the project and who accompanied us, was quite shaken by the response. It was brilliant, as usual, to have her there to answer questions: she could really explain what it's like. The work was tough, she said, but nothing compared to the emotional strains and the sheer unpleasantness of being taunted for 'not understanding' English - which has happened to her too often, really.
Steve Edser and Bev Faull, Cornwall Community Support Officers working on the migrant worker beat, came too. They were able to put some facts straight and talk about the situations they encountered. They explained that migrant workers could be exploited and gave examples. They also explained how workers often didn't know where to turn for help.
Inga, as she has done in previous workshops, showed everyone what she brought with her when she came to this country to find work: this is at the heart of I Packed This Myself. We asked everyone what they would take if they had to leave home. So many children suggested items given to them by their grandparents (that was interesting).  We handed out small prizes.
Five one-hour sessions during the day - quite a marathon.
We did, I think, open some minds. If we managed to change the mindset of six children in each session that would be quite an achievement.
But at the crux of the matter is an issue that we haven't truly tackled and have not discussed at length up to now: why won't local people do these jobs? Inga asked at one stage how many children in the class would work 15 hour days for the minimum wage. And only one or two hands went up.
The benefits culture is something that we need to look at closely and research how it links with the migrant worker issue.Which brings us, probably, to our next project area: worklessness.

What Inga brought in her suitcase....

Photos of home....her degree certificate and a lucky coin...Inga packed these in her suitcase when she came to this country.

The team

Inga is back! And Steve Edser and Bev Faull, Police Community Support officers, have joined us to answer difficult questions...

Inga's Christening

'I Packed This Myself' - the whole heart of the project - lies in the hopes, aspirations, skills and experience that migrant workers bring with them when they come to this country. And how they interact with local communities, and local communities interact with them.
It's always quite poignant when, doing workshops, people volunteer to show rather personal things that reveal their background. Inga has brought this lovely photo of herself as a baby, on her christening day. Her mother is looking glamorous, rather like Inga now. Her brother on the right is less than happy - no longer the centre of attention, perhaps!
Inga's brother works at at Leedstown and I was pleased to see him (albeit briefly) when he dropped Inga off at Truro.
One of the huge pluses of this project has been the unexpected friendships forged, and contacts made.

Inga Riaukaite at the workshop

We show photos, talk about the experience of migrant workers in Cornwall. And, most importantly, Inga talks about her own experience.

Workshops in Truro

It's great to be doing more workshops - especially at Penair School, Truro, where Citizenship teacher Carmel Henry helped us to build up the project and write the Education Pack.
It's especially nice to be back with Inga, who used to work at SEF (Southern England Farms, Leedstown). She has taken a week off and travelled down to Luton for the workshop.
Looking especially svelte as she has a new passion for dance.

Camborne School then Ponsanooth

Today is our last day of classroom workshops this term - and we start off in Camborne, my home town. Camborne is one place where I really wanted to take this project. In the season, hundreds of workers are in the town - and off season, too, increasingly now. We'd seen and learned about the lack of connection they had with local people when we staged I Packed This Myself at DMT Galleries.

And this morning is no disappointment. This was one of the most impressive groups we have worked with this year. Lots of students had gone to the Royal Cornwall Show (it's the first day) so we had large group of those remaining - nearly 40. They were shy at first, then truly engaged with the subject.

Much of the background research on migrant workers had been done locally. They knew the places we were talking about.  Inga talked about the things that she had brought with her in her bag - her athletics record, her interest in running and rock climbing, and her dream to be a police officer or go into the army. Vadim, again, showed his Sherlock Holmes novels (in Russian) and the religious amulet given to him by his grandmother and a small plaster angel, from his girlfriend.  It was a captive audience. At the end one girl asked if Inga thought she would achieve her dreams. Inga said yes, she did. In life there are some people who will, of course, achieve their dreams because they are determined, and Inga is probably one of them. At the end others asked questions and one girl in particular (far left in the photo above) made a statement: I think you work very hard and deserve every penny you earn, she said.

We were, frankly, touched. And even more so when the student teachers asked Inga and Vadim to stay behind afterwards. They went upstairs to the staff room and googled athletics clubs that Inga might be interested in joining, and telephone numbers of places where Vadim might be able to pursue his medical career. It was an extraordinary morning.

Then off to Redruth and down the Falmouth road to Ponsanooth, for our first workshops with Primary School age children.  Kennal Vale Primary School is a small oasis of calm and concentration.  The children were a delight.  We talked about journeys and people who had made difficult transitions. I introduced Vadim (Inga had gone back to work) and asked there were questions. A forest of hands... So many questions that the hour goes by very quickly.  Children get into groups and think about things that they might take on journeys themselves, to remind them of home. They are interested to see the contents of Vadim's bag.  One girl considers taking hawthorn blossom that she picked in the playground at lunchtime.

Second day in Newquay and lively discussions

Our second day in a row at Treviglas, Newquay. Inga Riaukaité comes too. Inga was one of the four workers at SEF (Southern England Farms) who made the film, The Hidden Life of a Cornish Farm, that we showed at Penair School, Truro, in March.  Pick her, and Vadim, up from SEF in Leedstown at 7am.  It's an early start for us all...

We have three classes during the morning. And lively discussions. Inga is from Lithuania. One boy asks whether if French is the language spoken in Lithuania. Another asks whether all the buildings are red - he has heard so.
All are very interested to hear about the work that Inga (a qualified industrial engineer) and Vadim (former medical student, ballroom dancing champion of Latvia and keen fisherman) are now doing on the land. Both have worked in the fields, cutting cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli etc. Inga now works in the packhouse as a supervisor.
We ask if anyone has a dream of being a doctor some day? Out of 75 children in the three classes this morning - one has this ambition. Vadim is surprised that there are not more.
Inga's dream is to be either a police officer or join the army.
She is a champion runner (having run for Vilnius). She runs every morning on the North Cliffs (near Godrevy). She is also a keen climber who's next aim is to go pot-holing. She loves clubbing - she has visited Newquay before! Her energy and enthusiasm, in fact, fill the classrooms ...
Today - as yesterday  - few students knew about the Soviet Union and its history. Some were able to point to Lithuania and Latvia on the map.
But one girl in particular, out of the blue, said this morning she was very interested in the Soviet Union and its former republics. She understood something about the pressures Vadim (as a Russian) had faced in the country after independence.
It has been interesting to see in the workshops this year how different classes have different dynamics and levels of engagement with the subject. This engagement has nothing to do with academic achievement. It all seems to depend on the students' spirit and openness to new ideas.

This morning is full of surprises. We ask students to write lists of the things that they would pack in their suitcases, if they had to leave home to create a life in another country.
Inga and Vadim have brought bags filled with things that they actually did bring here when they arrived, in search of work.

Inga shows students a mini t-shirt that her friends gave her: they knew that she had once wanted to join the army. "Inga, the army needs you!" says the slogan. She's also brought a photo of her athletic team...

And photos of herself training and rockclimbing....

Plus her graduation certificate. To remind herself of her ambition and her dreams.