Cristingle messages with a difference

 

We were delighted to work with Penlee Cluster to develop Cristingle materials with a difference this year. The cut-out birds carrying messages of peace and goodwill in different languages - welcoming people from overseas to Cornwall - were created by children in schools in Penzance, west Cornwall, and surrounding areas this past Christmas (2022).  Click here to read more.

Another Arabic language - and culture - workshop in Falmouth

 Back at Falmouth Primary School today for a further assembly and classroom workshops in Arabic with the wonderful Rawda Alater, who arrived in Truro from Lebanon and Syria about six years ago.

There are several native Arabic speakers at the school and they helped today.  Here is student from Syrian now in Year 6 having a conversation with a classmate - a few easy phrases that the native English speaker learned in minutes. 

We had our Arabic language postcards to hand out - and we realised that some children had been practising overnight with siblings we had worked with yesterday.  

It was wonderful to see the children's enthusiasm - and eagerness to learn.

Learning about Syria - and Arabic - in Falmouth

 A valuable morning at Falmouth Primary School in west Cornwall this morning with the wonderful Rawda Alater, who spoke about her life in Syria and her subsequent experience in the UK. She answered children's questions - and even taught a bit of Arabic.

In at least two classes there were Arabic speakers. In one, a child from Saudi Arabia, spoke no English at all and was delighted to be able to chat with Rawda. As the rest of us listened, we realised what it must feel like to be 'the one' who doesn't understand. It's a strange and disconcerting experience - and one that  non-English speaking children must often come up against when they first arrive here.

Rawda spoke about the difference between schools in this country and in Syria. In Syria, children don't have hot dinners at school. The opposite - they take a packed lunch of flat bread and maybe cheese. Houses don't have curtains and carpets. It's hot. Life is different.

Rawda explained how she felt when she arrived as a refugee in Truro from Lebanon, where she'd been living for five years since she left the war in Syria in 2010.

She was afraid to open the door, she said, because she didn't understand a word of English.

Together this morning we learned how to say hello, how are you! And with the help of Arabic speaking pupils, wrote a few words in Arabic on the flip chart.

Teaching Romanian in Camborne

 

Great to be back at St John's Catholic Primary School in Camborne, west Cornwall, to teach a few phrases of Romanian - so that children could welcome any newcomers to the school who spoke no English.

Mirabela from Bucharest, who has been working with us since before the pandemic, led the assembly. And she had two willing young helpers who had arrived at the school from Romania just a couple of years earlier, themselves without any English....

We left language postcards at the school so that children could take them home to practise the phrases that they had learned.

A Welcome Song

 

A brand new song composed for our project I PACKED THIS MYSELF - breaking down prejudice and welcoming people from overseas who play such a vital role in the Cornish economy.

This song, written by Cornish composer Lindsay Eddy, is sung here by children at a summer camp in Paul, west Cornwall, in August 2022.

Click here to listen.

A photography workshop with overseas nurses in Truro

 

A damp but exciting afternoon in Truro, west Cornwall, on Wednesday 24 August. Overseas nurses from the Royal Cornwall Hospital met up with Penzance-based photographer Mike Newman for a photography workshop with a difference. The nurses - here to provide an essential boost to hospital staff - had a unique and much-needed chance to meet and interact with local people - and learn some new skills at the same time.
After a few top tips from Mike and a cream tea at the Hall for Cornwall, Michael Apas, Chloe Mickelson and Ace Gonzales– all from the Philippines – ventured out despite the rain into the market to meet traders, chat and take photographs of them and their stalls.

“It’s a nice link up with nursing,” said Michael afterwards. “Nursing is not just a science, there’s art in it as well. And the same with photography - there's science alongside the art.

‘’This is something that I also learned when I was doing Interpretive Phenomenological research back home: It is that a picture could resound meaningful messages that is hard to explain. Often, we have plethora of experiences in line with our work and some of those experiences needed not to be explained but to be felt.’’

‘’This Photography session is a good avenue wherein we could enhance our ways of translating interactions to a deeper and meaningful level. Isn’t it amazing that we are all complete strangers coming from a different background and perspective, but we are unified with art? It only goes to show the power of photography and how it becomes a unifying force that could bridge the gap, and breaks the barriers of culture, language, and ethnicity.’’

Workshop leader Mike Newman agreed and was highly impressed by the results.
“I wanted you to meet people you might not normally meet,” he said to the nurses afterwards. "But also, for them to meet people they would not normally meet and chat to – you!”
There will be more photography workshops this autumn and photographs taken will be displayed in an exhibition. The workshops are part of our I Packed This Myself project - breaking down barriers and increasing  understanding of the vital role played by people born overseas in the Cornish economy – and in particular in the health service.

How to welcome new arrivals? A discussion in Penzance

 

In Penzance, Cornwall, today (Monday 4 April 2022) with Mirabela originally from Bucharest, Romania, delivering an assembly to a hall full of children. The theme? The importance of welcoming people from overseas – with different cultures, backgrounds and languages – to our communities. And encouraging empathy and acceptance.

Mirabela, who now lives in Helston, arrived with her family in the UK five years ago. Her seven-year-old son  spoke only two words of English ('red' and 'cat') when he started Primary School locally.

So many of the children today asked questions about how this might feel. Was he scared? How did he cope? Was he excited? How did he make friends? How could things have been made easier for him?

There were many answers to the question but the most important thing - clearly - was language. Even a few words of Romanian from his classmates would have helped. We'll be returning tomorrow (Tuesday 5 April 2022) to teach a few phrases of Romanian so that the children in the hall could welcome a new arrival.

This is part of our Cornwall Council-funded project I PACKED THIS MYSELF, increasing understanding of the many people from overseas arriving in Cornwall to work and play an important role in the local economy.

And - as Mirabela remarked before we started - whoever would have imagined that there would be a war in Europe in 2022. And that we would be welcoming refugees from Ukraine.