Refugee Day at Auchmuty High School

Well, today was my first attempt at running a session for Amnesty International - at Auchmuty High School for Refugee Week. And I enjoyed it! I had a colleague (a 'proper' speaker from Amnesty) there to help me. We showed a DVD about the refugee crisis in Darfur (refugees in their own country!) and then they pupils had a chance to play a game called "The Great Escape". In this game they had to pretend they were refugees trying to run for the border and safety. They had decisions to make along the way which impacted on their flight - some would cause them to leave refugees behind, some caused them to take longer than they wanted.

The kids were really up for it (most of them) and I hope that they got something from it. Many were disappointed when I told them that their decision to ignore the possibility of a mine field caused the death of the whole party!!

A great experience for me, and I hope a good experience for the pupils.

REFUGEE WEEK

"Refugee Week is important because it reminds us that refugees are not just statistics to be used and abused, they are living, breathing people. I am British, I was born here and I have no intention of leaving here, so I want to create a society here where compassion is built into our culture, in this society we will be so aware of the world around us that we will not need a Refugee Week. Until then this is how we do it."
Benjamin Zephaniah, Poet

Refugee Week is a UK-wide programme of arts, cultural and educational events that celebrate the contribution of refugees to the UK, and promotes understanding about the reasons why people seek sanctuary. It is a chance to deliver positive educational messages that counter fear, ignorance and the negative stereotyping of refugees.

BOOK AID INTERNATIONAL

This week I did a fundraiser with the Rainbows in Dunfermline, in aid of Book Aid International whose aim is to increase access to books and support literacy, education and development in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Rainbows have been given a lot of information in the few weeks up to the Fundraising Date and have been taking part in several craft activities with an African theme. Catalogues went out to Rainbows, Brownies and other people from the Church - St Andrew's Erskine Church of Scotland.

On the date of the Fundraiser the Rainbows continued with their African themed crafts and I read them a story 'Mama Panya's Pancakes' which they thoroughly enjoyed. At the time of writing the amount raised from the "Reading Tent" evening and other activities amount to £105.

Well done, Rainbows!