Migration around us

Everyone has in school, work or in the district someone who came from different country and lives temporarily or permanently in Poland. Have you ever thought how those persons can feel like when they moved? Did they have someone here? Why have they changed place of residence?

We decided to ask those people, who left theirs country to live in Poland, about few things.

               One of these persons is Denis, who is going to our school, he is a leader of student board  and he is taking an active part in school’s life.  So we decided to ask him few questions to get some information about coming immigrant to another country.

1.How it happened that you came to Poland?

Denis: I wanted to study at university here but I came earlier because it wasn’t future in Ukraine.

 

2.Did something surprise you when you came here?

Denis: Yes. Roads. Also shops are being closed on holidays and at 9 p.m.

 

3.Did you have any fear of leaving your country if you had any?

Denis: I was very afraid because I didn’t know what I could expect, what I could do etc.

 

4.How often do you usually go back to the Ukraine?

Denis: I usually back there 2 – 3 times a year to visit friends and teachers.

5.Was language learning easy?

Denis: First few months were really hard. But since I started taking extra lessons of Polish and when students chose me as councilor of student board, language learning became a pleasure.

 6.Would you call Poland your second home?

Denis: Yes. I can even tell that I feel 60% Polish and 40% Ukrainian.

Second person who wanted to tell something about yourself is Xaoran Xu, student at University in Warsaw.

1. How it happened that you came to Poland? Did you read about Poland or hear from someone?

               For studying. I had learnt brief history of Poland during my high-school history classes.

2. What was your afraid of living here, if you had any?

               If there is one, maybe fail in exams, then school would kick me out from Poland.

3. What is type of your migration? Temporarily or for a longer time?

               Temporarily, usually it’s for 2 years.

4. How polish people react for you?

I only make friends with cool guys. Generally speaking my Polish friends are very outstanding, girls are pretty and smart; boys are humorous and drink like fishes. So Polish people’s reaction is very kind for me.

5. Is something strange in Poland?

How could Polish people drink alcohols like water? And why Polish people have chosen current government?

6. After university do you want to stay here?

Poland is my second hometown already, there is no reason to leave from here if work conditions satisfy me.

We think our friends helped you to get some knowledge about migration. Why young people are coming to Poland? What is it hard and strange for them? Many of us also want to move that is why it is good to get some information about migration.

      What do you think about going abroad for study or work? Is it worth? Maybe is it better to stay at home? Please give answers in comments.

Natalia Baranowicz

Dominika Karpińska

What happened in Aleppo?

       
                It may seem that everything is ok, till the end of November, when the bombing starts, but what is more frightening, that since then it is not any better. Every day thousands of people are trying to run away. Not everyone managed to do it... . Bombs aren't saving anyone... .

               People are posting on the Internet a lot of hopeless appeal, they are asking for the end of this battle and humanitarian help.


                                            People send their final goodbyes from Aleppo


     For me the problem ''should we accept refugees'' is really clear. The war there is real. It last to long and it gulfed to many victims. We have this blessing to live in the safe country, not everybody has it... Please do not perceive every person from The Middle East as a terrorist, they are just like us.


                                        Here is the powerful song by Black Eyed Peas

The Black Eyed Peas released a new version of the song on August 31, 2016. Will.i.am said the remake was inspired by tragic events that were happening throughout the world.


I will leave you with thoughtful sentence: ,,Be the change you want to see in the world''.



           

What people think about the immigrants?

               

                  Some time ago, two volunteers from Taize visited us. They told us about their Taize community and about their volunteer work. (If you are more interested about this community enter here: http://www.taize.fr/ ).

               We gave them the survey with the questions about refugees and immigrants. They answered those questions and I would like to share with you the results of that survey:) 

              One of them said that their presence rather enrich us than disturb. They can share so much things with us: their culture, cuisine, the way of thinking. She also said that welcoming them is our strength.

          She was studying in Brussels and she said that she loved this muticultural, colourfoul and enriching place. ,,Around you there are so much foreigners from arabic countries, Africa, Asia, Latin America.On the street people speak so many languages, there are also a lot of places from like shops or restaurants from another countries''.

             She summed it up with saying  that she is for welcoming bigger amount of immigrants, give them hospitality because we receive from it as much as they receive.

              The other one said that those people are just like us, or at least not so different- ,,The teenagers play football, I saw one of them running everyday, in the famillies older kids look after the younger ones''. She don't feel difference because of their presence.

                She also said a thing that is very inspiring: ,,Because of the fact that in Taize there are people literally from all over the world, most of the time I don't realize if the person next to me is a refugee or just someone who come for the retreat''.

She said that she agree with accepting refugees, those who really cannot stay in their country. She is not so sure about the other migrants. ,,It's not an easy topic, nearly impossible to decide''

Thanks to them and their experience we could learn a lot of things;)

If you want to share your opinion, just comment below.

Stay tuned!

How to make a great debate?

         
          We still don't know how to do it, but we are trying to find it out😍. This is why, we decided to do some trying with our debate.

           On our first meetings we divided our group of debates into two: the opposition group and the proposition group, of course we didn't forget about marshal and his/her secretary.

           Our second thing to do was to collect the arguments for both groups and develop them. You know: find more information and statistics.

         Today, our friend Miłosz(the only boy in the photo) taught us some tricks, rules and so on. He give us some advices what to do to make your group win the debate.😊

         Our first real debate we are planning for January. Of course we will let you know about it.
           We are also waiting four our friends from Kotka and Lubeck to show them our debate.


                               Keep your fingers crossed, and as always stay tuned!😉





         

Conference in Toulouse

         It's been a while, since our last post, so here are some news from us:)

         

        Between the 6th and 9th of December our French and Spanish teachers went to the international conference in Toulouse. Its subject was ''Migrants' children-how do we accept them in our European countries?''. 

        People attending the conference came there from Finland, Belgium, France, Greece, Norway, Poland(of course-this is post about them:)) and Romania.

       What our teachers discovered there was that the Finns can say with proud about their specific experience in working with migrants' children. They are covered by the special programme-Preparatory Instruction, they are learning language and other subjects. They also get to know the culture of this country. Parents are also involved in that programme.

My teacher said that this conference was the great opportunity to share the experience in working with migrants' children, specially those countries which are doing it a bit longer- such as France or Finland. It is for sure that except programmes like that we also need openness and empathy.

If you want to share something with us, do not hesitate to leave a comment.

Stay tuned!

Interview with the President of Gdańsk

On Wednesday the 23th of November, we've met the President of Gdańsk-Mr Adamowicz to interview him about the immigrants in our city.

He invited us to his office and the interview began.

Firstly, we introduced our project and told about cooperation with Lubeck and Kotka. After this short presentation we started asking questions.

Have you ever lived abroad for a long period of time? What was the most important thing to feel good there?

Mr. Adamowicz: I lived in Canada for 2 months when i was 15 years old. You have to know the language while living abroad.If you don’t know it you have to learn it quickly. Another thing is to know the customs and traditions, you have to be curious about the country. It can help you to find a job.

How many imigrants are in Gdańsk?

Mr. Adamowicz: It’s hard to say the exact number, but it’s a few thousands. Most of them are from Ukraine. There are also other nationalities such as Germans and Hollanders who came here looking for a job. To make things clear I’m not inviting anyone. I don’t have that privilage, the migration is the the natural thing. It has always been around the world.

He also mentioned the Ukrainian who is living in Gdańsk for a long time and his children are learning in school here, discovering culture and language (perhaps they’ve got eastern accent).

           

Can you point positive and negative effects of immigrants’ presence?

Mr. Adamowicz: They have a positive impact at our economy, working for big companies and factories. The immigrants enrich our culture, cuisine, we can educate each other and break the stereotypes. Many people from Gdańsk moved to another countries, so the immigrants are taking places of them. Immigrants also have abilities and talents, so we can take advantage of it.

Should we be scared, considering what is going on in other European countries?

Mr. Adamowicz: No, we shouldn’t. Poland isn’t the major country with military actions in central Europe. The terrosits don’t consider our country as a main goal. Moreover they can’t cross the border with a big amount of money (10,000 euro), so an attack is unlikely to happen.

Have you faced any protests or disagrees with accepting immigrants?

Mr. Adamowicz: People are sending me messages about their doubts about this subject. I am an open person comparing with other citizens. There are groups who can have bad influence on general opinions. For example Arabian groups who don’t know language, even if they have lived here  for a long time.   Polish is rather homogenous nation. For us meeting other race is something strange and we don’t feel very comfortable with it. It is different than in the USA or UK.

Can you tell us something about the Immigrants Council in Gdańsk?

Mr. Adamowicz: The Immigrants Council involves people from different nationalites who are working on social integration.

Can you mark Immigrants Supporting Centre’s activities?

Mr. Adamowicz: They’ve created the Immigrants Integration Program which helps us to step into their shoes. Their aim is to show people how immigrants are feeling in foreign country.

What would you recommend the youth who want to help immigrants?

Mr. Adamowicz: I recommend you to meet and talk with them. It is the best way to get to know them.

We discovered answers for questions which were rankling us. Our next step is to interview the Immigrants Council. 

Keep your fingers crossed!