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The Comenius Project Magazine No 3, 16th-20th November, DENMARK

!e Looking GlassIt # possible to $ore % mind wi& a million

facts and $ill be entirely uneducated. Alec B(rne

Index

..........................Who Is Who 2

...............................Hydepark 3

................................Interview 4

Multicultural integration.......5-7

.............................Thank you! 8

“Through the Looking Glass: What We See Is What We

Are?” team

Poland:

Students

DominikaGrzegorzKrystianPaulinaSylwia

Teachers

Barbara BadowskaCelina JadamusKatarzyna Cwiertnia

Italy:

Students

AndreaAnnaElisabettaFedericoFrancescaJacopoMartinaValeria Teachers Anna Ferrero Rosanna Inversi

Spain:

Students

AntonioJoselynMa LuisaNuriaRosaSandra TeachersBenitoPascale

Germany:

Students AkolBjarneHilkeJenniferKarinaNeginTobias Teachers Astrid Frähmcke-MyrauMichael Hoffmann

Estonia:

Students

ChrisErikaHelenKristaMariliisMarkoRiinTaniel

Teachers

Margarita

Denmark:

Students AndersAnne SofieCecilieChristian BohlChristian RimmerChristinaDitteDorteFrederikGryKarenKristineKristofferLarsLasseLineLouiseMajseMikkel MørupMikkel UnnaSarahSimonSofie FrydkjærSofie MadsenSøren SlothSøren TaulSøren ThagaardTobiasVictor

Teachers:

Annemarie Lerche SlothBodil Hohwü NielsenSine JohannsenSonja ClingmanAllan Friis Clausen

 

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Who Is Who

Learn Danish

Our job was to go to “LEARN DANISH” which is a school for immigrants and refugees. It gives them an opportunity to create a future in the Danish society. They will learn how to write and speak Danish. Through the books they will also get knowledge about Danish history and culture. They can attend school by making their own flexible schedule, they can go to school in the morning, at noon or in the evening.

The school represents 115 countries, and it has about 2000 students. Over 150 students represent Poland and Germany, about 40 students are from Spain, 22 from Estonia and 28 students are from Italy. To get an entrance to Denmark, they must have visa and CPR, and then they are allowed to study in Denmark for 3 years.

There are three different kinds of courses which students can follow.The first course lasts about 6 months, this one is for the people who aren’t very educated in the country. The people in the second one are mostly from

Thailand, the level in their country isn’t as high as in Denmark, and their education is far from the Danish education, so they have to study more here. The last and the third course is for people who are educated and want to learn more and go to a university, the people who attend this course are mostly in Denmark because of work.You must attend school, but there are several exceptions which allow you to miss school or classes. Examples could be pregnancy or getting a job.

One of the benefits of studying in this school is that you will get paid like for a normal job. If you skip a class, then you won’t get paid.

From our perspective, it seems like an effective way to assimilate people into Denmark. It’s a good opportunity for immigrants and refugees to educate themselves and get a good job. Creators: Chris, Antonio, Christina, Cecilie, Riin, Line, Tobias and Taniel

Article concerning Bazar Vest.

You can say a lot about the Danish supermarkets, but you don’t enjoy going there. Some of the reasons can be the upcoming boredom when being in an ordinary supermarket or that you know you are going to spend a lot of

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Hydepark

money on food and other expensive things that you will need. However, it is always an appeal to all of your senses to take a walk in the old boiler factory which nowadays accommodates “Bazar Vest” in the Aarhus suburb Gellerup. The quality and price of the broad selection of goods, consisting of vegetables and fruits, makes it unique in Jutland. The baker delivers fresh bread to the whole city of Aarhus. In addition, the two butchers are known for having a lot to offer such

as a variety of different lentils, beans and spices that you cannot buy elsewhere. Some merchants have established themselves with a cafe, a restaurant, jeweller’s or a gift store. The Bazar is full of surprises and you can even discover a slaughtered sheep hanging on a hook in the market.

With a thousand of customers every week throughout the year, Bazar Vest developed into a great shopping mall with loads of tourist attractions and it is a place where you can get to know cultural diversity. Furthermore, the Bazar gives to the unemployed immigrants the opportunity to find a job in an adequate ambiance.

Bazar Vest is a special cultural place, which you have to see before leaving Aarhus. It is a place where people can meet and experience the cultural backgrounds of the former strangers who have changed into the acquaintances. by Lars, Kristine, Anders, Jennifer, Karina, Marko, Elisabetta, Martina

Babak Azmoudeh – a success story.

Babak Azmoudeh, 20, is a pizza man, who lives here in Denmark, Aarhus. He moved here from Iran together with his parents, at the age of 12– as he says it is a decision he is happy about. He considers himself as integrated, and in a year he will get the Danish citizenship. Everything hasn’t been so wonderful, though.

At first, he was put in a school where everybody was foreigners, and because of his Danish skills improving very fast, he was moved to another school where the majority of the students were ethnic Danes. Of course the language barrier was one big problem, but another thing he remembers as problematic, was the other Danish children who made fun of him,

when he was trying to speak and thereby learning Danish. After some years, he began making Danish friends, and with their help he learned almost perfect Danish and got a better understanding of the Danish culture.

In Babak’s opinion, one of the biggest problems in getting integrated was/is religion. In Denmark, drinking alcoholic beverages is a pretty big part of the culture, or the youth culture at least, and because of some religions like Islam and Christianity, many foreigners are not allowed to drink, and therefore, it is harder for them to

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Interview

make Danish friends and get used to the Danish culture. And when you don’t spend time with Danish people, you don’t learn the language quickly, and then it is hard to get integrated and get a bright future with a good job.

Mr. Azmoudeh thinks that the integration policies are good, and he likes the effort the politicians make to get rid of ghettoes and mix foreigners with the society, but there is still some room for improvement. In his opinion, the most important thing about integration is to learn the language of the country in which you live and to be open to the society and try to socialise with the native population as well.

Babak is now working as a pizza man, but in one year he will start educating himself as a civil engineer, and hopefully he will continue doing just fine

Written by Erika, Mariliis, Kristoffer,Frederik, Mikkel U., Hilke, Negin

Gellerup plan

A big problem for Denmark, especially for the city of Aarhus has been the city area called Gellerup. Almost 90 % of the people living there are immigrants with no work and money. It’s a crucial issue because the percentage of crime is really high. There is a lot of thefts, mugging and vandalism that is why the citizens are actually scared to go there and call this place a ghetto. No respectable Danish man or woman would like to live there so the area has become separated from the rest of the town.

The government perceives it as a huge issue and has implemented a plan to change the area to a more approachable and a more attractive place to live in. The main goal now is to demolish old buildings that don’t fit in the area and build new

houses which are more suitable and cozy. Most of the money for the plan comes from different investors, so when the houses are ready, they are going to build many offices and firms. It’s really good for the people, especially for the immigrants living there, because there will be a lot of job opportunities and it gives them a chance to earn money by themselves and not to get financial assistance from the government anymore. The plan to change the area completely and make it better should take about 20 years. The people working on the plan are very optimistic and believe that it will change the immigration problem and the crime rate a lot.

by Christina Rimmer, Mikkel Mørup, Christian Bohl, Krista, Helen, Frederico, Valeria

Globus 1

Globus 1 is a Kindergarten in Brabrand where the kids can be active everyday. In this area, there is a major group of people with diverse ethnic origin. 80 % of the kids at the

kindergarten have parents with a different ethnic background. This results in a large percentage of children with Muslim roots. Due to the fact that Globus 1 has several religions and cultures mixed together, there are particular circumstances that should be taken into consideration. To prevent from any culture clash, the kindergarten has never served pork. The meat they serve at the kindergarten is halal slaughtered because of the Muslim religion. All these precautions are made to prevent from any possible trouble or not to cross anyone personal limits. This situation has continued since the kindergarten was built. One of the main aims of Globus 1, is to provide room for everyone.

Nowadays, the authorities have a big problem with an unhealthy lifestyle. The bad

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Multicurtural Integration

eating habits usually cause obesity among children.To get rid of this obstacle, the government and the EU desired to create a kindergarten where kids can grow up with a very healthy lifestyle – and Globus 1 is one of such kindergarten. The main goals are to create fun and active environment where kids with different ethnic backgrounds can meet up with ethnic Danes and learn from each other while being healthy. Hopefully, more kindergartens like Globus 1 will be built because it is a kind of amazing input in children development.

by Simon, Søren Taul, Søren Thagård, Paulina, Sylwia, Rosa, Nuria, Dominika

Report - sport centre

On 18th November we visited the sports centre “Globus 1” in Gellerup. There, we met Heidi our correspondent, who is a consultant there. Her job includes enabling the

communication between the local sport clubs and migrants, or people with the foreign culture backgrounds. Besides “Globus 1”, she is in charge of some similar projects, for example in Bispehaven. However, these projects haven’t got any center yet.

It was founded by Århus Kommune, and the state of Denmark is a supporting party. The idea of the center is to get the children of the street, and lower the crimes in the ghetto, Gellerup. In addition, socializing and integration is supported. The organisation offers different sport activities for socially neglected children in Gellerup. The centre provides kindergardens and

schools with the possibility of using their facilities for free, if they are state units. Most days the schools and kindergardens use the facility from 8 am -3 pm, and through the whole week the opening hours depend on the activities. Sometimes the employees pick the children up at their schools to participate in the sport activities. There’s a good communication and cooperation between them. It’s also possible to rent the facilities for money, for example, if you are in a private school. Normally, the employees are paid, in vacations and at special occasions volunteers are used as employees, though. The centre consists of different areas where it’s possible to play different kinds of sports and games, outside and inside as well. There’s also an Internet café to use for a small amount of money. Inside, they want to make a fitness centre, however, it is necessary to find a firm or company to support the idea. The users often have different nationalities. All in all, you can say that there are approximately 80% from Arabic countries and 20% from Denmark.

Sofie E. Akol Bjarne Lasse Majse Louise Joselyn Sandra

Paradise or Zoo?

“Hello”, a friendly looking man is standing in an oval room. His name is Gordon Roberts and he is the leader of an immigration project, “fritidspatruljen” or a leisure patrol as you can call it in English. He lives and works in Gellerup, the biggest ghetto in the Danish city Århus. 90% of the residents are the immigrants and only 10% of them are Danish.

A big bowl of pink apples is on the table. “These are my favourite ones. They are called the

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Multicurtural Integration

apples of Paradise, and it matches here very well, because now we are in Paradise.” What he is referring to is Gellerup and all its apartments.” I love when I can read people faces. They show their feelings and don’t hide them like other Danes.”This project is very personal to Gordon, as he is an immigrant himself. He feels that people from Gellerup have a more “honest” personality – he can predict if something’s wrong or right reading

from their faces. The aim of “fritidspatruljen” is to activate young immigrants between 4 and 12 years old. Most of these children’s parents can’t afford to pay for their children, if they want to go to a football club or other activities after school. Gordon Roberts wants to integrate the neighbours in this paradise.One of the challenges of “fritidspatruljen” is that a few of these children have problems with understanding the concept of competition. Their parents may have been traumatized and didn’t play with the children when they were younger. These kids will do whatever it takes to win; cheat, hurt others or complain. When such situations come up, it will certainly ruin the game. “You have to be careful, when you deal with the traumatised kids and families.”

So how does this project actually work? Do sports get foreigners more integrated, or what’s the use of this project? “A common misunderstanding, when talking about immigrants, is that most people think that immigrants are interested in getting integrated and getting “Danish”. They do just want to be accepted.”Many immigrants from Gellerup feel like animals in a zoo. Gordon says that some Danish people just come to Gellerup to watch the immigrants and experience the culture, as if it was an exhibition. So you can say that this place may seem to look like a zoo outside, but for many people, this place could be their paradise, like it is for Gordon, and that is the message he’s trying to get through with this project.

By: Andrea, Jacopo, Maria-Louisa, Dorte, Karen, Anne Sofie, Tobias, Sofie

Langkær Gymnasium - interview with the headmaster

We’ve visited Langkær Gymnasium to get an idea of what it’s like at a gymnasium with the students from all over the world. Langkær Gymnasium is a gymnasium in the

western part of Århus, and you can attend STX and HF, which are two different kinds of education. Before being a student of this Gymnasium you have to take a test and get good marks. It has 760 students and 28 classes. There

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Multicurtural Integration

are 27 different nationalities, 70% of which is Danish and 30% is of another origin.

We spoke with the headmaster, Anders Østergaard, to get some information about his gymnasium and he told us:

Global High Schools have a kind of a “mission” to get knowledge, dialogue and the ability to act as a global citizen. This Gymnasium is linked to other High Schools, University and Organizations from other Countries to secure a challenging and involving education. In Denmark, we have four global High Schools: Copenhagen, Vejle, Svendborg and Århus (Langkær).

It’s very important for the Global High Schools to respect each student and make them feel welcomed.

We also got the chance to talk with some of the students from the 1st grade. We asked them a few questions about their experience in the Gymnasium. They all said that they liked it a lot because of the way they could feel like “at home”. They also told us about some “groups” of people from the same culture but it has nothing to do with the differences. – they just have more things in common to talk about, and it’s not like they hate each other if they’re not from the same “group”.

By Krystian Kot, Grzegorz Wawryn, Francesca Giaccone, Anna Cavallero, Victor Gravers, Søren Sloth, Ditte Molbech and Gry Mariager

Thank you for your hospitality during our Comenius programme.

It was a great pleasure to meet all of you and to be somehow a member of your school society for few days. We really want to thank you for everything you have done for us, it was a wonderful time which we spent together.There are so many wonderful memories from Denmark that will remain in us forever. It was a really wonderful experience.

THANK YOU RISSKOV GYMNASIUM !

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THANK YOU RISSKOV GYMNASIUM !