Maris’ experience with EduAction

Like most of us EduActioners, I ended up in the project randomly. I had my reasons, why I was searching for an internship in Brazil that had nothing to do with a better world, but more with escaping and realizing a long overdue dream.

During flying over Parana and Santa Catarina states on my way to Porto Alegre I had this strange feeling of “that’s it, I’m on my way home”. The feeling disappeared as soon as I landed into the reality that waited for me there. It was very different. In a way it turned out to be true, but not just for Porto Alegre. This relationship between me and EduAction has taught me that this whole precious planet is my home, everybody in it are connected to me. We’re all interconnected and it is up to me to be the example the world needs.

I arrived in Porto Alegre confused about what was about to come and I felt frustrated many times during my work there in 2009. There was not enough money, they project team was not perfectly organized, we, the exchange participants were so different from each other, the kids were loud and the schools sometimes indifferent. All of that killed a bit of my motivation and gratitude towards my experience at the time. Only a few months after I had arrived back home, I realized, there was no going back. As I say to the newcomers now, “After experiencing, what you will experience in EduAction, there is no way you will not care anymore”. This project has changed my life. The people I met, the kids I helped, the things I learned from Gerdau and AIESEC – they’ve all left their best in me. The shocks I went through, the frustrations I overcame and the obstacles I crushed - they contributed in me becoming this strong and dedicated person I believe I am today and I could not be more grateful to everything I had to pass through.

The more hopeless the situation seems during the project, the more it needs your dedication. This is no time to be selfish, although it is our natural reaction to get frustrated. I’ve realized, this can’t be learned, until after it is already over.

I encourage everybody to take these few months, put yourself in a completely different situation, give all your care for people you have never met before in a society that (at first sight) has nothing to do with you and let the situation turn your world around. Then reflect on it.

In retrospective, I believe I’ve become much more relaxed than I used to be. I almost never feel nervous anymore, nor worry too much about the little things. I’ve grown a lot. I have much more vision for myself as well as the world. I know my values and I don’t fail to stand for them. I believe I can achieve anything I set my mind to and much more than that - I believe anyone can, they just need to put themselves into situations that will teach them that. I think I am a much better friend now too; I feel confident being who I am and caring about the things and people I care about. I still search for meaning in everything I do, as I did before EduAction, only now, for the first time, I think I’ve found a lot of it. I am happy!

Maris Leivategija
EP from 2009 (EduAction pilot)
Current Global Coordinator

About EduAction

For me education is one of the most important inheritance that the human can receive, nevertheless it is a privilege of just few percent of the world population. Since the begging our destiny is define by the opportunities we have, from the country we were burn, the social class we belong up to the way of thinking of the people that surround us. All we burn with the same capabilities that can be modify just by nutritional facts or a health condition. Beside this,  we have recognize that a child in poor conditions it is really difficult for him or her to rich the same things than one with all the economic and emotional resources. The reality is not encouraging; starving, war and violence are all around us and they are deeply sad and depressing but it could be also a way to inspire sensitive people to react, do something for changing the situation and to be aware and care of bigger troubles than trivial stuff.

I believe that EduAction is one of this reactions, now we don’t know exactly what are they going to be the consequences in long term, but one of the factors have change. Working with young people allows the project a full injection of creativity and energy that EduAction can canalize it and contribute to built a new society where tolerance is a really high value. The possibility of learning from another culture is just indescribable and begging from the language, because it permit you to understand more the society where you are living. I am not a native speaker of English but I am grateful to my professors and family that always encourage me to learn it more because now I can tell how I fell to more people and share my experience and point of view. I do believe that future can be better and may be it is a matter of faith, but being a dreamer and working hard here or somewhere in the world for a purpose, as EduAction will be always a pleasure. For me Brazil is hope and to these children I gave classes it only rest me to say that: It doesn’t matter where you come from but where are you going.

June 2011

Betel Sánchez, Mexico.

EduAction in TV, POA

Meu nome é Carolina Zabala Campos

Meu nome é Carolina Zabala Campos. Nasci em Bogotá, Colômbia, mas desde os 12 anos eu moro em Santa Marta. Sou formada em Negócios Internacionais, na Universidad Del Magdalena. Tenho 22 anos.
Depois de ser vice-presidente, decidi aproveitar outras oportunidades que a AIESEC te oferece. Fazer um intercâmbio. Eu queria um trabalho que me permitisse trabalhar
com pessoas de outros países, para compartilhar com outras culturas, aprender a viver dia-a-dia em um país diferente, e o mais importante – aprender outra língua.
É assim que eu encontrei o trabalho perfeito – o EDUACTION, um projeto nacional da AIESEC e Gerdau, que me permitiu trabalhar com pessoas de todo o mundo.
Eduacion é um projeto muito bom, porque incentiva as crianças de escolas públicas a compreender  questões atuais, como liderança, empreendedorismo, sustentabilidade e motivação, ajudando-os a se desenvolverem e adotar uma visão mais ampla da vida.
A primeira experiência foi muito difícil, porque as aulas devem ser dadas em
Português e eu não falava muito. Mas no final não foi mais difícil, pois as crianças compreendem e
tem vontade de aprender. “A coisa mais gratificante foi vê-los sorrir em cada uma das classes em que fizemos diferentes atividades com eles”
Sobre essa experiência, posso dizer que foi única e completa. Conheci muitos pontos positivos e  negativos sobre a cultura brasileira e seu povo – aprendi muito sobre isso.Também sobre mim e todos que compartilharam a experiência comigo.
Foi muito gratificante trabalhar com pessoas de diferentes países como Argentina, Itália, Chile e Portugal. Isso me ensinou a ser capaz de me adaptar a diferentes culturas, hábitos e costumes.
A AIESEC nos oferece dia-a-dia muitas oportunidades. Um intercâmbio não apenas serve para
experiência de trabalho. Um intercâmbio te faz abrir a mente, se arriscar ao
desconhecido, enfrentar desafios, compartir com outras culturas e, sobretudo, viver e gerar um impacto positivo em todo o mundo.

EduAction em Salvadô!

E aí Galera!

Meu nome é Matias e sou da AIESEC em Tandil, uma pequena cidade da Argentina e agora estou na ultima semana do projeto, escrevendo essas linhas desde Salvador com 33 grados de calor no final de abril, coisa que ainda não acredito! (pensando que na minha cidade agora faz cinco grados).
Depois de três maravilhosos anos trabalhando no escritório da AIESEC, no meu comitê local (e outros também) e acabando minhas aulas de Administração chegou a hora do intercambio! No principio do ano 2010 comecei com aulas de português porque já estava sentindo o cheiro do Brasil. Mas foi em novembro que eu busquei o intercambio enfocado em esse país e procurando uma pratica de empreendedorismo, responsabilidade social ou educação. Por outra parte já conhecia o projeto da edição anterior e adorava! Então foi quando eu sabia que o projeto ia acontecer novamente que apliquei sem pensar e muito ansioso… era perfeito para mim. Passei o processo seletivo com sucesso e finalmente casei a vaga em Salvador, Bahia. Mas como o projeto começava em fevereiro e para mim acabava de finalizar novembro, eu estava tão ansioso por chegar ao Brasil e Salvador especialmente que me contate com o comitê de SSA para pegar outra pratica. Eu consegui e o 15 de dezembro já estava na cidade coordenado um projeto nascido do Eduaction, que se chama Giramundo e aconteceu nos meses de dezembro e janeiro (esperando minha pratica), que se levou a cabo em ONGs e teve dez intercambistas.
Em esse tempo foi muito bom para mim para conhecer a cultura Bahiana, a língua, me familiarizar com os temas (responsabilidade social, empreendedorismo, sustentabilidade e diversidade cultural) conhecer pessoas muito legais, e claro começar a impactar na sociedade soteropolitana. Então quando chegou meu turno, de finalmente pisar uma sala de escola publica eu já me sentia seguro de mim mesmo e com experiência. Mas claro que não foi assim de simples! Agora e acabando posso dizer “Nossa Senhora!! Não foi nada fácil”, mas foi muito divertido o desafio foi muito grande. Os alunos não aprendem como possas voluntarias em uma ONG, meu português parecia não ser o mesmo na sala porque ele riam muito por causa do sotaque e a vezes 40 meninos faziam tanto barulho como um Boing 777 decolando. Mas novamente, isso foi o divertido e do que eu mais aprendi.
Também, trabalhar com eles foi engraçado de mais. Na sala a gente escutou muitas cosas para lembrar sempre e no meu caso, o tempo tudo falando sobre Maradona e Pele… futebol sempre entre Argentina e o Brasil.
Alem de isso, adorei conhecer mais de 50 pessoas entre intercambistas do todo mundo, equipe do projeto e parceiros que acompanharam a gente no período. Todos trabalhando com o mesmo objetivo, ter um impacto positivo na sociedade.
A poucos dias de pegar o avião de volta para minha casa, levo comigo regalos dos alunos, conversas nos corredores com eles, amigos, experiências, conhecimento, comida também claro e já estou sentindo a saudade que vou ter do Brasil e da experiência.-
Matias Silva (ARG)
Salvador, Bahia.

Hugo’s Story

The best experience that ever had and I will never forget all the challenges that I overpassed sucessfully and the things about me that I knew better, that will allow me to improve in the future. The words are short to describe this huge unforgettable trainee life, the feelings are probable of the size of Brazil really. The fact to talk, to share my experience with another people, to inspire the society and the members of AIESEC to take the risk is my mission now, I´m sure about one thing, this whole interchange will stay forever on my mind and heart, however I always remember it with a portuguese-word inexplicable feeling calling “saudade” that can be resum in this paragraph:
“Um pequeno barulho está presente no ambiente, um sentimento de curiosidade, vários sorrisos, vários rostos que ficam estáticos e aliás, umas vozes com sotaque estranho que começam se presentar. Assim foi o primero dia de aulas, nos Sabe Tudos, centros de inclusão digital da cidade de Sorocaba, no interior do Estado de São Paulo. Um grande sentimento de ensinar e quer aprender de todas as pessoas que ficariam o semestre conosco foi algo que me motivou ao chegar aí. A vontade de mostrar para o Brasil e em geral para as pessoas que iam te escutar, que Colômbia tinha mil coisas mais, além do já conhecido, o fato de tirar o preconceito foi uma de tantas rações para viajar, também de você ter a oportunidade de levar um pouco de si mesmo para pessoas que talvez nunca tiveram a oportunidade de saber disso ou não tinham visto estrangeiros, o fato de ficar mais perto dos seus alunos, conhecer o estilo de vida, sua família, poder fazer das aulas um espaço de apredizagem onde for possível participar ativamente, isso s não tem preço.
E sorprendente o que você pode aprender de uma criança, de um adolescente e de um adulto, tudo é um ganho, a troca é diária, te faz crescer como pessoa e como aieseco. Definitivamente o projeto atendeu às expectativas e virei uma pessoa socialmente mais consciente, como maiores habilidades para expresar os meus conhecimentos e mais aberta às culturas. Agora eu posso dizer que o Brasil é meu segundo lar, pois me fizeram sentir como em casa, agora não caibo neste mundinho logo da experiência do intercâmbio, EduAction fez o mundo maior para mim e quero continuar impactando nele.”
By Hugo Alberto Cuervo Bedoya-
Trainee from Colombia of EduAction Second Round-
Sorocaba

My eduaction experience

From EduAction 2010
I was part of this great Project last year, in Sorocaba. I had many expectations but I didn’t really know how awesome it would be. I worked with two more trainees; Fiorella Arias Quito from Peru and Hugo Cuervo from Colombia.
We got really connected to them, at first they were looking at us like wow … they are really from other countries (because most of them had never met someone from outside their country),so they were very curious about many things, such as our language, traditions, music, food, etc. We made global villages where each of us (trainees) showed our students our flags, dances, music and even some food (guacamole, patacones,etc). The Guacamole ( which I made) caused such a cultural shock to them because in Brazil people eats avocado with sugar (which was shocking to me too because I never thought it would be eaten with sugar), so the fact of eating it with salt, coriander and onion was totally different to them, but they liked it, some of them liked that much that ate a lot and even asked me the recipe =).
I knew I was being part of EduAction to teach about global issues and stuff, but I think I was the one who went there to learn, because all of them taught me a lot of things.
To be honest I was looking forward to an MT but now after all the experience I could say EduAction Project in Brazil was the best thing that could´ve happened to me, I´m still in touch with some students ,i´d say with my friends , because if brazil got something its warm and great people who is always willing to offer you their friendship, and make you feel at home.
So now like it would be said in Portuguese: fiquei com muitas saudades do Brasil e na verdade espero voltar algum día.
Trust me if you got the chance to choose between some DT or MT go for an DT and if it is the Eduaction Project don’t you even think twice , there is nothing to think about , that experience and what you learn is priceless .
Definitely i´d do it again.
Sincerely, Talia Guzman (Mexico)

INTERNATIONALITY

I arrived here alone. I landed in a country more than 9.500 km far from mine.
Amazing: we were 40 young people in São Paulo coming from different countries all over the world and I had not met any of them before then. But we were colleagues. And, more than this, we were already friends. So, it does not occur to me another word apart from “amazing” to describe that incredible moment and the feeling it produced in me! We spent two intense days together full of emotions and expectations. It has been purely happiness!
Then I flew to Recife with my new team. But, isn’t a team made of people that know and trust each other? I did not know those girls at all, just met them the day before. So, what to do? Moreover, I was in a new city with a completely different culture (and language!). Well, we sat down (on the beach, of course: we are in Recife!) and started planning the first lesson: I mainly listened to what they had to say about the topic. I immediately noticed how different can be the perception of the same thing or concept depending on the person’s cultural background. I am not saying they were wrong, but it was kind of difficult considering the topic from another perspective I had never considered even for a minute. But this sensation disappeared very soon, because the differences in the points of view became then the most interesting thing of the planning meetings. I really started enjoying discussing and seeing in how many different ways a topic can be analyzed. And I completely love when from that we start talking about our countries, differences, cultures, foods, habits… And even more I love getting astonished, curious and with a big desire of travelling!
Now, after two months, I still find differences in our way of considering things. But I think this the factor that contributes in creating a great job and produces great results in classrooms. And I look at my team now and I see more: I see really good friends collaborating towards the same objective. I’m happy and satisfied!
Elisa from AIESEC Venezia, Italy
EduAction @Recife

Blogpost PoA

Cuando comencé a leer lo que los demás estaban escribiendo sobre este proyecto me di cuenta que estábamos en la misma situación, nadie sabía a que venía, sólo tenían claro que era hacer clases de multiculturalidad en escuelas públicas, y creo que eso no cambió hasta 3 semanas después que comenzamos las clases. Probablemente la gente que este leyendo esto piense lo mismo, ¿qué voy a enseñar?, ¿cómo voy a enseñar en portugués?, ¿a quién voy a conocer? Pero CALMA! Todo se va a aclarar a medida que pasa el tiempo, es difícil explicar exactamente lo que estoy viviendo, pero voy a hacer mi mayor esfuerzo.
¿Por qué EduAction? Para ser sincera, cuando busqué mi intercambio (que en un principio iba a ser durante mis vacaciones) pensé: tiene que tener playa! Por lo tanto mis búsquedas apuntaban a países y ciudades con playa! Y cuando apareció la esta práctica en mi mail y vi BRASIL, no lo pensé dos veces. Lógicamente que detrás de la decisión no va sólo eso, sino que también el desarrollo personal, la contribución a la sociedad, etc., pero si, lo mejor fue que decía BRASIL! Pero, llegue a Porto Alegre y supe que playas? A DOS HORAS…
Está bien, ya estaba en Porto Alegre, no podía volver… pero las cosas resultaron mejor de lo que esperaba, primero vivi con una familia increíble! Me sentía como en mi casa, no habían muchas diferencias, estaba feliz y después vivir con SIETE personas de distintos países bajo un mismo techo, es una locura! Pero ha sido un motivo de alegría cada día.
Las clases no empezaron hasta casi un mes después que llegué. Asi que claro, el primer mes fue increíble, tranquilo, relajado. Cuando empezamos a preparar las clases, fue muy divertido, era preparar una obra de teatro, no sabía nada de portugués por lo que había que preparar desde el “oi” hasta el “tchau” por supuesto había que practicar de qué forma se iban a decir las cosas y qué queríamos transmitir con lo que decíamos. En un momento estábamos practicando en una plaza y le pedimos a 3 niños que estaban jugando ahí, si podían escuchar lo que hablábamos y si entendían lo que decíamos, afortunadamente triunfamos y los niños quedaron muy felices! Aunque no se si la felicidad era porque lo que hablábamos era interesante o nosotros nos escuchábamos muy divertidos tratando de hablar en portugués, en fin, nos motivaron para seguir haciendo lo que hacíamos.
A medida que fueron pasando las clases nos fuimos involucrando más con cada curso, o con cada alumno, al principio los niños colaboran mucho, somos algo nuevo para ellos y realmente quieren conocernos y nosotros fuimos tomando diferentes actitudes y medidas para explicar lo que necesitábamos decir.
Creo que después de 3 clases me di cuenta realmente del impacto que estábamos produciendo en estos niños, el ver que cada vez que uno llega al colegio te gritan “sora! Sora!” o se acercan para abrazarte o dar un beso o algún regalo, para mi es la mejor forma de expresar que realmente estamos haciendo algo en ellos y que esperan con ansias cada clase. Quizás no van a recordar la definición exacta de liderazgo, pero algún dia se van a dar cuenta de “yo lideré un juego, yo puedo liderar ahora un grupo”. Cada clase que tenemos que preparar intentamos hacerlo para cada turma, de qué manera especial podemos hacerlo para que entiendan el mensaje de la mejor forma.
El proyecto me conquistó desde un principio, la cara de estos niños llenaron de alegría cada día que llevo aquí en Porto Alegre, en algunos momentos nos sentimos como celebridades con todas las fotos que nos sacan, con los “autógrafos” que nos piden, y lo hacen con amor, no es para molestar o burlarse, es porque realmente disfrutan cada minuto de la clase y esperan con ansias la próxima.
Disfruten esta experiencia al máximo, la alegría y el cariño que van a recibir de los niños y de cada minuto que vivan, van a ser inolvidables!

Una gran oportunidad

Oi Pessoal!!!
Mi nombre es Reydelinda Huamani, soy de Perú, y esta es la primera vez que viajo a unpaís extranjero. Este proyecto es muy importante para mi, ¿por qué? Porque yo tambiénvengo de una escuela pública como la de ellos y creí que no podría llegar a estudiar enuna universidad, y claro mucho menos viajar a otro país. Sin embargo, ahora estoy aquí con la gran oportunidad de cambiar el destino de ellos y decir que las oportunidades quetenemos debemos aprovecharlas al máximo.
Al llegar a Brasil creí que la educación era muy distinta a la de Perú (que era superior)pero al ir a las escuelas y conocer la realidad, me di cuenta de que no era así y quetenemos muchas semejanzas.
Unos días antes de empezar las clases con mi equipo (Holanda, Bolivia y Perú) no sentínerviosismo, hasta que llegó el día en que teniamos que dar las clases y fue una especiede varias emociones juntas, que no sé como explicarlas. Recuerdo el primer día declases, en que algunos alumnos preguntaban y otros permanecian callados, pero luegocon las dinámicas todos participaron y eso me gusto mucho. Ellos ahora conocen másde nuestros países y siguen conociendo, pero también están aprendiendo más de otrostemas que les damos, como sustentabilidad y consumo consciente, diversidad cultural,emprendedurismo, lideranza.
Ellos nos ven como un modelo y piensan que no pueden llegar a ser como nosotrosporque creen que nosotros tuvimos más oportunidades y que ellos no tienen las mismas,y es justamente ese punto el que tenemos que cambiar, el que ellos pueden hacertodo lo que ellos quieren hacer, que no hay barreras para nada y que todos tenemosoportunidades que podemos aprovechar al máximo, que ellos pueden cambiar su vida.
En la escuela donde damos clases el grupo conformado por Chile y Perú, su manera desalir adelante es impresionante, nosotros vamos dos veces por semana con los mismosalumnos y eso a hecho que nos vean más cercanos, que quieran compartir más connosotros y nosotros con ellos, y creo que una recomendación para la siguiente ediciónde EduAction sería que los trainees compartan más con los niños, porque de esa manerapueden ver de que no somos tan lejanos como ellos creen, que somos como ellos con ladiferencia que nacimos en países distintos y que ellos pueden hacer la diferencia en suvida, en su familia, en su sociedad y porque no de su país.

Brazil – America: An Educational Comparison

I’ve been inspired by the other EduAction bloggers to put in a few of my observations with regards to Brazilian public schools and my own experience with American public school.
1. Technology in the Classrooms: In the USA, even as  an elementary student in a small Texas town, we had overhead projectors and a computer in the classroom.  Here, they have some TVs and a computer lab.  But the ability to create class content to show to students seems really limited – I’ve been teaching all of my classes with whiteboards, paper printouts, and crayons.
2. Athletics Programs: There don’t seem to be any.  At all.  Whatsoever.  Kids here play soccer in the streets, but there is no middle school football team, no cheerleaders, no track and field, no swim team, no volleyball team – nothing.  At CEU Butatã they’ve got a swimming pool, but there are no swim lanes, no kick boards, no lap clocks.  It doesn’t seem to be a lack of funds, but merely a lack of tradition.
3. Teacher strikes: They happen here.  Apparently pretty frequently.  Class at Brasil-Japão was cancelled last week due to a teacher strike.  My French classes at USP, the university, were cancelled yesterday due to a cleaning personnel strike.  Teacher unions in the US, although they exist, don’t seem to be nearly as proactive as the unions here.  I asked Rosana, a CEU teacher, if strikes get results – she said yes.  Which could explain why they strike so often.
4. Parent Support: I’m still looking for the Brazilian version of PTA. Unconfirmed, but Open House is just a thing for us.  In my class yesterday at CEU, we talked about stakeholders.  One of the stakeholders that I suggested was their parents.  Some students agreed but one of the student vocally disagreed with me – his  parents don’t give a damn.  Not to say that every American parent is invested in their child’s education – lack of parent support is definitely an issue in inner city American public schools.  But it’s clear that parent’s attitudes and support of the school go a long way towards shaping a student’s attitude toward schoolwork itself.
Lisa
Austin, Texas

Brazil/ Russia Education

Hey it’s me again.
Let’s talk about Education in Russia and Brazil.
We have private schools and public schools and also we have Lyceum. Lyceum is the better place for studying.
You have 2 options-to be clever or to be rich..its always like that, right?
Private schools aren’t  so popular because if you have money you can study in lyceum with another smart people that’s bonus.
Here you can see some table about comparing classes in Russia and Brazil. Check it.

Brazil	Russia	Topic
20-30	20-25	Students in one class
4	4	Class per day
one for 20 min after 3th class	10 min every class, one big after 3th class	Break btw classes
child usually alone	children sit together	Class
yes	no	Player, music phone, caps
no	In liceym	Special Clothing
depends	depends	Equipment

Here in Brazil is more popular to sit alone.
We have big classes, almost in all classes pupils can sit together.
20-30 people in one class.4 classes per day. We have break after every class. Usually 10 min and one big break after 3th class. Sure it’s more comfortable..I feel it here. Here in Brazil children always ask about drinking water or going to the bathroom.
It’s not possible to talk, listen music,chew gum and wear a hat during class  in any kind of  schools.
In Russia, you can easily see two categories of students.
-those who is studying so much as they can and those who constantly copy everything from first categoryJ . In each school we have big polarity. Basically those. who copy everything are very popular.
Here I saw it also..that’s world factJ
Every school has an auditorium, which hosts various events, such as “Miss, Mister school, disco, festivals, masquerade .Usually that hall accommodates 200-300 people, depending on the school.
I didn’t see it here but sure schools have, right?
Generally, the lessons are pretty similar to each other, always Russian pupils like that

Hehe they have a lot of staff inside(shoes, books, warm clothes could be too)J
Happiness, Brazil and Russia.
Love it! So DIFFERENT, SO CHANGING!
Write!

Differences in education between your country and Brazil

Ahora al escuchar la palabra Educación pienso en primera instancia en las escuelas publicas de Porto Alegre, EduAction me ah dado la oportunidad de aportar un poquito con la formación de niños y jovencitos de las escuelas publicas , mi primera clase la espere con muchas ansias y algo de nerviosismo , mi equipo llamado ABELHA, (Bolivia, Holanda, Perú) al llegar el primer día a la escuela ya en la puerta había una profesora esperando por nosotras…. mis aulas son muy interesantes , tengo clases donde tengo niños tranquilos, es decir que escuchan nuestras explicaciones y también preguntan y participan , tengo clases donde mis alumnos son realmente activos, entran al aula con mucha bulla, gritos, golpes , algunos muy energéticos sudando de tanto hacer alboroto y con un bombardeo de preguntas como:  es frio o caliente nuestro país, que música se escucha en nuestros países, cual es nuestra comida típica, pidiendo una demostración de bailes , y juegan el adivinar de donde somos, en mi caso nunca le acertaron, pero es divertido, aulas con bastante energía pero muy difícil de controlar, donde se usa mas o menos un 30% de la clase en decir : silencio por favor !!! esa clase fue muy difícil, mientras hablaba mi colega de Perú , habían como unos 3 alumnos preguntando sobre Bolivia o Holanda y viceversas, al parecer mucho desorden pero son las clases mas creativas también, muy gratificante por ese lado, también existen muchas diferencias de edades entre ellos en una misma clase por ejemplo tengo alumnos desde 9 años hasta 18 años , algo que nos reta mas a ser mas multidinamico, es decir ver la manera de como participen todos, no es fácil porque los mas grandecitos estan en su mundo pero estoy segura mis queridos lectores que no es imposible y estaré atenta a sus sugerencias y consejos , lo que hacemos es siempre hacer una dinámica de grupo, por ejemplo en la primera aula de introducción , jugamos con las sillas al:  a quien le gusta….. o alguna vez ya………???? Una dinámica que fue muy divertida el juego se llamaba choque cultural, donde hay dos comunidades con ciertas reglas y que se comunicaban con solo señales y ciertas diferencias que hacían que expresaban los choques culturales que hay entre distintas comunidades…
Ahora comparando con las escuelas de mi país BOLIVIA, puedo decir que son muy similares en aspectos como muchos alumnos en las aulas, escuelas públicas con muy pocos recursos, pero diferencias como que aquí son mas habladores, curiosos, alumnos sin uniformes, alumnos donde es permitido usar gorras en clases, tener los cabellos largos, me atrevo a decir que tienen más libertad en esos aspectos, también aquí los niños son mas cariñosos y con más libertad de expresión comparando con mi País.
Este es un grandioso proyecto, estoy muy feliz de ser parte de el en esta generación, para mi es increíble porque tengo la oportunidad y el reto de compartir y ser parte de la enseñanza de muchos niños de Porto Alegre… solo tenemos que dar todo de nosotros desde lo más profundo de nuestro corazón, disfrutare mucho estas dos últimas semana que me queda del proyecto, la verdad que lo sentí tan corto, dicen que cuando algo es muy bueno y gratificante el tiempo de pasa volando.
Vania Zambrana Colque
Santa cruz – Bolivia

EduAction Project. Go and Create your reality.

Hello everyone!

If you are reading it..seems you’re interested in EduAction project. Good.Really good.

My name is Irina, I’m from Russia. I’m here in Brazil, Porto Alegre working with AIESEC and Gerdau about creating new reality for children from public schools by making presentations about cultural diversity, leadership, motivation, enterpreneurship,etc.

I’m working with people from Peru, Mexico, Japan,Argentina, Holland, Chile, Colombia,Kenia and Poland.

Why it’s incredible?

-New experience.For example, have you ever worked with children which parents are drug-dillers ?

Of course we can sit at home reading newspapers and watching TV thinking like «Wah..Ah..Ah»

My first step into the class was exactly the same «Wah..Tah». what I’m doing here with children which remind me American movie about  difficult situation in our society.

Now.

I am calm and confident, speaking in Portuguese and children listening me. Of course not always . But certainly the inner boundary of the comfort zone has expanded, and the word ”interesting” came with a new unexpected experience. We found the way to talk and feel each other. Just give a chance inside of your head at first when you feel it inside of your heart.

-New people.

Have you ever lived with someone not from your country?  So live. You will try to find your cabel from computer,sock , comb…every day for 1 hour..but doesn’t matter. Really. Just amazing to feel all the world in one flat.

-New country, language. If you are travelling for 2 weeks for inspiration and relaxing..it’s not for you.

If you aren’t afraid of changing, shocks ,contingency situations and zone of discomfort-you are welcome.

-New Mind.

Yes..Exactly..Right now I’m watching photos, remembering every class, every situation, every travelling, every second of sadness and happiness.

Sure I’m giving some special moments to think, develop and feel  for children..sure..they ‘re giving me so much inside information which I never get.

It’s about Love. Beautiful Love to change yourself through the someone and someone through yourself.

My experience so far :)

I can’t believe we are already in the last month of this awesome project!! Teaching this beautiful children has been one priceless experience.
The children are so sweet it makes you wanna cry!! They are ever excited to see us! and always giving gifts to us…however small it is,we are glad they appreciate our time with them.
we have so much fun with them and I hope we are making an impact.
We work in groups of 3 or 2 and I have the best team ever!! Alejandra(Colombia) and Michal (Poland) and its just been awesome working with them.Their love,patience and perseverance is just amazing!!

The rest of the team is also awesome!!! its interesting to listen to how their classes were…the ups and downs and their next step in the classes! you can almost see how passionate they are about this project!!
This project is one of the greatest things in my life!!! I have learnt so much and am expecting to learn even more!!

Irene Maina, Kenia

Blogpost

During the 3 years of doing my bachelor I had the idea to go and travel to South-America. On my own. Meeting new people, seeing, feeling, hearing and tasting the world in a totally different way. So I started planning while the idea popped in my head that this trip could be even more perfect when I could combine this traveling with doing any kind of social work. That´s where I found AIESEC and later on this wonderful EduAction Project. But wait, I have to confess; until I arrived in São Paulo for the Project Summit I didn´t have a very clear idea of what I was going to do here in Brazil. When my friends asked me about it, the average conversation kind of went like this: “So what are you going to teach these kids?“ …(me) “I´m not really sure, something about different cultures, multiculturalism?“. “And that´s all going to be in Portuguese?“ ..(me) “Yeah I guess so“. “But you don´t speak Portuguese, just Spanish! What about that?“ ..(me) “Mmmm, good question, what about that. I have no idea..but I´m sure it´s going to work out fine!“

Well, it did work out and deciding to come here was one of the best decisions I could have made!
Luckily for me we had the 2-day Summit in São Paulo that explained a lot about the project and got us all very motivated to start this project! And indeed we started. Nine teams in nine different cities, giving classes to Brazilian kids, trying to expand their world view a little and show them bit by bit that also for them there are many chances in this world to get to where ever they want to go in this world.

Of course, this is easier said than done, but at the same time I´m very sure that if we are the first ones to say that this goal is never going to be achieved, then nothing is going to happen here.
And good things are happening here in Porto Alegre. I´m part of a great team of 14 ´estrangeiros´ that is trying to give their all every class we give. I think I can speak for us all that we were all quite scared before starting the classes because of the language barrier we faced. Few of us spoke more than 20 words in Portuguese so the 7 Portuguese lessons that the volunteers of AIESEC PAO gave us were a very pleasant surprise!
Furthermore, I can tell you that even though understanding and speaking Portuguese is still a challenge for me, I found out that when I give my all and try to speak from my heart the kids will almost always understand me (or they´re just very good at pretending they do, haha..!). I know this is a very powerful project, but always we need to remind ourselves that it is US doing this and nobody else. WE can make a change here, but only if we stay focused and remember why we are here.

Well, I only have 2 more weeks left here before I will start my trip around South-America. I know for sure that I´m going to enjoy these last days as much as possible. Together with the new wonderful people I met here, with new friends I made, together here in the nice city of Porto Alegre that I´ve got to know in a very special way!

Kirsten
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Brasil y EduAction (toda una experiencia)

Ya es mas de 1 mes que estoy en Brasil, pais vecino al Peru, pero que nunca antes habia tenido la oportunidad de visitar. No puedo olvidar todavia lo trajinado que fue el dia de mi viaje, lo triste de la despedida y los incidentes del aeropuerto; hechos que me hicieron creer por un momento que nunca concretaria con exito mi viaje :S … sin embargo el arribo fue muy sencillo, y la llegada al Terminal de Tiete muy emocionante, el encontrarme con todos los trainees llegados de diferentes partes del mundo, todos con un mismo fin, la misma misión … todo esto fue muy emotivo y el presagio e un buen comienzo =D

El Summit en Atibaia estuvo muy divertido e interesante; fue la momento preciso de conocernos todos y compartir algunas vivencias antes de partir cada uno a nuestras respectivas ciudades de trabajo. Por cierto… desde aqui un saludo muy grande a todos los Trainees de EduAction … mucha suerte a todos =D !!!!

Bueno, el inicio de EduAction en Porto Alegre, podria dividirlo en dos partes: 1) La vida de Trainee de EduAction en POA; y, 2) El trabajo dentro del Proyecto EduAction.

Respecto de la primera solo puedo decir que al principio fue un poco complicado para mi :s por algunas circunstancias, pero luego las cosas se fueron componiendo … y ahora me encuentro viviendo en la Trainee House, acompañada de 7 trainees locos, tratando de mantener una casa de la mejor y mas divertida manera; siempre acompañados por los miembros de Aiesec POA … Gracias por todo guys!!!!! =D

Sobre la segunda, tema principal del que se supone trata este blog, debo decir que la experiencia va siendo genial e enriquecedora. Esto me lleva a recordar el primer dia de clases de mi equipo (Esquilo) en nuestras 2 escuelas, fue tan diferente las impresiones que nos causaron una de la otra. Ahora me queda super claro que la cultura e idiosincrasia de un pais, no solo cambia respecto de otros paises, sino que tambien cambia respecto de sus propios miembros en una misma sociedad.

En la escuela del turno de la mañana, trabajamos con niños de edades entre 10 y 12 años que cursan el 7° y 8° grado; estos niños son muy entusiastas y siempre participan de nuestras actividades … ellos, aunque son ruidosos (como cualquier niño) nos motivan para seguir adelante con el trabajo que estamos haciendo.

Sin embargo, en la escuela del turno tarde, la situación es totalmente opuesta, supongo que eso se debe a que trabajamos con chicos de edades entre 15 y 19 años que recien estan cursando el 7° y 8° grado (tal vez porque tuvieron algun tipo de problema con sus estudios), el hecho es que estos chicos, si bien son divertidos y animados, no le prestan mucha atención a nuestro trabajo, tal vez porque no les interesa, tal vez porque sienten que son temas que nunca les va a servir en la vida … pero no saben lo equivocados que estan :s … y eso es justo ahora nuestra misión con esta escuela, demostrarles a estos chicos que deben abrirse al mundo, abrir sus mentes, sus expectativas y proyectos de vida; porque ellos deben entender que el trabajo que nosotros realizamos con ellos es para producir un efecto positivo en sus vidas, lograr un cambio, hacer la diferencia, salir del letargo que los está infectando. Ese es nuestro nuevo objetivo con esta escuela y esperamos lograr, tal vez no el cambio o conversión total de estos chicos, pero si al menos el hacer que nazca en ellos el deseos y las ganas de superación y de luchar por lo que verdaderamente quieren y que vean o noten que la vida no es solo el pequeño mundo en el cual ellos se están encerrado.

Así va transcurriendo mi vida, al lado de estos 13 trainees locos … que llegaron a este pais no solo para trabajar y enseñar, a su mejor estilo, todo sobre sus culturas y sobre temas tan actuales e importantes como el emprendedurismo, la sustentabilidad, responsabilidad social, etc … sino que también hemos venido a conocer este pais, su cultura, su gente, hacer amigos y compartir las mejores de nuestras experiencias … y sobre todo generaar un impacto positivo en nuestras vidas y en la sociedad =D

Hasta la proxima !!!!!

Qué es EduAction para mi?

Por Betel Sánchez from Mexico

Al llegar a Brasil no tenia claro lo que sería o lo me depararían estos 6 meses que tengo planeado estar aquí. Conocí EduAction gracias a un correo que me mando mi VP-OGX y me llamó la atención desde el inicio ya que los gráficos eran muy bien producidos y es el proyecto esta enfocado en la educación. Educación? Latinoamérica? Creo que tenemos mucho en común… las carencias nos unen pero ésta es la oportunidad de hacer un cambio desde nosotros mismos. Uno se va empapando del proyecto, das clases y los alumnos te ganan con una sonrisa. Aunado a esto, yo como diseñadora sentí la necesidad de apoyar desde mi campo de estudio así es que esto proyecto esta uniendo varias de las partes que forman parte de mi vida. Una la posibilidad de hacer amistades y conocer una sociedad más allá de ser un turista es simplemente emocionante, puede ser un deporte de alto riesgo pero vale la pena correrlo ya que se aprende y se vive cada día con gran intensidad no importando, que hay altos y bajos seguir delante es lo importante. Un trabajo social? Es pasar de la pasividad o neutralidad que nos somete la tecnología a un campo de acción real donde no se que resultados serán los obtenidos ya que las variables han cambiado por lo que soy optimista y creo que serán para bien. Por último seguir desenvolviendo en mi área de trabajo fue una sorpresa ya que no lo esperaba, las posibilidades aparecen donde uno menos lo espera. Este proyecto no tengo mas que solo agradecer todo lo que me esta permitiendo desarrollar.

BTL

What are we doing in the classrooms?

School is boring. It’s the reality for most children in the world – in Brazil and as well as on the other side of the world, in Japan. Many students try to sit in the back of the class, some of them are ready to sleep.
We are here in Brazil to show these kids the world. Our team is from Chile, Peru and Japan. We teach them about our countries and culture and discuss about entrepreneurship, sustainability, social responsibility and world issues. Each time we return to the classrooms we see them opening their eyes wider, listening more carefully and joining our activities more actively. We encourage them to think and act for themselves.
I learned that many Brazilian children dream to become soccer players. Every day, more and more, I feel that Brazilian culture is so powerful. Just look at the many incredible festivals they can organize!. They have enough power to do anything they want, but they don’t have a vision for their future, they just don’t know what they could be doing. We show how much different and bigger the world is than what they’ve been taught so far, so that they would become eager to learn even more. The more knowledge they have, the more opportunities they have.
One day a pupil told me that the classes are so interesting, now he knows different things about the world. I was so happy that I can’t put this feeling into words.  

Aya from Japan
村上綾

A escola é chata. É a realidade para a maioria das crianças no mundo – no Brasil e, assim como no outro lado do mundo, no Japão. Muitos estudantes tentam sentar no fundo da classe, e outros deles estão prontos para dormir.
Estamos aqui no Brasil para mostrar o mundo a essas crianças o mundo. Nossa equipe é do Chile, Peru e Japão. Nós estamos ensinándo-os sobre nossos países e da cultura e discutir sobre empreendedorismo, sustentabilidade, responsabilidade social e as questões do mundo. Cada vez que voltarmos às salas de aula os vemos as crianças abrir mais os seus olhos, ouvindo com mais cuidado e juntar ás nossas atividades de forma mais ativa. Nós os encorajamos a pensar e agir por si mesmos.
Uma dia, eu sei que muitas crianças brasileiras sonham em se tornar jogadores de futebol. Todos os dias, eu penso que o povo brasileiro tem muita energia. Basta olhar como particiupam das fiestas. Eles têm energia suficiente para fazer o que quiserem, mas eles não têm uma visão para o futuro, eles simplesmente não sabem o que poderiam estar fazendo. Nos  queremos mostrar como o mundo é muito diferente e maior do que aquilo que foi ensinado até agora, para que as crianças pudessem se tornar ansioso para aprender ainda mais. E ampliar seus horizontes. Quanto mais conhecimento que elqas têm, mais oportunidades elas terão.
Um dia um aluno me disse que as aulas são tão interessantes, agora ele sabe coisas diferentes sobre o mundo. Eu fiquei tão feliz que não posso colocar estes sentimentos em palavras.

Cultural Diversity at Brasil Japão

This was my second week of classes at Brasil Japão.  I have two in the afternoon, one with 5th and 6th graders, and a second with 7th and 8th graders.

 Part of understanding diversity is identifying differences

These are by far my hardest classes to give.  For one thing, it’s just me in the classroom.  At CEU Butatã, I’m a guest lecturer that just steals the class from Rosana (the regular teacher) for one section during the week.  Usually Rosana will take roll, give me an introduction – it’s still her classroom and her rules.

At Brasil Japão, suddenly it’s my classroom and my rules.  Which is a little bit terrifying.  Last week was good becuase 1) Introductions are my favorite (everyone’s on their best behavior) and 2) we did cubes for the majority of class, so there was no worry about running out of time.  In fact we went way over time and I had to pack up the cubes to be completed at a later class period.

 We played Country Charades

This class on cultural diversity, for some reason, was really hard for me to

come up with a solid lesson plan.  As a teacher, it felt really disjointed,  and it was hard to fill the forty five minutes with things for my students to do.  In the second class, I felt like I was missing some giant chunk of the lesson – not helped by the fact that by the time I got to the end, I still had 10 minutes left over.

The kids in my class were really well behaved, but I worried that I was boring them, or not providing enough hands on interaction that was really opening up their mindsets to a new way of looking at things.  I wanted this class to be perfect, for each and everyone of my students to walk out of the classroom with new eyes to see the world, and I feel like that didn’t happen. I’m afraid that they didn’t really learn anything new.

Part of what makes Brasil Japão hard for me (at least for the day classes) is the fact that the classroom doesn’t have a black board.  As a visual person, I need to write things down to organize my thoughts.  Without a blackboard, I’m twice as likely to get lost halfway through the lesson.  I felt kind of lost the whole time without somewhere to record what I was trying to get across.  I’ve asked the administration for a board – they don’t have one available for me.  This class, I made do with the bookshelves and pieces of paper, and I’m on the hunt for flip chart paper for next week!

 

Classroom at Brasil Japão

Classroom set up for Diversidade Cultural

The second hardest thing about Brasil Japão are the other students at the school.  Only 40 kids were selected to participate in the EduAction program – those that their professors thought had the most open minds and interest in learning.  That leaves a lot of kids out, and curious about what’s going on.  In a perfect world, I’d love to have all of the kids in my class.  There were a few that sneaked in last week that weren’t invited to come back this week, that I really wanted to be in the classroom with me – they really did want to be there last week and genuinely seemed interested in what I had to say.  But I don’t want to encourage rule breaking by rewarding them with participation, so they had to stay in their own classes this week.  It’s difficult to sort out, at times, who should and should not be in the class, so I’m writing up a roll call list for next week based on who was present this week.

There’s also the issue of kids who aren’t in class who try to disrupt my classes during the day.  I had various kids opening the door and yelling obscenities into the classroom in the middle of a class period.  I’m not really sure what the best way is to deal with the ‘disrupters’ – I know that to an extent all they want is a reaction out of me.  And they’re awfully good at getting it.  I’m still trying to figure out the best way to deal with them – I want to show them compassion but I’m not sure if that’s really the best method of dealing with them.  I mentioned it to the school administrator – she says they’re an issue that all the teachers and their parents are aware of – basically these kids have no authority figures.  So I’m a bit at a loss of what to do.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to deal with disruptive kids (who aren’t part of the class), I’d love to hear them!

My night class was about 1000 times better.  This is my adult class, and at first I was really hesitant about how well my message would resonate with the students, but the students seemed really interested in what I had to say and

Night class at Brasil Japão

asked a lot of questions.  I wonder if part of the reason that the adult class was better than the kids classes was because I was more relaxed, and therefore took more time to explain concepts.  With the kids, I often find myself trying to rush through explanations of ideas, in an attempt to simplify the lessons to an understandable level, but I often end up being more confusing thatn clarifying, I think.  Goal: be as relaxed around my kids as I am with adults.

I’m looking forward to next week’s classes.  I’ve got Leadership at CEU Butatã, Entrepreneurship at Brasil-Japão, and my last week of Cultural Diversity at Ibrahim Nobre.

The time of Sao Paulo

EduAction – São Paulo – Schools Overview

It’s hard to believe that we’re already in the third week of classes here at EduAction – São Paulo edition (1.0).  For some of my classes, that is – one of the schools here has their first class this week!  To give you a rough overview of where the EduAction impact will be here in São Paulo, here’s a rough overview of the schools where I’ll be teaching.

CEU Butatã:

Expectation Cubes in progress at CEU Butatã

If there ever was a model for public school education in Brazil, this school would be in the running for top 10.  With a swimming pool, computer lab, theater group, chess club, and enthusiastic teachers, this school is almost too cool for itself.

My classes here are the biggest but also the most organized.  I’m teaching as a “guest lecturer” for Rosana, a geography teacher, as part of her 8th grade classes’ globalization unit.  As with all my classes, we have class once a week.  There are four different sections that I teach, each with about 25 kids, so about 100 kids worth impact at this school – my biggest audience overall.  I teach here on Mondays and Tuesdays.

This class is the farthest along in terms of our time-line – we’re already in our third week – Entrepreneurship!

We’ve already covered our Intro class, where the students built Expectation cubes (origami paper cubes that hold 6 goals).  We’re going to use these in our last class to drive a discussion on personal goal setting.  Last week was our class on Cultural Diversity where students were challenged to trade amonst themselves without speaking Portuguese – a lesson in “cross – cultural” communication.  More on this week in an upcoming post!

Overall, this school has been really easy to work with.  The only issues have been a decided lack of ability to show any videos or powerpoints, but I think that this limitation has forced me to make the classes more dynamic.  So a good thing, after all.

Brasil – Japão

Brasil Japão - Sala de Leitura

Considered a bit of a challenging teaching environment, Brasil – Japão is probably closer to a real Brazilian public school than CEU.  Every teacher at CEU Butatã wants to know if B-J is as disorganized as they’ve heard.  TO their credit, the teachers and staff at B-J have been incredibly supportive and welcoming to the EduAction project, and the kids that were selected to participate seem really motivated.  However, the few times that I’ve been there, I can’t help shake the feeling that this school is mostly run by the kids.

I have three classes here: 1 with 5th and 6th graders, 1 with 7th and 8th graders, and one night class with adults.  The classes are run during the same time as their regular classes.  The BJ administrators selected students that they thought would benefit the most from participating in EduAction, so I get to steal them from class for one period during the school day.

It’s just me in these classes, so I feel a lot of pressure to keep the kids focused on learning the material.  We had our first class here last week, our Intro class.  The start was a bit rocky, as the classroom I’m using didn’t have a blackboard, but the kids really seemed to like making their own expectation cubes – they were sad about having to turn them back into me at the end of the class. This week we’ll be covering Cultural Diversity.

Ibrahim Nobre 

This school is running the farthest behind schedule out of all of my classes.  I’m going to have just one class, during the morning because the students have their regular classes during the afternoon.  In this school, the EduAction project is going to be just with 5th graders, and will be run like an extracurricular program, outside of the regular school day.  My first class will be here on Wednesday of this week (tomorrow!), and I’m excited about meeting my last class.