This school year 2018/19 the school linking focus is on the everyday life of children/youth in different countries. For this we collected short videos with our volunteers’ help in Estonia, Ukraine, Ghana and Uganda.
Short video is taken with a camera or a cell phone.
Check here how Oskar and Eva – Maria start their morning and find out what other activities they do during the schoolday in Estonia!
The celebration of European Sustainable Development Week in Estonia lasted 
from May 1st until June 6th 2017. It was a cooperation project between AIESEC in Estonia and NGO Mondo, Estonian National Coordination of UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network (supported by UNESCO National Commision and Estonian Ministry of Education and Research).
The two AIESEC volunteers, Amy Corcoran and Wentao Pu both came to Estonia from Canada. In cooperation with Mondo’s experts we developed the following workshops:
1) Multuculturalilty in Canada
2) Orienteering game on SDGs
3) Comics on SDGs
4) Sustainable consumption
Project was devided in five stages:
2-5 May – Cultural preparation and introduction to #globalgoals
8-12 May – School related preparation
15-19 May – School visits
22-26 May – School visits
29 May -6 June – School visits
Altogether the ESD week activities reached over 550 students in differenet parts of Estonia adding up to 21 academic hours of workshops, exchanges and positive thinking!
A intruduction to project värviline maailma (colorful world)
Valga Gymnasium offers from last spring to valga city basic school students a career training courses. Course purpose is to help basic school students to choose what comes next, to introduce different jobs, and schools speciality, which is also the UNESCHO school status. The courses are everymonth on friday and last for 5 hours. Over the year there was seven school days. Two days of course we devoted Global Education themes. In the end of the course 64 students got a diplom.
In April we prepared lots of preparations ,because we wanted to do something special for that day and we wished that our students also would take part in organizing, listeners and also took part in them.
Sushi making workshop
The day started in the school kitchen, where students were waited by nori sheets, sushi mats and boiled rice. Luckily some of the students have already tried to made it and therefore they were also helping to organize. Half of the group spinned the sushi rolls and the second half made Japanese Fresh rolls. This fresh rolls were rolled to a thin rice leaves with hot water. In the iniside there was a cucumber, pepper, shrimp sticks, carrots and so on. The fresh rolls was a clear under the colorful of the inside.
With laughter and more fun hour and a half there was lots of tasty foods for later eating.
Tibetan in school
School had invited a adventurer called Roy Strider with a real tibetian Dolma and they bringed a Tibetian dog Karma.
All the school and the course students listened them with pleasure of their adventurous stories. Dolmas story was translated to the students by Roy Strider. Dog only slept all the day :). Questions didn’t want to end. Even after the course everybody asked lot of questions. That exotical person we haven’t seen in school before.
Japanese workshop
Japanese workshop aim was to but the students to a new situation. The classroom was made a japanese style with Geishas. In the room was a incense smoke and the fresh air gave cherry blossoms. To the room you could enter from a 66cm door, you needed to bent down to get in.
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When you enter you had to take your shoes off and but them near the door. Visitors were hosted by the house ladies, who bented down and silently leaded visitors to their carpet on the ground. When the visitors had sit on the carpet then they offered some Chinese tea. Popcorn and rice and good smell made the tea tasty. Students shared their cups like the traditional japanese way and prayers.
Japanese tradition showed our geishas who were actually our 11 grade students with silent waving water and music they shared the visitors eating sticks and visitors tried to eat what they had made in the morning
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In the workshop there was 25 students so silent and were so impressed by the food and they enjoyed it. And when the lesson ended the bented opposite with the women and turned around and left the house.
Tibetian workshop
This room had a tibetian flag and some good prayres on the pages Students were sitting on the carpets and pillows and then listened to the tibetian women who talked about high mountains. Also there was Tibetian music. In the middle of the classom there was butten a camping stove, because when Dolma talked she could make some traditional Jaki tea. Students looked impressed because they hadn’t seen it before. They had never seen that a butter and salt was butten in there so much.
In the building the smell was rich and different. When the tea was ready everybody tried it. Who said it was good and some said it was disgusting nobody felt cold about the tea or Dolma and Roy’s story- Visitor also singed us a children song, which was really old song. Tibetian dog Karma still sleeped all the time when we talked. Everytime they changed the workshops with differend groups so that both groups can get their.
Also to make the day more colorful, in the kitchen there was some Asian food. After the workshops there was a poll and this global education workshop winned every heart. The Project was helped by MTU Mondo. The Career days were made by the wonderful team, were belonged Andrus Murumaa, Pille Olesk, Meelis Oja and Triinu Ugur. In the workshops were project helpers from the 11. grade students.
During our event, Thailand’s kitchen was introduced by the chefs at the restaurant Vaga Mama. They showed the students different techniques how to make different Thailand dishes. Additionally the students could create their own dish. When the food was ready it was time to eat. The food was very delicious and everyone was satisfied.
The primary school class 5 students from Miina Härma Gümnaasium draw pictures of their school lunch and sent them with two Estonian ladies to Kongo, Ghana for a display at Kongo Primary School.
The Mondo teacher John Bire organised the exhibition on 15th of December 2015. But first the pupils had to discover from the pictures the items of food that are common for both Estonian and Ghanaian students like chicken, tomatoes, cucumber, bread and carrots. But there was also a lot to discover for Kongo students: beloved fruits like cherries were even unknown for the teacher. Another aspect the pupils found bizarre was the fact that most Estonian students drink milk with their lunch.
Kongo Primary school is one of the lucky schools that benefits from the national school feeding programme. Not all schools and students have this luxury. When you take a look at the poster, notice also the section dedicated for hygiene in the lower left section and how all of the family is involved in the process: father is farming, mother is cooking and children are happily in school!
Take a look at the menu and go check what foods were banku and okro! Also compare the menu with yours at school and to the recommended food pyramid.
Estonian pupils are eager to receive replies to discover more in detail the Ghanaian food!
Kunda Ühisgümnaasium has a tradition of holding topical project days at the end of every school term. The idea of these days is to give students different outlook on life and teach them using different methodology. What is more, students can compile their own timetables by choosing from different workshops. Even the students groups are formed based on their interest rather than age.
As Christmas was at the door, the Food Day held on the 21st December was related to food and traditions of that time. Students were given the opportunity to compile their own timetable – they decided themselves which workshop to participate.
Elementary school students learned different fruits. They solved puzzles, wrote poems, drew pictures, played the game „The World of Fruits“. Poems and pictures were depicted and demonstrated to all the students interested in the matter.
http://learningapps.org/1924231
http://learningapps.org/1924250
Year 4, year 5 and year 6 students could pick between different activities: cooking, glazing gingerbreads, making hand-made candies, and herb teas. They also learned how to lay the table and table manners. What is more, students visited a local cafe „Saarepiiga“ where traditional Christmas food was served, Christmas traditions were talked about and different games were played.
Even the (wild) animals of the local forest had the opportunity to participate our Food Day. Year 4 students went hiking and took food (carrots, cabbages, potatoes) to wild animals and birds. In order to see how farm animals are taken care of in winter, students visited a local farm. As a reflection students were asked to write reports and draw pictures about their farm or forest experience.
Year 7, year 8 and year 9 students could also pick between different workshops. Students could make themselves a wooden butter knife in a handicraft´s workshop. Both boys and girls could attend that workshop. English workshops concentrated on Christmas food and traditions all over the world. Students listened to Christmas music, read poems, played games and did crosswords. Students also played Jeopardy, where a lot of questions were related to Christmas food and traditions. Christmas smells and plants which are commonly used during Christmas were also spoken about.
jeopardylabs.com/play/julukuldvillak3.
Students played „A Wheel of Woders“/ „Wheel of fortune“, where questions as well as prizes were fruits and vegetables. In a computer class students compiled e-cookery book about Christmas dishes. Unfortunately 45 minutes was not enough to add pictures.
https://www.widbook.com/ebook/read/joulutoidud
Year 7 students had a practical survival workshop. They learned how to survive in the forest. Students had to find food and heat themselves with items from nature. The teacher was supported and helped by the representatives of Estonian Defence League.
Students also played the game „World Kitchen“. The idea of the game is to match traditional food and the country it comes from. Later, students could see the image of the dish on the Internet.
Physically active students could do sports in a local gym and pool. After being physically active for some time they counted the calories they had lost.
At the end of the day we had the traditional Christmas Cafe where students sold self-made products and performed on stage.
On Friday, 27th November 2015 Year 8 students presented different fruits from around the world and the entire school took part of the lecture. It was possible to listen, look and taste the fruits. More than 20 different fruits were introduced: where and how they grow, how the plantations look like, who the major manufacturers are, why these fruits are good for you and how they can be used.
Students and teachers could taste avocado, persimmon, tangerine, pomelo, grapes, pomegranate, grapefruit, melon, kiwi, orange, watermelon, banana, pineapple, lime, physalis, kumquat, and papaya. Dragon fruit, carambola, feijoa, and lychee were also shown. Many looked the exotic fruits suspiciously and dared to taste only the familiar ones. The purchase of fruits was financed by MTÜ Mondo and the members of student representative board came to school early in the morning to clean and prepare the fruits.
At the end of the lecture, teams of students from Year 1 to 5 had to complete a quiz on their mobile phones using Socrative, an online learning environment.
Though this kind of event was organised for the first time, it proved to be a success and some thoughts have been already gathered for the next year.
Ingela Uussalu, the spokeperson of student representative board
World Food Week in Väike-Maarja (in Lääne-Viru county) took place on 16th to 20th of November in 2015. The activities stroked senses and encouraged to think about food and its origin.
On 17th of November we had meetings, lectures and cooking classes with an inspiring guest, Mrs Liina Saaremäe, a representative of NGO Mondo. The subject of the day was “Food in Ghana and Ghanaian food”.
The day began with Liina’s meeting with our pupils in elementary scool (1st-4th classes). We learned that Liina is an Estonian school teacher, who was deployed by the NGO Mondo to the Republic of Ghana in West-Africa to do volunteer work. As an introduction, every child had to choose a candy: raisin in cocoa, almond in cocoa or hazelnut in cocoa. They were told about the cocoa and the fact that in Kalevi kommivabrik nearly 70% of cocoa comes from Ghana, a country which was the main topic of the day. Pupils learned about Ghanaian life, society and food. The best questioners were awarded a bookmark-rulers and teachers received different proverbs to discuss their significance in classes. The pupils were shown and given to sniff a kalebass – a bowl made of pumpkin, from which people in Ghana are eating.
On the same day, we had a next meeting in Väike-Maarja with Liina and our older students from 5th-12th classes and vocational school. At first, Liina opened the meaning of volunteering. Her volunteer work in Ghana took place in 2014. As we learned, her responsibility was to develop cooperation, global education and humanitarian assistance. Her specific tasks in Ghana were teachers methodical training and food projects, plus additional lessons to teach children to read and write. With numerous images and stories she shared her moments in Ghana – so called ice cream (or frozen juice in a plastic bag), Ghanaian national dishes, custom to carry things on your head, we all learned the Ghanaian hello “toma-toma” and the Ghanaian approving rhythmic clap. It was eyes-opening and interesting to learn that food and eating is of vital importance in Ghana, and a private activity – even so private, that the dinner guest is left alone to eat in the hut. Our students were directed to think about the one billion people in the world who live below the poverty line.
As in Väike-Maarja we also have a vocational school, Liina held a cooking course for vocational students and their supervisors. Together they prepared a Ghanaian dish called „red-red“ that was served with fried bananas. The participants all agreed – the result was delicious. Liina had only positive words about the active cookers, who were even ready to take a next cooking lesson by the end of the class.
During the week our pupils had a possibility to taste various countries breads, participate in photo competition of world food and recipes. Food provided by the school canteen was also by the week theme, from different regions of the world – Ukrainian, Italian, Chinese, the Mediterranean, Estonian. Primary school added a playful nuance – a guessing game about the region of the food for the children. Different nationalities from the Vao refugee center nearby came to school to introduce, share recipes and offer their snacks – Ukrainian pancakes with cottage cheese, biscuits from Afghanistan and Dagestan.
There’s no doubt, World Food Week brought new tastes and ideas to Väike-Maarja. We are grateful to all the people, who contributed to the success of the World Food Week, especially to you, dear Liina, and NGO Mondo!
Heili Nõgene
Public Relations Specialist
Väike-Maarja Gymnasium
This event took place as a part of world month named “World’s Different Faces”, read more here:
https://maailmahariduspeetris.wordpress.com/maailmapaevad-2015/
Few weeks ago, when it was our cooking class, we got to meet a volunteer from Ghana. At the beginning she introduced us Ghana’s traditions and different foods and then she introduced us what we were going to cook. So the meal was made of fried bananas and some spicy sauce called „red-red“. It was a bit surprising that African people don’t eat bananas as a dessert. Bananas are considered as a salty food or a dish.
When it was time to start cooking, we were told what to do and then we started. At first, some of us fried the raw bananas and the others were making the sauce. Our food was smelling so good that some teachers even came and peeked into our kitchen to see what we were doing. Besides cooking African food, we got to hear different stories about volunteering life in Africa. Finally it was time to eat our delicious meal and we were positively surprised about the good taste of fried bananas with „red-red“ sauce. We are thankful for that fun experience.
The Family Day World Food ´in Tsirguliina Secondary School – click on the image below to view the pictures!
If the link does not work, please go through here: photopeach.com/embed/vooeod
Food for Thought Mondo 