Bilel Soufi, Andrew Al yacoub, Matilda Fayard and Syrine Benkabia

                                                                                       Mrs Sylvie Guillaume

                                                                                       European Member of Parliament

                                               Vice président of the European Parliament

                                                                                       European Parliament

Object : Considerations about human rights in the “Comenius” project.

                                                                                             Vaulx-en-velin, December 15th, 2014     

Dear Ms.Guillaume,

We are four students from the Robert Doisneau high school in Vaulx-en-Velin, and for the European project “Comenius” we will travel in Slovakia from January 18th to 24th. Each travel managed by “Comenius” have a subject. Our subject is the human rights.

We have chosen to work on “Forum Réfugiés” and refugees right in France. We visited the “CADA” (Reception Center for Asylum Seekers) in Vaulx-en-Velin, and we found  few inconveniences which can be resolved. Firstly, before our visiting in the “CADA” of Vaulx-en-Velin, we didn’t know the difference between immigrant, refugee and illegal immigrant. It proves to be very important to know this difference.

We would like to know if you can write it in the civics book for high school, so that the students assimilate the difference and are not fooled by any media or, unfortunately, some of our politicians. In addition, we would like to ask you if it is possible to build a child playground in the “CADA” of Vaulx-en-Velin. Indeed, the average residence time is 18 months, which is endless for children of refugees who need a right to a playground. At last, we found that there is an insufficient number of housings for a large number of refugees.

Would it be possible to invest in housings in order to remedy this question ?

Yours faithfully,

Bilel, Matilda, Andrew et Sirine,High school students of Robert Doisneau.

On 26th June 2015, the last day of the school year in Poland, there was a closing ceremony of Comenius project "Through Small Steps to Giant Leaps".

Those present at the school assembly hall could watch a few films summarizing the exchange visits and topics of the meetings.The whole school community and the invited guests, including the representatives the local authorities, could listen to students' memories and opinions, as well as taste a delicious cake. We hope to meet all our Comenius friends from the other schools again in the near future. Thank you all for the wonderful cooperation.

Below are a few pictures from the ceremony:

here are the speeches made by the students taking part in the last meeting in Hungary (June 2015):

1.

Why am I proud of being European?

We, the teenagers from eleven different European states: Italy, Germany, Greece, Hungary, France, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey, have all gathered here as a result of a Comenius Project called: “Through Small Steps to Giant Leaps – my contribution to a United Europe”. After two years of fruitful cooperation, we would like to share our views on being part of this international experience based on cooperation and mutual understanding. We, the active citizens, despite coming from different cultural backgrounds have all been successful in reaching our common goals. Our small steps became huge leaps in such areas as art and culture, environment protection, common economic policy, social organizations, political systems, human rights, entrepreneurship, health and safety.

Being European does not mean being the same but it means leading a life in a democratic world and contributing to making our land a better place to live for each individual. We are proud to be here, we are proud to speak openly and we are proud to have met all the fantastic people within the last two years. However, we are most proud, as Europeans, to be able to say that:

• we can travel freely from country to country, widening our knowledge about other nations and becoming more tolerant as well as understanding,
• we learn about lifestyles of our peers from other countries and have a chance to learn from each other respecting our own roots,
• we can take part in international projects aimed at broadening our knowledge and improving language skills – the two skills so important in our future life,
• we make friends with whom we keep in touch for long, friends who might speak another language but still friends who will respect our opinions and priorities,
• we run common policies aimed at dealing with problems and in this way we prevent undesired consequences all European countries may suffer from,
• we can develop our interests and hobbies which we choose ourselves, thus having freedom of choice,
• we develop our language skills thanks to which we can communicate with people all over the world,
• we can study and work in another country, being treated equally and receiving the same standards of education and social care

We hope our experience and knowledge will help us follow the ideas of active citizenship and will be an inspiration for other young people who not only dream about doing something worthwhile for the community they live in, learn and work, but also want to invest in their own future, making friends for life and becoming more open minded.

Grójec, 24^th November 2014

Mr Andrzej Grzyb

Coordinator of the Human Rights Subcommittee of the European Parliament

Dear Sir,

We are writing to express our point of view on a sentence given to Endy Gęsina-Torres, who made a footage about a horrible situation in the refugees’ center in Białystok. He was accused and convicted to pay a PLN 2000,00 fine. We strongly disagree with this judgement.

Endy Gęsina- Torres in his reportage wanted to show the conditions in the refugees’ center in Białystok. He was caught at the border and the police put him in the refugee center. Endy introduced himself as a Cuban and signed papers with a false name. He lied about his family story and hard life situation. Thanks to this for three weeks he could stay with other refugees. He was able to know their violent stories and he saw how the staff treated their subordinates. Endy Gęsina- Torres recorded every situation with his hidden camera . Thanks to that he could make a reportage. All the people in Poland and other countries can find out about the scandalous behavior in this center. The crime came to light and the reporter was accused of breaking the law.

We strongly disagree with the sentence. He was wrongly accused. He was wrongly sentenced. Endy
Gęsina- Torres worked in defense of human rights. Moreover, he wanted to change the situation in the refugees center. What is more, he is a journalist so showing the truth was his duty. He had a good intention and it is all that matters. Endy Gęsina-Torres should not have been sentenced. He had broken the law but in good faith. Thanks to him, now refugees have better life in such places.

I hope this matter will be reconsidered and Endy Gęsina Torres will be found innocent. Thank you in advance for your assistance. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

Martyna Zieja and Milena Wojda

Comenius Project partcipants

How to protect the environment?

1. On an individual level

a) Save energy:

• Switch off the light when you leave the room.
• Turn off the TV when you don’t watch it.
• Turn off the radio when you don’t listen to it.
• Turn off your computer when you don’t use it.
• Use energy saving light bulbs.

b) Save water:

• Take a quick shower instead of a bath.
• Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth.
• Let a dishwasher wash your dishes – it uses less water.
• Collect rainwater – ideal for plants.

c) Save trees:

• Use both sides of paper for writing or drawing
• Do not makebonfiresin the forestifthere is nodesignated place
• Make sure you do not waste space on a piece of paper

d) Take care of cleanliness around you:

• Throw rubbish into a trash bin
• Clean up after your dog when you take it for a walk
• Sort rubbish.
• Don’t litter the streets.

e) Do the smart shopping:

• Pay attention to what you buy - is it made of recyclable materials?
• Buy only what you need.
• Take your own shopping bag instead of using plastic carrier bags.
• Choose glass packaging instead of plastic one.

f) Think about the stuff you throw away:

• Do not throw away your toys or clothes you don’t use any more

– they may be useful for someone else.

• Compost organic waste (for high quality organic fertilizer).

g) Do not pollute the environment with exhaust fumes:

• Walk or cycle to school rather than going by car.
• Share a car – 4 people in a car rather than 4 separate cars.
• Use public transport.
• Use unleaded petrol.

h) Do not forget about the environment:

• Talk to your family members about different ways of protecting the environment.

2. On a national level

• Support reasonablemanagement of the environment.
• Support the the government’s pro-ecological policies.
• The government should take advantage of renewable sources of energy.
• More money should be spent on eco-friendly technologies (e.g. in a car or heating industry).
• There should be more recycling power plants built.
• People should be encouraged not to use coal to heat houses.
• There should be more city bikes.
• More focus on environment education at school from a very early age.
• Protect endangered species in nature reserves.
• Educate the community in the field of waste collection
• Management ofenvironmental resourcesin accordance with theprinciple of sustainable development.
• Counteract pollution.
• Createnational parks andmonuments of nature.
• Recycling.

2. On an international level

• There should be management ofenvironmental resourcesin accordance with theprinciple of sustainable development.
• Countries should cooperate to counteract air pollution or water contamination.
• Createnational parks and nature reserves
• Share knowledge and the latest technological devices to save the environment.
• Make sure the standards and regulations are followed by all the countries.
• Introduce common laws concerning the use of alternative sources of energy.