Updates from Stanka Krivokapic’s Class in Priboj, Serbia

Posters

We have our meetings at school, so on the first meeting we made posters. Our teacher gave us some photos and we were supposed to describe what was on them. I had the feeling I was in Hungary again. I wrote under each photo what’s on it. I chose the ones with the examples of love: 1. love for family, 2. love between boy and girl, 3. love between friends.

In the first photo I’m standing near the lake Balaton, watching the water and crying because I remembered my family and feeling homesick. In the second Žika and I are talking on the grass and he got a gift for me. On the third Luka and Denis are hugging a wooden doll in front of a shop in Tihany where we were on a trip.

The Web

In Hungary, time which was named “classes” we spent in a totally different way. Our classrooms were changed for blue sky and green grass. On rainy days we were doing “the web” for example and sang songs and that was our sun. One of our teachers, Nada Čičić from Prijepolje showed us how to do this great activity.

The web was incredibly simple and very beautiful. Each person who was part of the web got one end of the rope. He or she held that end and threw the rope to someone else with a warm friendly message for example: I like you, because you are... It’s easy. I loved it and like Mary Lou said, it was the web of our friendship. I can still remember the shape of that web.

Katarina Petaković, Priboj

Stanka Krivokapic’s Class Creates a Web

The web was incredibly simple and very beautiful. Each person who was part of the web got one end of the rope. He or she held that end and threw the rope to someone else with a warm friendly message for example: I like you, because you are... It’s easy. I loved it and like Mary Lou said, it was the web of our friendship. I can still remember the shape of that web.

Katarina Petaković, Priboj

Trip to Tihany…By Uroš Čeprnja (11), Croatia

Trip to Tihany

by Uroš Čeprnja (11), Croatia

On August 13th ( Monday ) we woke up very early, at 6.00 a. m. All the campers were very tired and sleepy because it was really early, but we were very excited too because it was our first field trip.

House 1 and 2 was going by bus am to Balatonboglar from where we had to take on the boat, House 3 and 4 had to wait because we all couldn’t fit in one bus. The bus was late so, the campers had to hurry because the boat was going in 9.30 am. It was very funny to run to catch the boat. The lake Balaton looks a lot bigger when you are on a boat in the middle of it and feels like you are traveling on the sea. I was very surprised. After we arrived to Tihany we split into teacher-student groups, and we started walking up on the hill witch was really tiring. Tihany is a small town in Hungary. There was a museum on the top of Tihany I weren’t there so I cant describe how is in it. After we got down we waited few hours for boat. We had some good fun in Tihany and I want everyone to go and see for himself, because Tihany is a small beautiful town. And it is famous as well because in Document of Fundation from year 1055 there is the first Hungarian written sentence in ancient Hungarian language: a Feheruau rea meneh hodu utu rea, which means: on the way to Fehervar. Thurch and the monastery of the Abbey are the two most well-known sights of Tihany. King András died in year 1060 and he lies in a crypt on Tihany.

If you come to Tihany you should visit: the Abby, the inner lake, the Puppet Museum and you should stop on the hill to enjoy the beautiful view of the lake Balaton.

“Language is a form of communication...” - Interview with director of ``TTTE`` camp Kathleen Freis, by Arbër Kadriu (14), Kosovo

“Language is a form of communication...”
Interview with director of ``TTTE`` camp Kathleen Freis
by Arbër Kadriu (14), Kosovo

Arbër Kadriu: What’s TTE camp? What’s the reason of this camp?
Kathleen Freis: TTTE Camp stands for “Teaching Tolerance Through English.” I believe the purpose of this camp is to invite people to talk about their differences and similarities, to find common understandings, respect each other’s opinions, and to learn new ways of seeing the world around us.
A: Do you think teaching tolerance has a connection with teaching English?
K: Absolutely, I believe that language is a form of communication and we need to communicate, to listen and to develop good questions to learn more about one another, how to live and work together and how to be more effective in how we express ourselves.
A: How many students and teachers are here? Where are they from?
K: There are 70 students and 14 teachers and they are from Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, Kosovo, Romania, and Serbia as well as 2 language specialists from the U.S. and 8 camp counselors from Hungary, Slovenia and the U.S.
A: Do you think the campers can use the knowledge they gained here at home?
K: Absolutely! I would like to ask you this question, actually, since you are one of the campers...still, I believe students and teachers should ask themselves what respect and peace and other issues mean to them personally, how it applies and might look in their lives within their different communities and how they can take personal responsibility to stand up for what they believe in.
A: Are you satisfied with the camp achievements?
K: Absolutely, I’m very impressed with the courtesy, interest and friendship that have developed here among so many different ethnicities, backgrounds and lifestyles. This camp is a reflection of what life presents us and it is an opportunity to think about and practice ways in which we will deal with difficulty, doing our best to create positive outcomes.
A: Where are you from?
K: I grew up in Metuchen, New Jersey. I live in Brooklyn, New York.
A: What are your hobbies?
K: If I have to choose one of my favorite hobbies, I love art, drawing and painting and to be outdoors, exercising and enjoying nature.
A: Why did you apply for this job? What were your personal goals?
K: I applied for this job in order to encourage, support and empower individuals, particularly youth, to deepen their awareness about important issues and to feel confident that they can make a difference in their own lives and the lives of others. The camp aims to foster dialogue among us and I believe it is comforting and encouraging to know that we all experience challenges and joys in life and that we are not alone.
Secondly, I desired to learn about and from the needs and interests of individuals from Eastern Europe and to test and, hopefully, improve and expand, what I know about fostering respect and peace among people. Most importantly, I desired to encourage, support and empower youth to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of others.
A: Have you had such an experience as this in your work?
K: Yes, my professional experience includes program development and organizational management with an emphasis on teacher training, curriculum development and youth development within the field of peace education on an international level. The closest experience to this one geographically was in Albania where I organized an international conference for peace educators and youth engaged in similar programs.
A: When you were a child, did you participate in such a camp?
K: No, I never went to camp as a child. I do not remember camps as meaningful as this being offered when I was young.
A: What is your message for the camp?
K: Make time for reflection on the topics and conversations shared here. Look at conflict as opportunity – asking yourself, what can I learn if I listen well and ask more? How can I act consistently with what I believe? Laugh as much as possible and make most anything you take on or pursue a lot of fun! And, come visit me in Brooklyn!

The Disco - by Flaka Sokoli (12), Kosovo

The Disco

by Flaka Sokoli (12), Kosovo

It was Thursday and everyone was excited because the DJ was coming and a big night was waiting for us.

After the dinner, all of us were getting ready for the disco. It was amazing! Later, the disco began. We needed a very short time to get comfortable and everyone started to dance. We pushed chairs to the middle of the dance floor and we danced on them. The dance started to be the best thing of the night and the romance began. Couples were in forming. This night was full of surprises and adventures and it ended with a romantic slow dance.

Even the DJ, who has been throwing parties for ten years, said he never ever had a party like this one: everyone was ready to have fun from the start!

How did you like the disco night?
Lilla (13, Hungary): I hate disco.
Bogdan (13, Romania): I liked it, but that music is not my type.
Danica (14, Montenegro): It was really good because the music was fantastic and the atmosphere was hot!
Nita (13, Kosovo): I liked it a lot because it was really fun and the music was great.
Kati (23, counselor): It was great! I had a wonderful night because I like dancing and being together.
Zsuzsi (23, counselor): I liked it very much because I like dancing and I hope the second one will be just as great as this one.
Rita (36, caretaker of camp Kaloria): I never had a party like this in this camp in the last five years that I have worked here. It was so vibrant!

How Do You Say? by Nita Këpuska, (13) Kosovo

How Do You Say In...?
by Nita Këpuska, (13) Kosovo

Use this dictionary in case of a tolerance camp to get to know people from different places, to communicate with them and make friends. Do not get confused about the tiny differences in pronunciation and melody of the different dialects, Montenegrin, Serbian and Croatian are almost the same languages! And if you cannot pronounce the different vowels, do not worry, use body language. That works!

Go to this link:
How Do You Say In...?

Animal Rights by Vjosa Shaqiri (15) & Vlora Qorri (15), Kosovo

Animal Rights

by Vjosa Shaqiri (15) & Vlora Qorri (15), Kosovo

All creatures in the world have their own rights, including their freedom.
Freedom is a big word that is harder to achieve than to enjoy, but usually we can get anything if we really want it. The worst is when you really want something but the others forbid you to do it. You try but some forces that are bigger stop you. Is this what we are doing with animals?
There are a lot of people that at least have tried to give an answer to this question. For example:

''In suffering, the animals are our equals''
Peter Singer

''The time will come when people such as I will look upon the murder of (other)

animals as they look upon the murder of human beings''
Leonardo Da Vinci

''I’m in favor of animal rights as well as human rights . That is the way of a whole

human being''
Abraham Lincoln

Also, there are a lot of international and private organizations as: “S.P.C.A.”,”P.E.T.A”, 'Center for animals welfare & anthrozoology’,”ETCO”, ”ABS”.etc... which support and speak for the rights of animals.

As campers we had the opportunity to see two real examples of animal treatment. We have seen the “dog show,” where we could see how useful police dogs can be .They can protect and attack but they also can be killed. All of us have seen that they’ve been trained very well to protect or attack people but what about them: have the dogs been trained to protect themselves? Anyway, they were great and we adore them.

Horses, elephants, dogs, camels – we have seen all of them in a circus. It was very good but also very painful. We really enjoyed the show until an elephant came to the stage that, it seems, was taught to do unnatural movements only for us. The horses were not in a better situation either. What does Zoltan think about seven men riding one horse? To him it was obvious that the horse was suffering.

The philosopher Jeremy Bentham said that “we believe that every creature with a will to live has a right to live free from pain and suffering.” The question is not, “Can they reason” nor “can they talk?”, but “Can they suffer?”

If you would not eat a dog why eat a pig? Dogs and pigs have the same capacity to feel pain but it is prejudice based on the species that allows us to think of an animal as a companion and the other one as dinner. The founder of P.E.T.A, an international organization Ingrid Newkirk said “when it comes to pain, love, joy, loneliness and fear, “A rat is a pig, is a dog, is a boy. Each one values his or her life and fight the knife” We have to accept them as members of the world and try not to cause suffering to them, we are human beings and we have the ability to be kind.
We have interviewed some of the kids in our camp for this topic. All the kids accept that the animals are not respected as they deserve to be.

All of them have claimed that people are the ones who mistreat animals most. Szekely Zoltan, a boy from Romania said that “between the animals fighting is a natural fact, but when human beings fight against the animals is not fair!” Vanja Jovičić from Croatia, speaking on the question of whether animal rights are respected in her country, said: “In my country they don’t respect rights of animals. There are many animals (dogs, cats) on the street. There are no people to care about them. Some of them take unnecessary dogs, put them in a packet and through them in the river.”

To live in freedom, to have a secure place to live, to not be hurt, to have enough food to eat: these are the conditions that animals deserve to live in. Those with this opinion were Sandra, Sergej, Rudina, Danica, Irina, Ivana, Erna, Lilla, and Vanja.

About the show that we have seen in circus, Arber from Kosovo and Ivana from Serbia think that they use animals to make people laugh, which is not right. Danica Cvorovic from Montenegro said that she couldn’t watch it. Zoltan, the Romanian boy, liked the show. Lilla, a 14-year-old girl from Hungary thinks that animals are not respected in the circus. These were some opinions of some kids about the show.

Now let me list some of the answers about the question “what did they think about using animals for personal benefits?” Ivana Zivkovic from Montenegro said, “that’s not right, [the animals] should free. Adrienn from Hungary ‘’very bad’’ Rudina Morina from Kosova thinks that sometimes it is better to be vegetarian to protect animals. We have another opinion from Ivana Mandic, who said ‘’This is alright, everyone uses animals for personal benefits‘’. Vanja Jovicic from Croatia said ‘’I don’t like it when the human is intelligent enough to fly to the moon and make atomic bombs [but still can’t find a way to live without exploiting animals]; he has to find another way to make money.Sandra Bestercan, 13 years old, like most of her friends thinks that it “is not right to use the animals for personal benefits.”

Also we have make an interview with a pretty woman that works in the camp, Szécsi Zsuzsa. She has lived for a long time at Lake Balaton. She told us that in her country the respect and rights of the animals are becoming more and more respected, and she also told us that are some organizations that works for this, for example the ”Blue Cross” and the ”White Cross”.
We were really interested in one question about other visitors to the camp like us. We wanted to know that if they like this kind of shows with animals. She said that most of the visitors that come here like the shows but there also are some of them who don’t like the shows, the way they treat the animals, and the animals’ conditions. She thinks that what people do to animals, the way they treat them, should be done back to them, because it’s not a kind way of behaving and people deserve it. Finally, her opinion on using the animals for personal benefits she added: “It depends how, some people have a lot of cows and it’s true they have benefits from them ,but they keep them on good conditions."

People are different and of course they have different opinions and that is natural. Animals in a way are linked very much with our life and absolutely true that we have benefits from them but some people don’t accept this ,they make laws against them. “With no contrary opinion I will go ahead and make this change” said Charles Patterson an author of the bestseller Our treatment of animals and the Holocaust. We as humble journalists are repeating this because we have to try to make changes for a better world. While we can not control the situation and be certain that things are going to be different we learned how to take action to make small and important steps to influence the changes that we want to see.

Teaching Tolerance through FUN

I’m a traveling English teacher. Japan, New York City, Kosovo and now I have the opportunity to work with the best of the best from Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, and Romania at the Teaching Tolerance Through English camp in the lake-side town of Balatonlelle, Hungary. Using language to guide students through discovery of themselves and other kids of the world is about as rewarding of a job as it comes . . . HOWEVER . . . learning a new language in the mind of its students often means concentration, studying and work making motivation a challenge at times. Too often they forget that the verbal part communication can be supplemented quite easily by a good laugh.

The sun had fallen so volleyball was difficult. Ping-pong had become old and the kids were looking a bit bored. So came the perfect opportunity to introduce one of the best night-time games to come out of the United States. Kick-the-can has simple rules. It’s basically tag and hide-and-seek tied up into one game. Mix in a little bit of team-work and covert strategies and you’ve got hours of fun in the dark. Two-minutes of explaining and one round of figuring it out was all it took to get a group of about 12 kids, and three adults to chase a plastic bottle around the camp grounds trying to free themselves from being tagged IT. When a new player joined they kids fought to be the ones to communicate the basic rules so they new playmate could have a laugh with us. Language and laughter . . . not always as easy as it sounds, but definitely effective when it happens.

Using a second language to communicate and get to know someone might not always be a barrel of laughs, but I do believe that one can always be found eventually. Whether in a classroom, at the breakfast table, around the campfire or on the field, laughs and language make an ideal recipe for communication. Molly Staeheli

Class Photos 1

Here are two of our classes at camp. We meet with our teachers every afternoon.

Class Photos

Here are more of the teachers and students at Camp Teaching Tolerance Through English. We're having a great time!

A Teacher's View

Monday, August 6, 2007

The day, having a topic called WHO ARE WE? Included a great variety of learning experiences meant to help students request information and introduce themselves to the others in a very original and interesting way.
Teachers were trained to use several types of teaching activities which they practiced with their group of students in the afternoon classes.
Developed in a completely relaxing atmosphere, the first activity consisted of lining students up according to different criteria like: date of birth, alphabetically by country of origin, etc. The second activity involved students in a game where they told the others their name, an adjective beginning with the same letter as their name, and a particular movement/gesture.
After these two activities, suitable mainly for the warm-up section of a lesson, students were told how to make an index card about the history of their lives, in which they should express their ideas especially by drawings. This strategy was particularly appreciated by students, who saw in it a wonderful opportunity to intermingle drawing and speaking English together with information sharing and expressing appreciation.
Another type of learning activity, enthusiastically received by the students, was the acrostic of their names, seen as an unexpected way of speaking about their feelings, desires, and hopes.
The brainstorm connected to an ideal classroom was meant to prepare students for a final poster in which they should express ground rules and other ideas about human relationships, personal involvement, creativity, inspiration and encouragement.
The song, “What a Wonderful World,” which students listened to and then sang together with the tape appealed to their sensitive part and, besides, was a starting point for further reflection about the beauty of the world as it is. Students were also invited to get the main idea and comment upon the message of the song.
In the feedback they got, teachers realized that, by integrating the skills of listening and speaking in an appropriate way, and by employing these teaching techniques and procedures students interested more easily and felt delighted about it. N
The idea of teachers working simultaneously with the same group was quite challenging and contributed to higher degree of dynamism, originality and understanding for the class.
Daniela Petrescu, Bacau, Romania

The Sculpture Game

My name is Petar Roca. I come from Herceg Novi, Montenegro. Last night we were making sculptures about a word the counselors gave us. The word for the sculpture in the picture was “exclusion.” Exclusion means when someone is not accepted in a group because of his looks or something else about him. The rules of the sculpture game were that everything must be done in silence, and that only one person could add to the sculpture at a time. And the sculpture could be changed many times. We made the sculpture out of all kinds of stuff, but the chair was in the middle of the sculpture. The chair represented one of the kids who has been excluded but then taken in again. On the chair, we put a yellow T-shirt, and a tennis racket. On the tennis racket, we used paper to make it look like a face. There was a smile on the face because that represented the kid who was excluded but is now accepted and that would make him happy. The activity was pretty fun and I think all enjoyed it.

About Teaching Tolerance through English Camp 2002

Teaching Tolerance through English is a project of the US Embassy in Budapest, now in it’s second year, working with Embassies from Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia and DIA - the Foundation for Democratic Youth in Budapest. Teachers and teenage students from Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia have come together in Ballatonlelle, Hungary, on lovely Lake Ballaton, for two weeks during August 2007 to learn about multicultural understanding and tolerance, human rights, and conflict resolution while they develop their English language proficiency. Teachers work with English language/ tolerance specialists from the US in the mornings while counselors conduct recreation activities with the teens. In the afternoon, teachers, in pairs from different countries, conduct lessons and activities on the theme for multicultural class groups.

On our blog, we will share photos and messages from campers, teachers, counselors, specialists, the camp director, and perhaps even a few visitors. We hope to hear back from our readers!

August 4

It's arrival day. Some of our teachers and campers had to travel 12 hours to get here. They're tired, but excited to find out what will happen at camp.

Our talented teachers come from all over central Europe and work in cross-cultural teaching teams with groups of students who also include members from many countries. They are adding strategies for teaching tolerance with English, using materials contributed by the US Embassy, the Teaching Tolerance project, and Thomson Heinle Publishers.

August 6

Today there was a very interesting discussion in one class after the teacher read aloud a selection from. You Can't Say You Can't Play, a book by Vivian Paley. Paley told about how it changed her classroom when the students and teacher made a rule that no one could say that someone couldn't play with them. Two students in the TTTE class tnen spoke about their school, where classes are segregated by ethnic groups. Serbian students were in some classes and Croatian students were others, but the two groups were never together. Some of the teachers at their school told their students never to interact with members of the other group. Students also reported that if they tried to play with students from another ethnic group, they were called "traitors" by their friends. They expressed frustration about the situation and wondered what they could do to change things – or if they could do anything at all. The students learned that this very situation is what our camp is created to address, and that we would work to learn many ways to promote tolerance and resolve conflicts, and that they could work on action plans with their teachers while they were here to take back to their schools.

August 6

My name is Peter Revisnyei. I come from Budapest, Hungary. This is my Index Card from the Index Card Introductions activity. It shows my town symbol, my family, my hobbies (watching TV, listening to music, and playing on the computer), and my future plans. I will go to another planet. I will grow up, and I will drive a car. I liked the activity.