During the first term of this scholastic year, San Andrea School welcomed a group of 43 teachers and students from France, Italy, Bulgaria and Poland. After the lifelong learning experience from the previous visits to Challans in France, Pisa in Italy and Nikopol in Bulgaria, it was the turn of San Andrea teachers and students to welcome their partners here in Malta.
The main aim of the project, Building Bridges Using the Five Senses, attempts to teach the younger generation, who very often take life for granted to appreciate their life’s blessings.
Some of the students have never had the opportunity to travel, the countries involved in this project are a mere name they might happen to have seen written in books or heard of through the media, some are familiar with them through the geography lesson. Hence such a project opens new horizons for such students. Lifelong learning programmes such as Comenius, give the opportunity to everyone involved to understand what it means to be a proud citizen of one’s country. Comenius helps all participants to realise that all countries and their people are different but it is this diversity that makes each country more unique and beautiful and yet similar in some aspects.
During the three-day visit in Malta, San Andrea teachers and students did their utmost to share and enjoy the Maltese cultural heritage with their guests. Visits to Valletta and Mdina, gave the chance to both locals and foreigners to appreciate the historic and architectural heritage of the island. St John’s Co-Cathedral proved to be one such unique experience especially with regards to Maltese artistic heritage. At the Malta 5D audio-visual experience situated in Valletta students and teachers alike travelled through time, experiencing 7,000 years of Maltese history in 25 minutes. The day trip to Gozo was a memorable one. A visit to the Ggantija Temples, a Unesco Heritage, was a must once in Gozo, while the visit to ta’ Kola Windmill provided some information about the ethnographic heritage of the Maltese people. One cannot visit Gozo without tasting the Gozitan cheeselets and the mouth-watering ravioli. The students savoured every moment of this lunch while enjoying the silent and pleasant atmosphere of the Medieval sister town of Mdina, the Cittadella.
The day in Gozo came to an end with breath-taking views of unique geological heritage sites: the Azure Window and the Fungus Rock in Dwejra.
On the final day, all students worked together in a culinary activity. They demonstrated how to prepare dishes typical of their region. Then they organised a get-together where they had the time to taste each other’s food and discuss the recipes of the respective countries. One had the pleasure to show our guests how some of the local dishes and snacks are made such as stuffed marrows and pastizzi, among other delicacies.
All teachers and students worked hard in the preparation of this visit. Our guests described their visit to our country on the project blog http://buildingbridges-comenius2012-2014.blogspot.com/, as A trip of a lifetime. This is undoubtedly satisfactory and rewarding. Comenius is a myriad of opportunities, many memories to be cherished, new friendships and a unique learning experience.