Saptamana Scoala Altfel
Raw food, shadow theatre, soccer tournament
and campfire cooking: We had many ideas when Silvana asked us to come to her
school in Sacele for the non-formal education week.
To those who did not have the pleasure yet
to meet Silvana, I can reveal that she is the fabulous and inspirational
teacher of a spectacular class of 6th graders.
The saptamana scoala altfel was a welcome change in our schedule and
we quickly set up a plan for the three days that we were to spend in Scoala nr.5.
The kids were especially excited about the soccer tournament,
however the “Aprilwetter” had other plans. In our naïve and
over-optimistic minds we did not even consider a plan B and were confronted
with unpromising weather forecasts on Sunday evening. But one thing we learned
without doubt during our time as volunteers is flexibility.
If you have to come up with a workshop idea
twice a week you cannot help becoming brainstorm masters! That’s how the soccer
tournament turned in to a drum session with homemade instruments.
Luckily we have been collecting all kind of
containers, boxes and jars for months (which is why you should never have a
look under our sink and kitchen table!), leaving us with enough material to
create a beautiful water xylophone, some rattles in different types, kazoos and
a few ocean drums. Although we had enough material for all of the children, the
session turned out to be “slightly” chaotic. If you ever consider building
kazoos with very active kids, have in mind that these instruments require
minimum effort but provide maximum noise.
But Egle managed the situation beautifully
and regrouped the kids, so we had a little orchestra in the end. I was amazed
how quickly they caught the rhythm and were able to stick to it. It was truly
one of the best moments this year: after all the mess, noise and
romenglish/body language explanations , we were sitting in a tiny and
over-heated gym which smelled of sweaty feet, listening together to our
beautiful hodgepodge sound of rice rattles and toilet paper roll kazoos.
On Tuesday we brought cookies, apples,
raisins and smantana to make some dulceuri with the class. Sylvana introduced
the recipe as “salam de biscuit” but the final result rather resembled a
crumbly apple porridge. Exquisite and delicious, self-evidently! The kids loved
it, and we had a hard job trying to keep them from nibbling all the ingredients
away while we were preparing.
Wednesday however we did not follow our plan either, as it has been
the international Roma day and Silvana and her colleagues invited us to the
official event.
The obligatory introduction speeches were a
bit extensive and the children started shifting around on their chairs, waiting
impatiently for the performances. But it was worth waiting! Although the music was
repetitive, the dancers and singers made a real spectacle of it. And they got a
lot of support by our 6th graders, who immediately jumped from their
chairs and danced as soon the music started.
Thanks to these kids, I had a magnificent
week. Rarely have I met so honest, active and polite kids that are truly
grateful for the time you devote to them; making me forget all moments of mess
with their happy smiles.
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