Short conclusions from Vallbona students' parents

Translation from Catalan into English

Pere Martí and Lourdes Saumell (Aleth’s parents)

Lourdes: Hello, I’m Lourdes, Aleth’s mother. Aleth is a student in the 4th year who has attended two Comenius meetings, in Chieti and in Valence. (Addressing to him) Do you want yourself to be introduced?  

Pere: No, you are doing quite well! (laughings)

L: Well, he is Pere, Aleth’s father. Teachers have asked us to talk about Aleth’s experience in Comenius.

P: The first experience was when Aleth attended the meeting in Chieti, and the core of the project was about Human Rights. At home we experiencied it before and long after the meeting, because when she was maturing the project, she got both of us involved too, giving us her point of view about different issues, and only sometimes we also gave her our point of view, that she took it into account when she considered to. She made a maturation process around Human Rights, though she knew about it, but she went deeper through it, getting to know how important it is, she put her thoughts right and applied it in her work. And this was the preComenius part.

L: Before leaving, we were worried about where she was going to be hosted. At her age, they are still growing up and learning too many things, and you care about anything they can find there and how they will manage to success. On the other hand you are also sure that if they don’t try, they’ll never learn. Aleth has also seen the need to learn another language because it leads to the opportunity to relate to people.

P: (Comenius) helped her to be aware that learning languages is basic. Then she made a real change: when she arrived home, she went to the Languages School to start learning another language, because she had realised that speaking languages is really useful.

P:  First of all, we are really thankful, because having your child accepted in a foreign country and treated as an equal between other children in a family, without asking for compensation, is something we must really be grateful for. And we also feel very lucky, for belonging to a school that has taken an active role to participate in this project, with all the effort it requires, we are also really thankful for that. We’ve experienced a great personal enrichment at home, brought by the student’s faith in doing a work for the school, which has reported non economical important benefits to all of us.

Rafel Costa and Rosa Llamas (Elena and Mariona’s parents)

Rafel: Hello, we are Elena and Mariona’s parents. We are here to talk about the experience we’ve had through the Comenius project, giving our point of view as parents about how we felt,  how we see our daughters, what has happened during their trips to the meetings and how we’ve met an enriching experience for what we are really grateful. We are very happy, as you can see in our faces. Now, we have “the problem” that they only want to go on holidays abroad whereas, before the meetings, we didn’t almost move from our country. In the beginning we considered the twins two shy and insecure girls, but now they have revealed themselves as they are, eager to participate, to share things, to meet people and different cultures…

Rosa: And the language is fantastic!

Rafel: Yes, the fluency in English is really great, because they reached a good level… They have revealed themselves in several aspects. They’ve grown older, more mature. You can see it by how they get their responsibilities like setting up their own luggage, with their stuff, they help at home…

Rosa: I would encourage everybody to participate. I’ve never travelled around the world and despite I was really worried the first time the girls went to a meeting, I never stopped encouraging them to participate because, deeply in your mind you know is good for them, it worths the price.

Rafel: You can give to your children formation and education. Related to formation, there’s nothing better than this, because you participate as a person, you meet people, practice English, work in different issues at an international level... I was curious for their reaction to talk to an audience in English, so I asked: “Aren’t you nervous or ashamed?” and they answered: “Yes, but we will be ok!” Then I felt proud because, in the same situation, I would have felt panic, so I conclude that you cannot give anything better as a formation. Moreover, is really cheap for a family, because being hosted in a foreign family also makes you save a lot of money.

Rosa: We have nothing to complain about because both of them have been in good families.

Rafel: And they’ve changed. They are now better persons, and they have revealed themselves.

Rafel and Rosa: Well... Good bye and good luck to everybody. And on behalf of Elena and Mariona: “Good bye and see you later!”