PRESS RELEASE
Press Release
Gort young people join forces to celebrate One World Week and the 20th Anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
The young people in Gort No Name Club and the students in Gort Community School together with adult volunteers, staff in the school and the Brazilian community in Gort have joined forces to present an intercultural event to celebrate One World Week 2009. This year, it coincides with the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child which is on 20th November 2009.
One World Week is a week of youth-led awareness raising, education and action during which young people learn about local and global justice issues and take action to bring about change. One World Week is led by the National Youth Council and takes place throughout Ireland during the third week in November every year. This year the theme for One World Week is ‘Just Us or Justice?’, and NYCI has developed a resource for youth services to explore justice with young people. The intercultural event in Gort was initiated following a workshop conducted by the National Youth Council of Ireland in Galway on 13th October last. County Galway VEC Youth Officer met representatives from Gort No Name Club and Gort Community School and there was enthusiastic support for the intercultural project from the first meeting.
Over the last three weeks the young people in Gort have been working creatively in various disciplines exploring the theme of ‘Just Us’ or ‘Justice’. A third year class has worked on the theme of as part of their CSPE programme in conjunction with thirty Brazilian students. The project is community driven as this is the first time the school has had the opportunity to work with members of the Gort No Name Club, some of whom are students in the school. Gort No Name Club has been operating for the last 16 years training young hosts and hostesses to organise events including talks on topics of interest to young people and discos for young people aged 15 to18 years. Any profit raised is donated to charities, many of them local.
The young people have explored twelve areas in which the developed world and undeveloped world is divided and which show how the balance of justice is starkly tipped in favour of the developed world. Using the medium of sculpture, the students have created three cubes and depicted the theme of ‘Just us’ or ‘Justice’ on them. From eight of the sides of the cubes, hands reach out holding the Millennium Development Goals to illustrate how we may tip the balance in favour of the third world. This project is cross-curricular and includes all ages – students and teachers from woodwork, CSPE, SPHE, language, maths, music and geography have all collaborated in this unique event. This piece of development education has joined the whole school together with members of the community in an awareness raising event.
The One World Week intercultural event will also feature drumming, dance, songs and some recited pieces. Traditional Irish and Brazilian food will be served. The event takes place in Gort Community School on Friday 20th November 2009 at 2pm.
