Hello Carolyn
………..The education classes are going great, most of the schools are very aware of the problem so they are so pleased to invite us to go and visit them. But I am afraid that we didn’t get for now as
many classes as I expected, sometimes it is a matter of time. Schools are usually lack of time to achieve their syllabus but anyway we still continue arranging new visits. I am so impressed with the reaction of the children. They not only pay total attention during all the class but also participate and make lots of questions and at the end of each session they are very touched with Niko’s story. Most of them want to adopt a Galgo! They are really amazing boys and girls, a new generation to be proud of.
I would highlight the importance of the education classes in two “special” schools we visited, “La Paz” and “Diocesano”. They are located exactly in the neighbourhood where most gipsy population is living. In our town this is a hotspot for galgos. It is mainly there where many people breed and use galgos for business so this is where we have to be more persistent. The classes in these two schools were very bittersweet for me. On the one hand I knew that some of the children, at least, would think about it with a different perspective, on the other hand I was very sad for some comments they made that revealed that the perception of th e problem is totally different for them so we still have a lot of work to do.
It is also important to say that from tomorrow I will visit some schools in rural areas too which wasn’t planned in the initial project but if in the city we see hundreds of galgos abandoned, in rural areas it becomes even worst. It is impossible to travel to all the villages for now but they offered me the opportunity so I will also go there
I attach some pictures and the list of schools we already visited and the ones that are already settled.
For now I don’t have more pictures mainly for two reasons, first, it is like I always forget, I am very focused in the class, sorry about it. The second reason is because of the privacy of children but I will ask for permission to make and publish more pictures in the future.
Here you have a link with some photos and a brief video of one of the lessons at “Mª Llanos Martínez School”, they also put a link with the information of the project.
I must say that I was happily impressed with the level of english of students in this school. Nearly all the time I could speak to them in english and the sessions were longer (one hour and a half) but usually children are not so good at english so we just work on some vocabulary and the rest of the session is in spanish. The important thing is that they catch the main message. I also apologise because my english is not so perfect as I would like.
I cannot express in just a message and with words how I feel meanwhile I am talking to my students. I feel that there can be a change, that the cruel reality for animals here can turn into a better future.
I will continue sending you information.
Thank you very much to make this possible.
Kisses,Carmen, Arca de Noe, Albacete
