News - Centru Tbexbix - Sunrise Centre

January 2010 Newsletter

Welcome to first newsletter of 2010, January. .

The new year brings in a phase of change. Three new EVS volunteers arrived to replace the three who left in December. Bettina from Germany, Arianna from Italy and Ogun from Turkey (photo) are integrating nicely in the project with new skills and talents that continue to transform and shape Centru Tbexbix closer and closer to an ideal Neohumanistic Education project.

New volunteers

After the Christmas and New Year, we again welcomed the children who returned to their groups with renewed enthusiasm. Clara and Marie, the two EVS volunteers remaining, with the help of the new arrivals Ogun and Arianna, continued stimulating the brains of our children with new ideas and educational games. With regards to the English club, it is as if Bettina (the other new arrival) has been planning English classes for quite a while. She quickly learned how to bring fun to English classes. Another three volunteers arrive in February, making the number of EVS volunteers the largest so far. More staff, more work!

Integrated learning

One important aspect of Neohumanistic education is the way different subjects are integrated to make the learning experience more holistic, maximise learning and increase motivation by reducing the stress on purely academic achievement. We are happy to note that our volunteers all become quite skilled in planning activities with these ideas in mind.

Clara writes: "Since Christmas we enrolled some new children who never had contact with yoga until now. So we try to make yoga accessible to them in a joyful form. That means we connect yoga with games or we sing songs to the yoga positions. So the children learn how to keep the balance and to become calm in a playful way. Besides having fun and yoga, for the smaller children it is also important to improve their vocabulary. For that we did one activity with the topic “On the farm”. The children created farm animal masks, learned the song “Old Mc Donald has a farm” as well as learning farm vocabulary through play."

Masks

More intercultural activities.

The Arts & Crafts club continued with the series of visits to different regions of the world, and this month the children enjoyed virtual trips to the North Pole and Ancient Egypt.

Marie describes: “After helping create a land of penguins at the North Pole, the children of Centru Tbexbix traveled south to the warmth of the desert of ancient Egypt. Part of the adventure was for example creating a mobile with information about the different gods and goddesses with the elder children and a three dimensional landscape with pyramids and palms with the younger ones.

Penguins

Moreover, the children expressed their creativity by making their own jewellery like ancient Egyptians used to do. They also got to know the hieroglyphics.”

Egypt

Yoga Shoots

After the few experiments in December we have received a number of requests from other schools to participate in this programme. The next three months are almost fully booked.

Jewelry

Follow up activity

The case of the Yoga Shoots programme with the Hamrun class in December had the added advantage that it was at the end of Katrine’s term and so the idea of having a follow-up activity in her home country was simply a natural continuation, as should rightly be in a well-planned educational experience.

About this, Katrine, our ex EVS volunteer from Denmark, wrote:

In Denmark we have a proverb saying "out of sight, out of mind".. In my case with Malta this is not true! Even though I am not physically on the beautiful little island anymore, my thoughts are often by the people there. I am deeply thankful for everything I have experienced and a part of me will always belong to Malta.

Dec. 3 when I was still in Malta, we had a school from Hamrun visiting Centru Tbexbix. I made a presentation about Denmark and our traditions, and afterwards the Maltese children wrote a message addressed to Danish children. I brought the messages with me to Denmark, and on Jan. 20 I had an appointment with a class of Danish 11-year olds. I gave them a presentation about what is typical of Malta and about my stay. I showed them pictures of the Maltese children and Centru Tbexbix. In the end they were inspired and very eager to write a message back to the Maltese children. These messages are already sent back to Malta with the hope that this develops into something more, perhaps a continued exchange. There is so much potential in such an exchange - both the Maltese and Danish children would benefit from it not only to learn about life in other countries but also to develop their English skills and become more aware of the fact that English is a necessary means of communication.

The Danish English teacher was very happy with the whole idea about message exchanging. She and the children liked my Malta presentation (in English) very much and the children were so enthusiastic that they did not want me to go home. For me it was a very positive experience as well. It confirmed that it is possible to spread my knowledge and my love for the tiny green island, Malta :)

After Centru Tbexbix, the next step for Katrine is a volunteering experience in Baan Unrak, a children’s home and school for orphans and refugee children in Thailand. Our good wishes to Katrine for more satisfaction in her volunteering endeavours.

Denmark

February fundraiser

To those who have been asking about our next vegetarian event, please take note: Saturday, 20th February, 7.00pm at Centru Tbexbix.

Inspired?

There are many different ways how to contribute to the success of Centru Tbexbix. Through volunteering (in classes, administration, odd jobs, maintenance), donations in kind or financially, etc. The opportunities are endless.

One way to support the efforts of Centru Tbexbix is through the "Friends of Centru Tbexbix" scheme with a small monthly contribution by standing order. Centru Tbexbix holds the following accounts: HSBC 013-085675-001 and BoV 400-1705136-1.

For more information on how you can help, call us on 21/27 805130 or send an email to tbexbix@gmail.com.

This newsletter will be coming to you every end of the month, with the intention of keeping regular contact with the growing circle of friends of Centru Tbexbix, keeping everyone informed of what is happening as well as sharing the inspiration of this blossoming community project. The intention is to keep it brief and factual. Your comments and suggestions are appreciated.