The politicians in Hungary refuse to admit refugees. The Spanish politicians remain far under their stated goals for the admission of refugees. On Gran Canaria the goal was to further understanding and acceptance as well as empathy among the youth because the politicians seem to be failing at this task

In addition to attending lessons, the focus of this meeting was on project work together. The pupils worked with enormous engagement on different projects with topics such as “Traditions”, “Say it with music”, and “Mosaic of Cultures”. On the one hand it was the intention to filter out the uniqueness of each culture, but also to determine and present the intercultural commonality. New ideas for integration projects, for example, projects for deaf migrants, were planned at this opportunity.

Further items on the agenda:

Treatment of central project topics such as immigration and integration.

• Speech by a social worker about the history of immigration to Gran Canaria as well as the legal requirements for immigration within the framework of human rights.
• renewed thematisation of the concept of the “illegal immigrant”
• How Spanish politicians deal with the topic of refugees / illegal immigration.
• Motivation for flight for different immigrants: Especially violence, persecution for religious reasons of discrimination because of sexual orientation – LGTB, forced marriages of children, human trafficking especially of women and victims of sexual violence were named. In addition, the different kinds of flight, for example by train or boat were thematised. This speech made our pupils end the penultimate day on Gran Canaria in a thoughtful mood.
• Report of the experiences of an immigrant from the Sahara in her new home country, Gran Canaria.
• Presentation of our projects “Say it with Music”, “My favourite Recipe” and “Graffiti”
• Presentation of gift packages to refugees from the aid organization CEAR as a sign of solidarity. The packages contain countless products one can use for a start in a foreign country.
• The travelling exhibition, an important part of our project for the dissemination of our results, with parts of the exhibition “We are Europe, Too”.

Life together with the host families as well as the participation in the every-day activities of the host pupils count as important preconditions for mutual acceptance, mutual understanding, empathy, cultural exchange and the reduction of prejudices. Our project offers the basis for a peaceful life together.