As part of the CHANGE project, which the students of the 7th grade of the Antun Mihanović Elementary School in Osijek are participating in, we organised an online encounter on Monday the 7th December 2020 with Yazdan, a seventeen-year-old from Iran currently living in Zagreb. This was done so the students could get to know a real refugee. Three students presented their views and impressions of the project and the conversation with the refugee for the Laganini radio station . Now, let’s hear what the experience was like for Yazdan, and why he enjoys taking part in the CHANGE project:
I really like this project, because, for a long time, I’ve been thinking about why people aren’t informed about refugees, and the fact that it’s this exact lack of information that breeds prejudice. The CHANGE project is a simple solution. In this project, we give students and teachers ways to learn more about refugees, and in this way, we try to end bigotry. The CHANGE project has given me the chance to share my story and experiences with students who don’t know much about this topic, and this is something I’m very glad about and hope to do more in the future. The more information we give students, the better – not least because modern life in Croatia is growing more multicultural every day. The number of foreign residents is increasing, so it’s nice for us (as people under international protection) to integrate more easily, and at the same time, it’s easier for the local population to learn more about this topic and understand what it’s really about.
Lastly, I wish the CHANGE project a lot of success in the future!
Croatian version
Yazdan– Zašto mi se svida sudjelovati u CHANGE projektu
U sklopu projekta CHANGE u kojem sudjeluju učenici 7.b razreda OŠ Antuna Mihanovića u Osijeku, u ponedjeljak 7.12. imali smo online sastanak u svrhu upoznavanja sa stvarnim izbjeglicom Yazdanom, sedamnaestogodišnjakom iz Irana i trenutnim stanovnikom Zagreba. Svoje stavove i dojmove o projektu te razgovoru s izbjeglicom iznijeli su 3 učenika za radio postaju Laganini. Ovog puta poslušajmo o tome kako je Yazdanu bilo i zašto mu se sviđa sudjelovati u CHANGE projektu:
Baš mi se sviđa taj projekt jer sam dugo razmišljao o tome zašto ljudi nisu informirani o izbjeglicama i upravo iz tog razloga što nemaju dovoljne informacija, pojavljuju se predrasude- pa jednostavno rješenje je projekt Change.U Projektu koji sam jedva dočekao idemo od škole do škole pa im dajemo informacije da nauče više (o izbjeglicama) i na taj način pokušavamo zaustaviti predrasude. Projekt Change mi je dao mogućnost da podijelim svoju priču i svoja iskustva s učenicima koji stvarno ne znaju puno o tome i to mi je drago i nadam se da ćemo sve više i više djelovati na tom projektu. Što više dajemo informacija učenicima, to bolje- biti će im korisno jer suvremeni život u Hrvatskoj svaki dan ide sve više u multikulturalnom smijeru. Povećava se broj stranih stanovnika tako da je to i nama kao osobama pod međunarodnom zaštitom drago i dobro da se lakše integriramo i s druge strane lokalno stanovništvu je lakše da znaju o toj temi više, da znaju o čemu se radi.
Za kraj, želim CHANGE projektu puno uspjeha u budućnosti!