On Friday the 1st of July 2022, following the workshops in March at the Lycée Aline Mayrisch (LAML), Unity Foundation completed their last workshop with the same students, coming from 2 different classes and schools (LAML and ENAD) and with diverses ages and backgrounds. 

This day was meant for intercultural exchanges while preparing and sharing traditional dishes, and for the planification of projects aiming at positive change in their environment. 

In the morning, students were asked to divide themselves into 2 groups: while one group was at the workshop, the other one was cooking and conversely. 

In the workshop, students separated into little groups depending on the topics they decided to study and reflect on. The topics ranged from migration, to addiction to drugs, access to education or cell phone dependance. Here the students worked together to understand the causes and consequences of the chosen societal issue and to start building a realistic project to tackle it.

Working in teams to analyze a societal issue in depth and find solutions.

Meanwhile, the other group of students in the cooking activity were preparing traditional meals. The dishes were chosen in advance by the students and represented their different nationalities. In the menu: focaccia from Italia, “pastéis de nata” and “rissóis de camarão e carne” from Portugal, Fajitas from Spain, Kniddelen and Brout mat Kachkeis from Luxembourg, and crepes from France!

Here the students manifested patience and collaboration to cook in a little kitchen and with limited time. At lunch, we all sat down to eat together the different dishes which were all delicious!

 Preparation of traditional dishes during the morning.

After lunch, all of us headed back to our classroom and watched the 2021 awarded documentary movie “Bigger than Us”, which shows a realistic perspective of the problems our society is exposed to today, and how 8 young activists around the world started to act to help put an end to these problems. We closed the day with a small discussion about the movie. 

The students expressed their joy to have the opportunity to be able to spend time with their friends from other classes and do things together. Although some had their own little groups, they were also very open to welcoming new people, talking about their experiences and making new friends. 

We thank very warmly the two schools and their teachers for having enabled this demanding program with the two classes, and we hope this collaboration to be continued!

And now, off to summer break!

Article written by Mariana Cristóvam Mesquita, high school intern at Unity Foundation.