This is our February Newsletter which will tell you some news from our teams from all over the world. Preparing the Bus for travelling to Africa Winter concert in Tvind ANGOLA Don´t call me “professora” DNS college in India

1. – Newsletter February 2012 -
Another
kind of education
Some more news from the DNS teams...
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2. – Newsletter February 2012 -
CONTENT
Preparing the Bus for travelling to Africa DNS 2012 Team first fundraising experience
by Ruta, DNS 2011 Fundraising means asking people for donations on
The bus is a necessity for our travel, and for sure it will be the street or at people's doors.
an adventure to be in it for more than 4 months, but it is Before my team started to fundraise on the street
also an adventure to get it ready and running. I joined the selling roses and bananas, one of the DNS teachers
bus preparation – Carla - gave us a little presentation about fun-
team, partly be- daising and ...
cause I wanted to
learn something Preparation weekend and first impression by
about it, and Egle, DNS 2012
partly because I
wanted to get The preparation weekend was unforgettable and full
used to being in it of impressions. I understood the real meaning of
all day long. Read “Another kind of education”.
more.. Read more..
Winter concert in Tvind by DNS 2009
All of us were waiting for this big event on 4th of February in Tvind. It was a
magnificent Winter Concert where the new DNS team together with our
team and 20 Development Instructors from our partner schools in England
and Norway did a big work in organizing the concert and preparing all the
practicalities: to accommodate the Polish symphonic orchestra from
Zielonogorska for 2 days, preparing food for some hundreds people, turn
our sportshall into a concert hall. Read more..
ANGOLA Don´t call me “professora” by Ana DNS 2008 Matus, DNS 2008 tells about his work at
DNS college in India
When remembering the last year´s feelings of going to Africa,
Big classes up to 100 students, teachers are not
they seem a little bit vague, as if they were just part of my
imagination, because everything turned the other way around. coming to school every day, time keeping
At first I was scared, but in the end I felt Angola is my home. schedule, lesson starts when teacher feels like...
Read more.. Read more..
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3. – Newsletter February 2012 -
Winter concert in Tvind
All of us were waiting for this big event on
4th of February in Tvind. We started the preparations
on 31th of January. It was a magnificent Winter Con-
cert where the new DNS team DNS 2011 together
with our team DNS 2009 and 20 Development In-
structors from our partner schools in England and
Norway did a big work in organizing the concert and
preparing all the practicalities: to accommodate the
Polish symphonic orchestra from Zielonogorska for 2
days, preparing food for some hundreds people, turn
our sportshall into a concert hall, prepare eating
everything starts from an idea - it is very important,
because there should be a balance - music, pictures,
silhouettes. The group was working productive and
they reached the goal! The movie makers made really
beautiful picture slides to be projected during the
concert. There was also a a host group for the orches-
tra. The musician have been pretty demanding and
complained about different small things, since they
are used to live in nice hotels in a higher standard
than we can provide as a school. It was good to see
places in tip top shape for 500 more people to come them in action, showing their skills during the con-
in all available classrooms and meeting halls. cert - they have been really great.
DNS 2009 team shares with us their experiences and im- In our conclusion after the concert, we all
pressions about the Winter Concert: agreed that it was a very good concert, practically
“To manage the preparations for this concert, well organized and regarding the music - it was well
we made different groups to be in charge of all the composed - The classical part and the film music part
needed areas: accommodation group, decoration made the
group, catering group etc. We had four leaders who audience
divided people according to what they have to do - enjoying
they composed the teams, they took the leadership to the con-
manage all and had to have the overview about all cert very
tasks. much -
The accommodation group's task was plan- even our
ning and preparing rooms for 60 polish musicians some-
from the orchestra. The decoration group was in times dif-
charge to design and make nice decoration for the ficult stu-
concert hall - signs associated with music. Of course, dents.
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4. – Newsletter February 2012 -
Preparing the Bus for travelling to Africa
The bus is, of course, a necessity for our
travel, and for sure it will be an adventure to be
in it for 4 months, but it is also an adventure to
get it ready and running.
I joined the bus preparation team, partly
because I wanted to learn something about it, and
partly because I wanted to get used to being in it
all day long. And from the first day I’ve had more
questions than answers. How does it work? What
should it look like on the inside? How to fix it,
and how do we teach others how to fix it? What
should be the name of our bus? Do we need a
sink? And which question should be answered
first?
We decided to start with the interior. Of
course, it’s not as easy as choosing new curtains
or bedsheet colours. We measured, we screwed
(the seats), we unscrewed, we had discussions,
we drilled holes,we got angry at the bus, we
welded,we even had to go under the bus a couple
of times. Now the seats are ready, but we still
need to build beds, kitchen, fix some electrical
problems... still a lot of work to do!
Now I’m getting to know the bus and where is
what in the engine (did I mention that none of us know
much about the bus mechanics?).
Of course, it gets frustrating sometimes, but I’m
optimistic and I’m looking forward to the result.
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5. – Newsletter February 2012 -
DNS 2012 Team fundraising experience
Fundraising means asking people for dona- we made before. Amazingly Natalya could even
tions on the street or at people's doors. fundraise our lunch - she managed to get food for
Before my team started to fundraise on the street all of us - a lot of
selling roses and bananas, one of the DNS teachers free and tasty
– Carla - gave us a little presentation about fund- pizza. The lunch
raising and the important principles of how to do it time was relaxing
in the right way. If you ask people for money you and we got many
must be very confident about the purpose you are new ideas about
raising funds for. what to do next
It is important to remember that not every- and how to plan
body will support you. It takes a lot of tries to meet our time for the
people who will support you, but you always meet next hours.
them. We stopped street
Do not give up! -fundraising
You cannot al- around five
low yourself to o'clock and con-
be discouraged. tinued with an-
So, after Carlas other method :
evening presen- Fundraising from door to door. It was an
tation about other new experience, how to talk with people,
fundraising we how to explain why we disturb people in their
went to sleep homes.
and the next In the end of the day we hitchhiked back
day, we hitchhiked to Holstebro. We were 4 per- and had a team meeting where we counted the
sons. Egle, Ciprian, our DNS teacher Natalya and money we have earned during our first fundrais-
myself. ing day! We all got a pretty high amount regard-
In the beginning we split up individually ing that it was our first time.
and agreed to meet after 1,5 hours to share our first
experiences. In that time all of us realized, that
fundraising is not as easy how it probably looks. In
our short brake we discussed our mistakes and
success. We concluded that our attitude and how
we speak with people is very important. People
need to understand why we need to collect the
money and feel that we have a good cause. After
the brake we continued and that was much better
than before, because we could avoid the mistakes
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6. – Newsletter February 2012 -
Preparation weekend and first impression
free - that was something. Surprisingly the cars really
stop for you and you reach your destination some-
times faster than by train. You meet a lot of nice peo-
ple and sometimes you can get usefull contacts about
schools and work for the future. I was impressed by
my team mates Janina and Marcel, they travelled by
hitchhiking to Germany for work.
In the mornings we have "Morning Assembly".
Twice a week we have it in common together with the
other teams where we have presentations and discus-
sions about important issues of our time. At the mo-
ment we have morning assemblies about "Open Fu-
ture". There is no such a thing as "Open Future" it is an
invention and we see it as a positive and creative way
to look at all our activities to make the world a better
The preparation weekend was unforgettable place for all the people living in it.
and full of impressions. Now I understand the mean- As one example we discussed the situation of
ing of “Another kind of education” young people in Japan. Many young Japanese are liv-
For me it is a quite new experience to be part of a ing alone and do not want to be in social relations. At
team. People with various talents and interests share the same time Japan has one of the highest suicide rate
their life and abilities for the benefit of the team. The in the world. Is that somehow connected? What are the
individuals are united in a common goal to find solu- reasons? Isn't this trend also widespread in other parts
tions, to help each other with sharing ideas, common of the northern/western world? In Europe, United
time. States and other high developed countries more peo-
I was happy to find out, that DNS teachers are ple live alone than at any other time in history. The
like our friends. Such a teacher is more close to the stu- most privileged people on earth use their resources to
dents and proves to be a better educator as well. The separate from each other, to buy private and personal
life in DNS also includes artistic activities, sports, trav- space. The image of a modern family in a room to-
elling. gether, each plugged into a separate reality, be it a
It was a pleasant discovery that in their free smartphone, computer, video game or TV show has
time the DNS’ers play piano and educate each other. become a cultural norm. In our summary we con-
There is a tradition of doing sports in evenings. For me cluded that in our global world – we prefer to work
it was an unforgettable experience and when I was and act together with many other people of the world.
playing volleyball for the first time it was difficult for
me, but after some practice it became a really funny
activity! Sport is very important to everyone. It's im-
portant for staying healthy, helps to build self-esteem,
keeps you mind alert, and helps to relax after a full
day of work and studies. Another very new thing for
me was hitchhiking. To stop a car to get around for
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7. – Newsletter February 2012 -
Matus, DNS 2008 answered our questions about his
work of educating teachers in DNS college
Jashpur, India
Describe your students started to paint them already as my footprint. I got left
There are up to 100 students in one class (there are two -over material from a building weekend. From some
classes in the first year) so far maximum 60 per day, money that was left I ordered dark green color and
around 20-30 which are coming every day. Their painted all the benches. The classroom will be sky-
knowledge differs, from fluent English to nothing, blue, the benches green (though now they tell me to
from fluency in computer skills (one girl knows all not do it – after completed the first part, they said they
function in word, excel, presentation – and she just sat will hire a company and paint the whole school build-
quietly in a corner and made simple tasks like others – ing – interior and exterior also.) That can take up to the
makes the font bigger, underlines it...ridiculous – now end of this school year by governmental procedures, if
she is learning to type with 10 fingers) to not even everything goes fine. And anyway it is white-washed,
knowing how to use a mouse, what an 'enter' button is
for. Also, the science level is low.
What are their main problems? What are the main
problems in the Indian education system?
Big classes up to 100 students, teachers are not coming
to school every day, time keeping schedule, lessons
start when the teacher feels like, comes to class and
decides OK now we have … . It can last half an hour or
two hours.
What are the main questions in your school?
The main question is how to get the technical equip-
ment and generator for electricity and how to make
them to come to the school.
How can you contribute to bring this forward?
By buying speakers on my own, using them and my so a couple of layers are needed, and difference is sim-
laptop, simply for watching movies and playing mu- ply nice.
sic. Nobody has a laptop here. It is a big thing for them 2. Create a typical Bollywood music video with the
- touching and working with it, generally to work with whole class, in which two students are dancing and
technical equipment is new and exciting, it is unique, singing in front and the rest are behind them, all stu-
not a normal, everyday experience as it is for us. dents will be in white school uniform.
Which footprint will you leave? 3. To get a world map or to make it as a poster with
1. The entrance hall and classrooms look bad, so I have the students and to hang it in the classroom.
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8. – Newsletter February 2012 -
ANGOLA
Don´t call me “professora” by Ana
When remembering the last year´s feelings of go- notes and other paper work that needed to be done as a
ing to Africa, they seem a little bit vague, as if they were responsibility of the team leader. That of course was not
just part of my imagination, because everything turned the most exciting work, but it needed to be done. The
the other way around. At first I was scared, but in the other part of my job was more focused on the social part
end I felt Angola is my home. I was concerned about my
job, but I left with good feedbacks. I was worried about
health issues and nutrition, but many of my challenges
turned out to be just part of African way of living...
Things turned much better than I expected and Africa
indeed left a big mark in my notebook of memories and
experiences. Out of nothing comes nothing. A lot of pa-
tience, organizing, creativity, plan B's, love and energy, a
lot of energy.
In my last teaching practice I have been working
at a teacher training college in Angola, situated close to
the Atlantic Ocean, in a province called Benguela.
I have been involved in many administrative tasks con-
cerning week plans, running the program, working
closely with the headmaster, taking care of the student´s
where we have been organizing practical tasks, garden-
ing actions, cleaning actions, investigations and events,
evening programs and cultural gatherings with music
and dance, including sports activities and other activities
on the main study path outside in the shadow, while sun
was shining bright already in the early morn-ing hours.
We have been socializing in the common areas of
the school in the evenings after dinner time, talking
about everything that would cross our mind. From eve-
ryday and personal problems of the students to their
family situation (which was many times shocking and
sad) to religious views, from relationships and the posi-
tion of men and women in African and European society,
to problems, solutions and thoughts about the program
and life at EPF Benguela.
Angola indeed moved something in me that I will
take everywhere I go, however old I will be. If I just try to
look for the word to explain the feeling, I do not find it,
but if I could dance it through, I would shake my bootie
singing “SWEGUE” (hot). And then you as a reader just
can make your own picture if I am telling the truth or
not.
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9. – Newsletter February 2012 -
DNS TVIND The Necessary Teacher Training
– Newsletter February 2012 -
Thank you for reading!
You are most welcome to write
us your feedback, comments
and questions
DNS Promotion office
Skorkærvej 8
Ulfborg
Denmark
6990
Email: info@dns-tvind.dk
Phone: +45 21 12 43 60
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