09/05/2018 | News

Under a cloudy and rainy sky, the entrance to the Sant Pau Modernist Venue, where the Casa Asia headquarters is located, was filled with more than 70 people: women, men, children and teenagers from families from Ghana, Pakistan, Morocco, India, Bangladesh, Colombia, Venezuela, etc. to celebrate an intercultural and intergenerational meeting of the AFEX groups of schools in various neighbourhoods of Barcelona: Trinitat Vella, Sants, El Raval, Poble Sec and Besós Mar.

Accompanied by the work team, the promoters of the program with their adult students and volunteer students visited the site, got to know a new space of Barcelona modernism and enjoyed seeing it at the same time that they visited Casa Asia’s facilities and knew better its objectives and functions.

After the guided tour, presentation and game dynamics were held for all ages. The main objectives of the program were presented: inclusive learning that allows everyone to advance at their own pace based on their level, valuing everything that is being learned and sharing with the rest of the group thanks to the support of the facilitators. In the Tagore room there was a demonstration of the AFEX methodology of working in pairs made up of an adult person who is learning Catalan or Spanish and a boy or girl or adolescent who acts as tutor / volunteer teacher.

In this way, parents who accompanied some of the child volunteers and the older ones who accompanied their mothers, students of the program, as well as the young people of the Altru association who accompanied us, were able to learn about our methodology for teaching languages and the richness of doing it in pairs, often from the same family, with the support of a facilitator and in a multicultural context that favors positive interaction and intercultural dialogue, facilitating social integration. Time always falls short when there are so many things to talk, debate, communicate and share.

A very exciting and heartfelt meeting, where glances, smiles, words and complicities were exchanged between people of diverse origins to offer a better future to their daughters and sons and aware of the need to learn the communication languages ​​of society that will see them grow to help and accompany them in their learning. It was a gift of presence and awareness, of movement and gratitude that is consistent with our objective of giving opportunities to adults from diverse cultural contexts, helping to overcome barriers and stereotypes and communicating from mutual respect and recognition, building ties and cohesion social in schools and neighborhoods where we work.

Before the farewell, an institutional video of the program was shown with people involved, families and children. Emotions were seen in the eyes of the participants, sharing the experiences of the groups both individually and in groups.

Autonomy, visibility and independence: the main values ​​that AFEX fosters among adult students, while youth and children learn about responsibility, commitment and social awareness, which are key to social transformation.

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