Let's do it - 20th March 2010!

The hottest new Estonian export is not a product or a service. It is the deceptively simple idea that, if you make it fun, and create a sufficiently groovy vibe around it, you can mobilize huge numbers of people to clean up massive amounts of illegally-dumped garbage — all in one day. The concept, perhaps better described as a movement, is called Let’s Do It!

Estonia first “did it” almost two years ago, effectively demonstrating the concept on the 3rd of May, 2008. The country mobilized 50,000 volunteers to clean up 10,000 tons of garbage: trash that had been dumped illegally in forests and meadows, along roadsides and riverbeds, all over the country.

It took a lot of planning. For months beforehand, volunteers had crisscrossed the country on foot with GPS-enabled cell phones to map the illegally-dumped garbage. Then they created an effective marketing buzz around the project, getting politicians and celebrities involved, and succeeded in achieving something quite remarkable: they made garbage collection cool.
SOURCE: http://estoniaonthemap.com/2010/01/28/estonia-launches-a-global-movement/
Just for you to have an idea, have a look at this video:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7GzfMD6LHs (in Portuguese)

Now word has spread and guess what? The next country to be involved in a clean-up project is PORTUGAL on the 20th MARCH 2010!!!

At Martinho Árias - Soure teachers Cristina Miranda and Ana Isabel Rodrigues invited some of the volunteers of Soure's team to come to our school and present the project in order to motivate more and more people to join in for the huge clean-up of our forests next March. Many did show up and I am quite sure that teachers and students (adults and regular students, parents and children) will gather together on that Saturday. YOU TOO! To become a volunteer, you have to register at: http://limparportugal.ning.com/

And please click on the official site: http://www.limparportugal.org/

After the failure of COP-15, let's prove world leaders that ordinary citizens are determined to do what they were supposed to be doing: we will clean our forests, contribute for a better and healthier environment and will help preserve biodiversity.

LET'S DO IT, shall we?

SESSION ON CONTRACEPTIVE METHODS - 19th January

Following the school’s activity “The strongest link against AIDS” last December marking WORLD AIDS DAY 2009, ANSC 2 ladies had a session on contraceptive methods (but no time for STDs :( ) promoted by ESPAÇO J and presented by Nurse Florbela Paiva from our Local Health Services – Soure.

All (female and male) methods were mentioned, their advantages and disadvantages discussed and the healthcare professional didn’t forget to show an example of each as some are not widely available, others are used by fewer women and thus not so well known. Nurse Florbela also referred to the so-called permanent methods of birth control such as vasectomy and sterilization.

According to Teacher Maria João Machado / ESPAÇO J and Nurse Florbela Paiva, the ANSC 2 ladies proved it had been worthwhile with all their enthusiasm and interest. So, on behalf of ESPAÇO J, Teacher Maria João would like to thank the ladies for their active participation; on behalf of the 16 ANSC 2 ladies, I would like to thank Teacher Maria João for promoting such sessions and Nurse Florbela for her time and dedication. Many thanks also to the Biology teacher, José Miguel Mendonça.

I wouldn’t like to finish though without leaving some personal remarks and suggestions.

The use of birth control methods is not new… people have done “family planning” for thousands of years! Yet today that we have so many safe and effective birth control methods available to us my question is: haven’t we reached a point where unplanned pregnancies really should be rare??? Why then are there still so many unplanned and teenage pregnancies??? Why do so many youngsters ask for Emergency Contraception (Morning after Pill)? Around Europe and in the US, multi-million campaigns have sought to improve access not just to the Pill and condoms, but also to raise awareness of the longer term options. Unlike the 16 ANSC ladies of my class, ALL schoolgirls and boys now have much more information and access to a much broader range of contraception – so much effort and money in a drive to curb teen pregnancy rate. Just to have an idea, have a look at these facts:

In the USA each year almost 750,000 teenage women aged 15–19 become pregnant (by the way... if you are curious, browse a bit "Gloucester Pregnancy Pact" documentary / news);

According to 2009 figures, the number of teenage pregnancies in England is still around 35,000 a year by under-18s, twice as high as in Germany, three times as high as in France and six times as high as in the Netherlands.

These are still such high rates that there is already a National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy which, in 2010, will take place on May 5, 2010.
So, what is failing? I believe our teens at Martinho Árias – Soure can’t complain: ESPAÇO J / teacher Maria João often in partnership with our Local Health Services / Nurse Florbela Paiva have committed themselves the task of bringing some sex education to our school, have been organizing sessions for years and the contest “the Strongest Link against AIDS” has surely contributed for the promotion of healthy sexual behaviours.

I believe high quality sex education in schools is vital and guidance to make that compulsory should be issued – but that is already the government’s role! As parents, we should all ask ourselves if we aren’t failing our kids… it is tough to be a parent nowadays but it is also much tougher (than it was for us) to be a teen – therefore...be sure you are there for them.

Some suggestions now for translations, research or simply for curiosity…

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/birth-control-4211.htm

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/sex_relationships/facts/contraception_which.htm

http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/prosandcons.html

Especially for teachers, I would suggest a great movie on teenage pregnancy in which the issue is dealt with in a creative, different manner. Don’t miss JUNO.

Well, there was no time for STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases) in this (first :)) session with Nurse Florbela in which so much was updated if not for the ladies themselves for their own teenage children, but... who knows in another one??? Please, Nurse Florbela and Teacher Maria João???

Happy New Year, everyone!!!!

Hi, folks!
This is my very first posting of 2010 but many more will follow - I can assure you of that!

According to the United Nations Observances, 2010-2020 will be the International Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification whereas 2010 alone is the International Year of Youth: Dialogue and Mutual Understanding; International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures and International Year of Biodiversity.
Though still in the first days of a New Year and of a new decade (?), in 2010 we have already celebrated World Day of Peace on 1st January and  this year's message sent by Pope Benedict XVI was "If you want to cultivate Peace, protect Creation".

At Martinho Árias we also decided to mark the beginning of a new year with a lunch - on the one hand, to meet some of the teachers who belong to our school but are never there...and on the other hand, to celebrate Andy's return.
So... we had a nice vegetarian lunch, strolled a bit along Mondego's green park and then sat to drink coffee.
It was a very pleasant day - sunny but cold - and the group was fantastic.
When and where is the next meeting point ???