Mar 26, 2011

Colorir o sábado promotes physical activities

The weather on Saturday was wonderful!  Made you think how great it would be to go the beach…
That is the reason why this time the Colorir o sábado participants attended some outdoor activities. It would be very unfair to keep the kids locked in a room when the day was so beautiful!

Therefore, under the guidance of the volunteers, the kids participated in physical activities on the pitch. Running, jumping, balance and flexibility exercises as well as games like cat and mouse, the handkerchief and many others, were among the tasks the group faced. Despite the heat and numerous activities, the kids still had the energy to enjoy the sun, play and have fun, doing things they haven´t had a chance to do for  a while.

The behavior, participation and commitment of our young friends in the activities was very positive.








Mar 21, 2011

Mystic River


(click on the image for more details)

After introducing the international student community to the delights of the Portuguese cuisine, Project MEET (Youth Red Cross in Braga) is now preparing a tour through one of Portugal´s Natural Wonders nominee.

Douro, heritage of UNESCO, is a region that should definitely be discovered. Visiting Douro is like exploring an intimate part of the Portuguese culture: vineyards, landscapes, rustic folklore marked by centuries of human work and passion for wine. Getting to know this part of Portugal enables understanding the Portuguese culture.

This trip fits the fundamental objective of MEET to introduce, integrate and promote to the international students the culture of the country that hosts them.

The trip will start in Braga, followed by a cruise on the Douro River, with lunch on board, up to Régua and a ride back to Porto by train. The landscape is magical, the company will certainly be nice and multicultural and we, on our part, will try to maintain a dynamic and inviting ambiance.

Soon we will provide you with more detailed information about the trip. Until then, check our site on facebook (Project MEET) to stay updated.
 

Coloring with Imagination

Last Saturday was dedicated to coloring with imagination. Although, we previously planned an outdoor activity, due to the bad weather we had to change our plans and improvise.
Therefore, we decided that the time spent on coloring will be dedicated to the slogan - beautiful imagination.
Everyone gained a new friend: each of the younger kids had to draw a face on a balloon and introduce their new buddy to the rest of the group, tell the friend´s name, how they first met and what games they like to play most, etc.
 At the same time the older kids were making up stories. Sitting on the floor, in a circle, everyone invented a story and passed a ball to the next person who had to continue.



 

Mar 17, 2011

SPORTS WEEK IN APRIL!

From 11th till 15th of April, 2011, the Youth Red Cross will organize a sports week for the kids.

The event is being prepared right now so we will inform you about the details soon, however, if you would like to help us out with training the kids in some sports (we are planning to do volleyball,basketball,capoeira,aerobics,kickboxing,athletics,handball,bikes and rugby- it might change,though) or you simply want to participate in anyway and also know kids who would like to spent some time outdoors in April, let us know!

The application forms are already available at the Youth Red Cross office.

Mar 11, 2011

MEET our food!


Following the activities, which have been developing among the international students, this Wednesday MEET is organizing another event!
It is going to be a traditional Portuguese dinner for all the students with a special dedication to the international students. The menu will offer Portuguese flavors and scents, which will help create a nice ambience by the table.
Still, the party will continue, because the dance club MIA is the next destination for our group!
Please confirm your participation through:
projectomeet.brg@gmail.com  
facebook.com/projecto MEET


Multiculturalism, center of Braga, MEET and other fun things!



The first activity in the second semester held by MEET on the 24th of February, 2011, was the “peddy-paper”, which goal was to show the center of Braga to the international students.


The students showed great interest in the activity: there were nearly 35 participants from Brasil, China, Poland, Greece, Holland, Russia, Ukraine and other countries. They came to Braga for one semester to study Portuguese at the University of Minho or as Erasmus students.


All the participants gathered at the University campus and formed groups of about five people each. The students started their journey passing through the route of Rua D. Pedro V where they received the city map and a sheet containing the tip on how to get to their first stop.  

 
When they arrived to the first station a Red Cross volunteer who was awaiting them posed a question and if they answered correctly they received another hint on how to get to the next stop. This form of activity allowed the participants to find out where is the pharmacy, post office, the academic bar, the Portuguese Youth Institute, the Citizen´s shop, hospital, police station, the fire department, Arco da Porta Nova, the Cathedral Sé, the Santa Bárbara garden – and finally- a Praça da República, where all the participants together with the Red Cross Youth volunteers met at the finish line.

It was a very nice and sunny afternoon and the activity turned out to be very entertaining and useful. The students could discover the main places in the city without worrying they would get lost. Additionally, the “peddy-paper” helped integrating people from all over the world. MEET was very pleased with the results of the activity and hopes that the next event, the traditional Portuguese dinner held for the students on Wednesday, the 2nd of March, will also be a success.

Diary: Sara at "Diversity is More"

Hi, 

The most enthousiastic followers of “Sara at Diversity”, behold, I have some news that are not so good: it’s the last diary…Yes, it´s true. Now, that I started getting used to this, it is ending. But that´s life.

The last day was just like all the other days - filled with presentations and evaluations.

In the morning the groups formed the previous day had submitted their proposals for projects to: M. Barroso and Bruno Al-Faiate Mohamed (trainers)!!!
Innovative, creative ideas and projects are just waiting to ´´see the day light´´.
We will soon find out what the future holds: everyone seeks opportunities and joint projects, however, the proposals that will prove to be the most consistent to the existence of climate “conducive” to apply here in Diversity will be chosen.

During the afternoon we had a trip to the city center, because everyone was anxious to see the Castle of Guimarães. There we made the assessment of the activities, which by the reaction of the participants went very, very well. On my part, I agree that this training was successful, the trainers knew how to prepare dynamic and a fantastic work pace.
Also the working group was amazing. It was an extremely positive week!!!

Now, it’s time to analyze everything that has been lived and learnt in order to understand how I can use the acquired tools in practice (which certainly shouldn’t be something difficult) and............. well I will not tell too much, you should expect to see the ideas put to practice!
Finally, I wanted to say it was a great pleasure to share this experience with you and I hope to soon have another chance to here João say: ´´After this training, you should write a diary again´´. A big hug to everyone, especially the twenty new people that during this week made me a better person!

MEET on the day of welcoming the new Erasmus students



    Yesterday was a very important day for the project MEET. For the first time since it was established in September, 2010, MEET, invited by the GRI, had the opportunity to present itself on the day of welcoming the new Erasmus students. It was a pretty busy day for the new international students who arrived to study at the University of Minho. In the morning they attended different presentations by institutional entities as well as the MEET and AAUM presentations. During the afternoon they had the chance to participate in the academic peddy-paper.
    The Project MEET was presented simultaneously in English and Portuguese by Alina Carvalho, the coordinator of the Project, as well as João Gomes, responsible for the international cooperation of the Red Cross Youth in Braga. Other participants on the Red Cross Youth side were Chisoka, Admeier and Birgit, who helped with the activities and interaction with the Erasmus students.
    MEET´s participation on the day of welcoming the Erasmus students was important, especially when facing the following facts:
In the second semester arrived 190 students representing 62 countries, in the first semester there were 500 international students. Summing up, the university accepts 700 international students per year.
  
   Our today´s activity, the peddy-paper at the center of Braga was received very enthusiastically with over 50 people signing up. Surprisingly, even more people signed up (70!) to our next activity-the traditional Portuguese dinner, that will take place on the 2nd of March. Therefore, we will continue the process of cultural integration in the academic context of Braga.