gender equality

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-52487213

David Moinina Sengeh is the Education Minister for Sierra Leone. He was preparing food in the kitchen for his daughter Peynina, when he was called to a zoom meeting. He tied Peynina on his back so that he could carry on taking part in the meeting. He tweeted a photo asking other leaders to share how they are working at home, saying, "As minister I started my last call feeding my 10 month old then carried her on my back for the rest of the call."

Later Dr Sengeh said the photo "forces men to think about themselves. It shows them it is possible to take care of their child."

"I have friends who have never ever changed a diaper, and they have several children, and they don't even understand how that is possible."

Women's rights campaigner Nemata Majeks-Walker said, "He is a role model to other men in Sierra Leone and Africa. he is somebody who does not believe that it is only a woman who should take care of her children.

what do you see in the picture?
where is it taken?
why do you think the picture has gone viral?

explain the story -

- if the picture showed a woman carrying her baby on her back, do you think it wold have gone viral?
- why did this picture make the news?
- David says, "I have friends who have never ever changed a diaper" why not?
- what is gender equality?
- why do you think some people still say women should look after children?
- what would David Moinina Sengeh say about that?
- why is David Moinina Sengeh being called a role model for other men?
- In 2020, who can look after children in a family? Men, women or both? Who looks after you in your family?
- what can we learn from Dr Moinina Sengeh?
- this picture has gone viral so what does that show about what most people around the world think about gender equality and men looking after children?
- why is this about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders in our school: everyone different, everyone equal by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com

human contact

https://www.kqed.org/news/11817046/from-ebola-to-coronavirus-a-simple-practice-of-sticker-photo-portraits-for-doctors

At Covoid-19 test centres and hospitals, health care workers have to wear protective clothing from head to foot. Faces are hidden and so are smiles.

Many people who have corona-virus have to stay alone in a room and the only human contact is with a masked stranger who looks after them. The patient will never see their carer's face.

An artist based in Los Angeles, USA, thought about what it must feel like to be in isolation and not see the face of the person caring for you. Mary Beth Heffernan realised there was a need for human connection.

Mary started printing photos of health care workers and making them in to stickers to go on the front of their suits so that patients could see their faces. Mary thought this might help patients feel more comfortable.

Mary's work as an artist has helped her develop this idea. She says, "the art is not the portrait itself, but is what it acts as a catalyst for, which is a change in relations between the health care worker and the patient. So for me, the patient and health care worker - in a sense, are creating the art."

Mary's idea is spreading and hospitals in other states and also Italy and Canada have been in contact to find out how they can do it too.

what do you see in the picture?
where is it?
who are they?
what is their job?
why is the person on the right dressed like that?
whose face is that on the suit?

explain the picture

- why do health care workers have to cover their faces?
- how do you think a patient feels when they can't see their carers face?
- think about why a patient might feel like an outsider (because they are shut off from the world; no human contact)
- how do the stickers help?
- why do you think Health care workers smile at patients? what does a smile do?
- what difference do the stickers make to the patient?
- what difference do the stickers make to the health care worker?
- why do you think lots of other hospitals are starting to try this even though they are so busy now?
- "the art is not the portrait, the art is the change in relations between the health care worker and patient" what dos this mean? what does Mary believe about art and what art is for?

why is this story about no outsiders?

no outsiders in our school: everyone different, everyone welcome by Andrew Moffat

www.no-outsiders.com

VE day: Resistance fighter stories

  

During World War 2 the Nazis invaded many countries across Europe. The Nazis targeted people who were different. Six million Jews were killed. The Nazis also imprisoned and killed people who were disabled, people who were gay and lesbian, and anyone who disagreed with their views.

If the Nazis invaded your country, what do you think happened? How would life change? Anyone who disagreed or fought back would be seen as an enemy and imprisoned or killed. These were very frightening times.

But some people did fight back, organising secretly to try and make things difficult for the Nazis and make them lose the war. These people were called “Resistance fighters”. If they were caught, they were usually killed. If you were a resistance fighter you had to be incredibly brave. 

Here are three stories of resistance fighters from World War 2.

Jane Vialle was born in The Congo 1906, and moved to Paris aged 7. As an adult she became a journalist. Jane became a spy working for one of the main resistance movements in the South of France. She followed and tracked Nazi activity, reporting back on their movements across Europe.

She was arrested in 1943 and charged with treason. When Nazis raided her house they were unable to crack the code she had invented and so were unable to translate or use her data. She was very clever!

She was sent to a concentration camp but survived and in 1947 Jane was elected to French parliament. 

Lucy Schwob lived in the Channel islands with her girlfriend Suzanne Malherbe. The Nazis invaded and occupied the Channel islands in 1940.

Lucy and Suzanne produced anti-Nazi leaflets written in German, signed “The nameless soldier”. They slipped these notes in to soldiers’ pockets on buses, dropped them in cars driven by Nazis or left them in cafes. They wanted to make it seem resistance was everywhere so the Nazis would feel they were losing.

They smuggled supportive leaflets written in different languages in to prison camps to keep the prisoners going.

Lucy and Suzanne were arrested in 1944 and sentenced to death. They survived but never recovered fully from their experience in prison. Lucy died within ten years.

Willem Arondeus was born in Amsterdam in1895, and was living in Netherlands with his boyfriend when Nazis invaded in 1940. The Nazis quickly made being gay illegal.

Willem forged identity papers for Jews, giving them fake identities so they would not be arrested.

He also worked on anti-Nazi publications to try and persuade people to join the resistance.

The Nazis held documents and information on hundreds of thousands of Dutch people at a records office. Willem and a group of resistance fighters decided there was one way to save the identities of the people; on 27th March 1943 Willem and 14 resistance fighters blew up the records office.

Willem and 13 members of the group were arrested within a few days. Willem took full responsibility for the bombing but all 13 were executed.

Willem’s final words were communicated through his lawyer; “Homosexuals are not cowards.” 

Why do we celebrate VE day today?

Millions of people died in the war and we should remember those people and all those who lost loved ones. VE day is a celebration of peace; a time when people of different nationality and race come together to show we are different and we can live together ion peace. 

As we celebrate the day the war ended, we should remember how to stop it happening again. We work for peace and acceptance of difference. That is why we say in our school there are no outsiders; everyone is welcome here and will continue to be welcome.

www.no-outsiders.com

No Outsiders in our school: everyone equal, everyone different by Andrew Moffat

VE Day

https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2019/05/08/v-e-day-1945-the-celebration-heard-round-the-world/

VE day stands for Victory in Europe day and happened on May 8th 1945. 
It commemorates the surrender of Nazi-Germany to the Allied forces signalling the end of World War 2. The war started in September 1939 so had lasted for almost 6 years. 75 million people died in World War 2, including 20 million people from the army and 40 million civilians. An estimated further 20 million people died from war-related disease and famine. When VE day was announced, hundreds of thousands of people joined together across the UK and the world to celebrate the end of the war.

Look at the picture and think about these questions:

•How is everyone feeling? How do you know?

•The photo was taken in New York. Why are people in New York celebrating Victory in Europe day, when New York is not in Europe?

•What do you notice about the people in the photo: are they all the same race?

•What does this show about New York in 1945? Is anyone in the photo being made to feel like an outsider?

•What other differences do you think exist between the people in the photo? Religion? Disability? Different families? Ages? Why did VE day bring so many different people together?

•What can we learn from this historical photo? Why is this picture about No Outsiders?

www.no-outsiders.com

No Outsiders in our school: Everyone different, everyone equal by Andrew Moffat