A warm hello to all of you!

The good news of this winter: we hope to welcome, soon, our first African school in the ATI network! They will be Senegalese pupils, from Casamance or Dakar. Hold on, we will inform you as soon as they are connected!

In Europe, a Norwegian school is looking for French correspondents in Grade 5 (10-11 years old). Among them, August, 12 years old, tells us about his school and passions: “Here, all the pupils learn how to work wood and ceramics, since we also have pottery courses. My favourite bands are Metallica and Motorhead. I play the guitar and learn how to play drums at school. What are your activities in France? Do you play football? I bet you do! You can maybe come and participate in Norway’s Cup tournament?”

If interested…

Tanguy, one of the first ATI travellers, currently works at the French Embassy in Laos. While visiting Thailand, he met pupils from a school in Surat Thani. The children are about to be connected to the forum.    

Aurélie and Nicolas, in this very country, arrived in Chiang Mai during the “Flowers festival”, and later fell under the spell of Pai. They met, in this little village, young high school students from Paiwittayakam School.

Here’s an excerpt from their story:

“Every morning, before entering the classroom, at 7.45 am sharp, students gather on the playground to sing the national anthem. This tribute given to the nation and to the King is a ritual practiced every public school. And in each of them you can find a portrait of the King and the Queen…”

They realised, too, that Buddhism is taught as a real course, but also that Thailand is one of the most alphabetised countries in South-East Asia. However, parents of children from the most remote places think that they are more useful in the fields than in school…

Paiwittayakam School is considered in Thailand as a “dream school”. If you want to know why, check out www.oselemonde.net

Before going to the mountains, Aurélie and Nicolas travelled in the south of the country, near Khao Lak, which was destroyed by the tsunami in 2004 December 26. They wanted to check out what the situation was after the destruction of about a hundred schools. Among them, Ban Bangsack School, totally destroyed, was rebuilt and named Rajaprajanugroh.

“Like the 83 orphans who lost their whole family because of the deadly wave, Sulatama sheltered in the school. Dormitories were built in the school to welcome 400 pupils. 300 of them are victims from the tsunami and lost their relatives, while others are from very poor families. Everything is free for pupils of Rajaprajanugroh School: from textbooks to uniforms, from dormitories to daily meals. A room, in the middle of which stands a statue of Buddha, gives the children the opportunity to isolate themselves and pray.”

Our couple is very close to meet Sonia and Manu in Bangkok but finally misses them. Each team follows its own way, in the North-West mountains for Aurélie and Nicolas, to Laos for Sonia and Manu. Bangkok impressed them: “Fantastic city, totally amazing”. They could not catch a school in Thailand’s capital but, don’t worry, they will be back there in April! Meanwhile, enjoy their travel report of Myanmar, especially their stay in a monastery. Good news, children from Normandy (France) started communicating with the children from India the couple met at the end of last year. They exchange about food, leisure, geography and a bit of school of course… and everything in English, congratulations!

www.365jours.org

Next news from Ad Terram Incognitam at the beginning of spring! Until then, we let you enjoy the arrival of correspondents from Africa, Asia and North Europe.  

See you very soon,

The ATI team