Lampedusa booklet final proof 23 sep11amFriday

“ …between a rock and a hard place… ”Conversations about Leaving,

Loss and Lampedusa

St. Laurence College LoughlinstownYellow Flag Programme – 3rd October 2016

Lampedusa booklet v2:Between a rock and a hard place booklet 23/09/2016 10:11 Page 1

Conversations about Leaving,Loss and Lampedusa

St. Laurence College LoughlinstownYellow Flag Programme – 3rd October 2016

“ …between a rock and a hard place… ”


On October, the 3rd, 2013, 368 migrants diedin a dreadful accident off the Italian island of

Lampedusa. It was just one of the manytragedies that have happened since massmigrations from North Africa began a few yearsago. The UNHCR states that in the first fivemonths of 2016, 2510 lives were lost in theMediterranean Sea compared to 1855 in thesame period in 2015. The Italian Parliament hasestablished the 3rd of October as aremembrance day to honour the people whodied and raise awareness of the migrationtragedy.

This “Europe begins at Lampedusa” initiative aimsto involve Italian and European students inlearning activities and events specificallyconcerning the issues of global interdependenceand human rights, with a particular focus onmigrations and the rights of refugees and asylumseekers.

A teacher and three students from St. LaurenceCollege in Loughlinstown are representingIreland and travelling to Lampedusa this October

to engage in workshops and debates on theseissues. In the lead up to the ‘Remembrance Day’each school will share a project that they haveengaged in during the month of September togain a deeper insight into the human rights ofmigrants.

St. Laurence College is a co-educational D.E.I.Sschool in south Co. Dublin. We are proud to bepart of the Yellow Flag Programme run throughthe Irish Traveller Movement and we are the onlyMarianist school in Ireland.

In preparation for such an importantundertaking our students and teachers havecreated a photo-poster entitled ‘Between a Rockand a Hard Place-Conversations on Leaving, Lossand Lampedusa.’

A picture is worth a thousand words and wewanted our project to transcend languagebarriers. We drew inspiration from the old adage’between a rock and hard place’ to capture asense of the desperation that pushes people toleave their homes. This adage is loaded with

meaning. In our photographs and theconversations that happened afterwards weunpacked it.

We travelled to the Dublin Docklands to takephotographs of the Famine Memorial. This is apublic monument. Everyday it is passed by thebusy Dublin Port traffic and by walkers tracingthe path of the Liffey to and from the city centre.With the sound of the D.A.R.T rolling intoConnolly Station in the background we stoppedto connect with our own Irish history of leavingand loss so that we could have a deeperconversation about the tragedy in Lampedusa.This is what happened…..

“ Europe Begins at Lampedusa ”


Our aim as teachers was to lead our students intothis conversation with an outdoor classroomexperience. The Famine Memorial is only pacesaway from a World Poverty Stone set among thecobble stones of the Dockland. This stone was setdown to mark the annual United NationsInternational Day for the Eradication of Povertythat falls on the 17th of October each year.

Standing between the memorial and thisOctober stone proved to be fitting place toexplore the adage ‘between a rock and a hardplace.’ We talked about the Irish Famine and theships that people left Ireland on. Many of theseships became known as coffin ships due the lossof life on the journeys to America and Canada.We talked about the new circumstances that Irishpeople found themselves in abroad and thediscrimination and poverty that was part of thenew lives of some our ancestors.

We talked about the war in Syria, the upheavalsin many Northern African countries and themigration crisis in Europe. It has been suggestedthat the name Lampedusa derives from the wordλέπας (lépas) which means 'rock', due to therocky landscape of the island. We talked aboutthe Lampedusa tragedy. We also talked aboutthe images we had seen of the LÉ Eithne, LÉRóisín, LÉ Niamh, LÉ Samuel Beckett and LÉJames Joyce assisting in humanitarian rescues inthe Mediterranean Sea.

It was a moving experience taking the photos asthe students stood face to face with thesestationary memorial statutes. In geography classthe students had completed a lesson aboutmigration in which they had to prepare abackpack in order to leave Ireland in a hurry. Weplaced the bags on the statutes to symbolise thelearning from this lesson and to remind us thatpeople are still leaving their homes everyday toescape the struggles of war, famine and poverty.

Some of the students talked about theexperience bringing them closer to the past. Itwas a personal moment. For others theexperience was deeply uncomfortable. Theyspoke about how hard it was facing the issueshead on. Ignorance can be bliss and we talkedabout how only education can help usunderstand the plight of migrants.

We attracted a lot of attention in our outdoorclassroom. Later on we talked about thereactions of passers-by. Some American touristspraised our efforts to explore the issues throughphotography, some local Dublin women asked usabout the significance of our yellow ribbons andone passer-by assumed that we beingdisrespectful and asked what we were doingthere. It was only through dialogue that we couldexplain our motivations for arriving at thememorial on that overcast morning. Later on inthe day we visited the EPIC Ireland museum on

Custom House Quay. We were greeted by thehelpful staff who asked us where we were fromand how we had heard about the visitor centre.At every stage of our journey through theexhibits the friendly staff guided us on what is animmersive experience through the history of theIrish Diaspora.

The next day in school we talked about all theways that people had made us feel on our trip.We had been welcomed and for a brief time onthe dock we felt unwanted and we thoughtabout the experiences of migrants leaving theirhomes.

We talked about one powerful sentence in theexhibition. It reads; “…emigration is not just achronicle of sorrow and regret. It is also a powerfulstory of contribution and adaptation”.

As a Marianist school we have charisms thatguide our teaching and learning. ‘Family Spirit’and education for ‘adaptation and change’ aretwo of these charisms. We value these gifts. Theyhelp build the sense of belonging we treasure inour school community.

We looked at all the photographs we had takenand the moments of reflection we had captured.We decided to hang our art print from the visitorshop in EPIC Ireland in the geography classroom.It reads ‘We are all Connected.’


More information about the FamineMemorial and the Dublin World Poverty

Stone can be found at www.ddda.ie and atwww.17october.ie

The photo-poster is designed to use as a leadinto the Migration Simulation lesson in this packand also as an introduction to the ‘Europe Beginsat Lampedusa’ Initiative. Further links andclassroom teaching resources can be found atwww.stlaurencecollege.com

The following questions use the 5W’s and Hformat can be used to generate lesson intentionsfor discussing the experience of migrants. Thephoto-poster should be used again at the end ofthe lesson to prompt the students to record whatthey have of learned by completing thesimulation. Teachers can also use the story of ourvisit to the Dockland day to introduce the lesson.

More information about EPIC Ireland can befound at www.epicirelandchq.com

Using the Photographs…

Where are the photos taken?

Who is in the photos?

What are students doing?

Why do the statues have the students’ backpacks on?

What is in the backpacks?

When was the photo taken?

What are the students thinking about?

Why were the photographs taken?

What does the word ‘connection’ mean?

What does the word ‘reflection’ mean?

How do you think passers-by reacted to the studentshaving their photographs taken at the memorial?


After exploring the photo-poster ask students tobrainstorm the term ‘migrant’ and record theanswers on a chart.

1. Now prepare for the simulation. Eachstudent is allocated a person to play fromlist below.

– Parent with a young child– A teenager /yourself– An elderly person– A doctor– A taxi driver– A celebrity– More people can be added if you wish

2. Divide the students into groups of 6 ormore. Now the inform students that theyneed to evacuate their homes becausethere is a major disaster in Ireland. ( eg.chemical explosion, nuclear disaster) . Youhave 20 minutes to evacuate your homeand flee the country.

3. List 20 items you would pack in your schoolbag/small suitcase to take with you.

4. Give students in real time just 10 minutes topack. They should write their list of 20 itemsdown. Remember that each piece ofclothing/food/nappy is 1 item and all theitems must fit into a school backpack.

5. Tell students they are now being collectedby large open top trucks and driven to thenearest port.

6. In a dramatic tone describe the scene of theevacuation. It is cold and wet, babies arecrying, children are excited and parents arequiet etc.

7. You disembark at the docks and you beginto walk towards a ship. An elderly personslips and their bag falls into the sea so theymust cross out all 20 items.

8. Each person in their group must nowdonate 2 items each to the elderly person.Note the item must be of use to the elderlyperson.

9. You have now been at sea for a week.People are ill. (teacher- please elaborateabout conditions). Cross out all medications

from your list. You must now throw yourtwo heaviest items overboard because theship is overloaded. Cross these items offyour list.

10. The Parent with the young child is verycold. Please give a warm item of clothing ofyour clothing to this person and cross it offyour list.

11. You are at now at sea for 2 weeks. Cross outall food and water/drink from list.

12. Small children are getting anxious andupset. To keep them entertained give yourphone or game to them. Cross this off yourlist.

13. You finally arrive at an unknown place. Youare tired. You need a shower. You arehungry and scared.

14. When you disembark the ship you mustnow walk to a large camp at the end of asmall town. The local people are staring atyou and pointing at you. Some are jeeringyou and telling you to go home. You don’tunderstand the language.

Migration Simulation(adapted from Concerns Debating Development teaching resources)


15. You are now asked for ID. Those with apassport on their list may sit down as a newgroup at end of classroom. Everyone elseshould stay standing. (This represents howfamilies are separated.)

16. Those with certificates to prove theirqualifications may also sit down as anothergroup at the end of the class. These peoplewill get refugee status. They can prove whothey are and that they are fearing for theirlives.

17. Take a note of the numbers left standing.Remind these students that they have no IDor proof of who they are or whatqualification/training they may haveachieved in Ireland.

18. This group of people in real life may needto wait in this camp for months or years fortheir asylum application to be processed.

17. All students can now sit down with theremainder of their group (but not with thepeople with ID or qualifications).

18. Get all students to now read out what is lefton their list. Record these on a chart orwhiteboard. Discuss the usefulness of theseitems in this new country (eg – many willhave mobile phones with nochargers/adaptors, the battery will have runout, warm clothes may not be needed if thecountry is hot, or the country may be toocold and you do not have not enoughwarm clothing…)

19. Ask the students if they were able to redotheir list what should they have packed?Discuss the new lists.

20. Discuss what the students would missabout home?

21. Describe the feelings and record them askeywords.

22. Ask the students to look again at thebrainstorm of the word ‘migrant’ at thebeginning of class. What words or ideaswould you now cross out and what couldyou add in.

23. Re-visit the photo-poster again as eachstudent records what they have learnedtoday.

24. In the next class use the Red Cross teachingresources to explore migration in the pastand migration today or use the BBC onlinesimulation to explore the conflict in Syriaand the path of migrants as they leave theMiddle East. Trócaire has also a range ofteaching resources on the theme ofdisplacement and further resources andlinks can be found on a Padlet atwww.stlaurencecollege.com

The whole class must now stand upBrainstorm – How am I feeling as the character I chose?


St. Laurence College Yellow Flag Programme

“ The Yellow Flag Programme is an intercultural educationmodel that was developed by the Irish Traveller Movement (ITM)in 2008. It aims to work with students, staff, management,parents and the wider community so that issues of diversity andequality are not merely seen as ‘school subjects’ but can beunderstood and taken outside the school setting into everydaylife. More information on the programme can be found atwww.yellowflag.ie

We are proud to haveour Yellow Flag and tocelebrate diversity withinour school community.We have undertaken a

range of school projects since 2012 to explore equality andhuman rights. From-Friendship Week and Stand Up Week to ourbeautiful quilt project and of course our ‘Yellow Shoes Along theAvenue’ installation – each and every project allows our studentsto be challenged by the values of the Yellow Flag Programmeand encouraged to live them out in their everyday lives.

”



Useful Teaching Resources:

http://www.unhcr.ie/education/learn-a-fact-about-refugees

http://www.redcross.org.uk/What-we-do/Teaching-resources/Lesson-plans/

Refugees-secondary

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32057601

https://www.trocaire.org/getinvolved/education/resources/search?f[0]=field_education_theme%3A18

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Lampedusa booklet final proof 23 sep11amFriday