Chapter 3: Fighting social injustice

Rose and Akira fight social injustice (written by Laura, Bakhtawar, Ainhoa and Laia, from Institut Consell de Cent, Spain)

Akira and Rose had been surfing the web for very long and they were tired of the internet, so they decided to spend some time in sunny Barcelona to relax a bit.

There they sat at a very strange park, one with three tall old chimneys. They saw lots of people laughing, dancing and having fun. They came nearer and, suddenly, they heard a noise and they realised they were covered in four or five different colours of powder! A grinning girl came to greet them, while they looked at each other and laughed.

- Aren’t you Rose and Akira? I know you from our school’s project, Reading for Life. I also love reading and you were my inspiration. We are celebrating the Holi, the Indian festival of colours. Would you like to join us?  

They began to talk to the girl, Jaspreet, who told them about the story of the festival, and how they celebrated the coming of the spring with those colourful activities. Then a lady wearing a fancy sari came and she gave them coloured water-filled balloons and water guns, and they had one of the most fun days they could remember.

Then in the evening Akira and Rose were invited to try some Holi delicacies. They couldn’t help overhearing how there was less food that year because many members of the community were having serious economic problems, as they were unemployed or working very little.

“One of our problems is that many of us didn’t study here. We usually speak very good English, but we don’t speak any of the official languages spoken here, so many people can’t find proper jobs.” Jaspreet said.

“Is that something that only happens to your community?” Akira asked.

“Well, this happens to most people in this area who didn’t study here in Catalonia. There are many Pakistanis, Moroccans, Filipinos, and also families that come from Latin America and East Europe who are struggling to find jobs because they don’t speak our official languages.”  Jaspreet replied.

And then Rose had the idea:

“Why don’t we find volunteers to teach those people Catalan and Spanish? We can also teach English to those who don’t speak it, so that they can find jobs more easily!”

“Great idea! – Akira said. And in that way they will be able to read more books! Why don’t we start a reading club too? We can start with easy readings, and then move on to more difficult levels.”

So they started this new project, and they found volunteers to teach all the people interested in starting learning Spanish or Catalan: Phrencis, Victoria, Xena, teachers of the Foreign Language Department from Consell de Cent…. and the school issued certificates for those of the participants that had done the courses, and they found it easier to find jobs and to enjoy their right to participate in the cultural life of their new community.  

Laia, Bakhtawar, Ainhoa and Laura