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WHAT WORRIES METeacher's notesThe following is about the worries of each Spanishkid. They are here so you can print them out and work with them whilst not using the website. We make three suggestions that you could develop in about three class sessions:
BURAMA'S HOUSEI can't say that I have had fights, harassment or anything with my classmates or with kids of my age, maybe because I'm tall and strong, maybe because of my attitude of not getting cross or annoyed with things. You know, some kids say bad things, but it's because they don't have enough information about my country, my religion, etc.Many people seem to assume that I can't know things, that I have to fail at school, stuff like that, just because I'm African. Some older boys insult me from time to time, but no-one's actually attacked me. (Crossing my fingers, I hope that never happens). Some older people, especially some who seem very old to me, look at me like if they were looking at an alien who had come out of space. Maybe some time in the future people will adapt to the fact that people like me are here in Spain, and we're here to stay... EDURNES'S HOUSEMy biggest hassle is the violence generated in Euskadi and the way it extends into all of Spain. Some people, when they knew I was from the Basque Country tried to keep their distance, they felt suspicious that maybe my family could be ETA terrorists or helped ETA. Once they knew me and my family well, fortunately things changed and now we're accepted much better. There are many people who died and still die in the name of ideas. I find it irrational, as irrational as the Spanish Inquisition. All this is so sad... That's all I can say, that's what I feel.ISABEL'S HOUSEIn the same way as Edurne, Josep, Maru or Ivan, I feel that my future depends on my own efforts. I hope that my friends Burama, Mohamed, Lucía and Urpi don't have problems achieving what they want, so that they'll be valued for their personal and professional qualities, not for how they look or what their parents do for a living.IVAN'S HOUSEI know the fact that my skin is white and all that helps... I've never been picked on inside or outside school, not even when I didn't speak a single word of Spanish. I picked up the language quite quickly anyway. I really think the future ought to be all up to me, and the efforts I make to learn and to find a place in society. With luck my success won't depend on colour, ethnicity, culture, religion and stuff like that, just like it won't for Maru, Isa and Edurne. Maybe it's different for Luci, 'cos although she doesn't look any different, she's Roma, but perhaps you'd better ask her...JOSEP'S HOUSEThere is one thing that really worries me and that is when I hear that there are people who kill other people just to defend some ideas. I really thought that adults could understand each other and solve problems by talking about things. I wish one day we'll be able to talk and discuss things in a civilised way. My closest friends (I'll introduce them later to you) and myself talk a lot about these things. We know that we alone 'can't change the world', but we also know that many other think like us. Perhaps you do already, or perhaps you will do after you've spent a bit of time with us. We (you, me, them, him, her) should spread ideas like, needing to know the other person before judging him/her; that all people have the same value - independently of their colour, culture, religion, social class, etc.-; that we can learn from diversity, from things that are different; that despite people's differences we are human after all, so there are many common features that unite us all... But previous to all that, please try always to wear the shoes of the person you have in front of you, or the shoes of the person you'll judge in one way or another. From their shoes you'll see things differently and you may understand more. Have you seen the film "A Class Divided"? If you haven't, ask your school tutor about it, they should be able to get hold of a copy. I watched this film and, since then, I understood.LUCÍA'S HOUSEI consider myself quite lucky in a way. I have lots of friends (girls and boys), and some of them are payos. I have never been attacked, or even called names. But, I must admit that I am not what you could call a typical Roma.We're not a very rich family, but we don't live badly and, although my parents try to convince me to stop studying, they won't stop me if I decide to carry on. I live in a flat not in a camp, and I'm glad - I like having piped water. My neighbours are payos and we have no problems with each other, we respect each other. So, my hassles are about my future, about my dreams. I'm also worried about what's in store for my people, the Roma. For me, I know that since I'm a girl and a Roma maybe some payos don't see me as having much of a future, but if I get to university maybe they'll start to see me as competition. But getting to university could make things difficult with other Roma. Lots of them will try very hard to make me change my mind because they're afraid that I'll become a payo, they think that studying will make me forget our culture. I know some Roma men and women have been to university in the south, but very few. They wanted to do it, but they were then kind of seen as outsiders. My community is still frightened of what they think is the bad influence of our payo friends. There are some things about being Roma that I know I won't change, like I want to be a virgin when I get married. But then I would like to carry on working after getting married, and my husband has to understand that whether he's payo or Roma. I am more worried about my people. I think they're more on the outside of everything than any other group in Spain. Some of them suffer racist treatment. Some payos say it's the Roma's own fault, saying we don't want to integrate. I can't see what's wrong with us having our own way of doing things (though I reckon me and my family are pretty integrated anyway). But, how much do people really know about the Roma? They just seem to believe bad things. If we knew more about each other we could just respect each other and accept that we're different. My friends say that I'm very idealistic, my teachers say that I believe in Utopia (whatever that is) and my parents say I am a dreamer. Well, maybe I could combine all this and put my small piece of sand towards building a better society. Yeah, I know - dreaming again... MARUXA'S HOUSEI think you'll find that Ivan, Edurne, Isabel, Josep and I think about this in quite a similar way. We kind of assume that since our skin colour is what you might call mainstream Spanish, we won't suffer any problem in that sort of way. My parents are Spaniards, I'm a Spaniard, and I look like one, so the sort of thing that might affect my future is the sort of background I come from, how well off my parents are.By the way, although I am not dark-skinned, some might say I don't look typically Galician (whatever that may be). If you just looked at my eyes you might think I'm Chinese; my nose could be north African, or it could also be a Jewish nose. Actually I'm not being serious, the idea that Jews all look alike is a racist myth. MOHAMED'S HOUSEI don't have many hassles, except for the fact that I guess lots of people think of me as 'foreign looking' because of my dark skin and my hair. Some who don't know me are either afraid of who they think I am, or think they're superior. Things change when they got to know me, but at first appearances seem to be a barrier.I had a bad problem only once when a group of blokes chased me and my friend Buruma for a while. Nothing happened but we definitely didn't want to hang around, just in case... For the moment Spain is not too violent a place for foreigners (or people of colour in general, even if they were born in Spain) but it is also true that the percentage of minorities is quite small in comparison with some other countries. I wish people valued for us for what we are... Many people also seem to think that my father came to Spain in an illegal small boat (patera), so they assume that my family is very poor. He didn't, and we aren't URPI'S HOUSEI've personally hardly had any problems, inside or outside school. I was called 'sudaca' (southern) a few times but that's all. Some of the boys and girls who called me this are now friends of mine. Mind you, I might not have suffered harassment, but some friends of mine have. I know some boys from Peru, Colombia, the Dominican Republic the Philippines and China who have all been called names. It seems to be girls that get called the worst names, I know some who've been called prostitutes just because they come from Colombia and the Philippines.My hassles have more to do with my future because I'm not originally from Spain. I wonder if when we're adults we'll be treated the same as 'native' Spaniards. I mean, I've got dual nationality (Peruvian-Spanish), but people can tell from looking at me I'm Peruvian. Some questions...Looking at all the characters' worries/problems, these, among others, are:
Do you think that these are issues for any people around where you live?
Have you heard of any of the things mentioned happening here? Which ones?
Are any of these issues you, your friends or your family have to think about?, Which ones? Is there anything you know personally or from others that is not in the list of the characters' worries? What is it?
Of course, not everything is hassle. Possibly, there are positive things/good experiences, that you, your friends or your family have had related to diversity, like maybe:
Could you state any other positive thing or good experience about diversity?
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