Final product stories on children's rights

STORIES ON CHILDREN’S RIGHTS AND
GENDER EQUALITY
CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP
COMENIUS MULTILATERAL SCHOLASTIC PARTNERSHIP
‘Different cultures, different ideas, the same Human Rights
in the voice of young students’
2012-2014

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INTRODUCTION
This simple booklet is the result of the Creative Writing Workshop held for Comenius
Multicultural Scholastic Partnership during Italian, Polish and Turkish Mobility.
Our partnership has focused on the following topic, “Different cultures, different ideas the
same human rights in the voice of young students “with the analysis of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child for first year and on Gender equality and concept of Democracy for second
year.
The project has been developed dividing students in small groups during mobilities and each of
them had to write a short story about suggested topics.
Certainly the workshop has been a good work for students as they had the chance to reorder
what they had learnt during the different activities in their schools and review what their rights
and duties are in their local situation and in a widen national and European one.
This project has given our students different skills not least the one of being able to understand
they live in a wider Union which is Europe and compare their style of life with the one of poor
countries; they had the opportunity to analyse the cultures of some of their friends, being our
societies more and more multicultural and our cities full of immigrants who often have heavy
jobs.
We believe this simple work has given our students the opportunity to listen to ”their hearts”
and write what they really felt in order to be more aware of their life in a European
multicultural society where they have to be active part.
Mr Enea Storchi Incerti, Italian Coordinator and English teacher
Mrs Danuta Kaminska, Polish Coordinator and English teacher
Miss Isabel Lopes, Portuguese Coordianator and Science teacher
Mrs Fatma Yuce, Partnership and Turkish Coordinator, English teacher

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RIGHT TO FREE EXPRESSION AND OPINION
A New Country
Zayn was a 16 year old young boy, who had to move with his family from India, where he lived
in a poor town named Lucknow, to another country to look for a new job for his parents. He
went to Canada and in that country he would study in a new school. He lived in Vancouver, on
the west coast, in a big house which compared to his old one was very small.
In the new house he had a bedroom only for him, but in India he had to sleep in the same
room with his brothers.
Zayn was short and thin, he had short black hair and a small mouth, his eyes were big and
black . He was very shy, so in the new country he didn’t talk with anyone. He stayed all day in
his house because he didn’t know anybody.
At the end of August he had to go to a new school and from the beginning he had really a hard
time and he didn’t talk with other students from his school who looked at him badly because
he was a boy from another country.
One day while he was going to school alone, he looked at other children who were playing
and enjoying themselves and he didn’t feel at ease.
Zayn missed the life he had before in India but he began to accept the fact that the other
students didn’t want to stay with him or listen to his opinion.
After some days, Zayn met a new friend, her name was Sarah. She was a very pretty girl, she
had long blond hair, an oval face with big blue eyes, a small nose and full lips. Sarah was
friendly and nice, she was safe herself, kind and shy as he was. She didn’t like discrimination
and when people discriminated other people. She knew some people in the school but she
didn’t discriminate Zayn because she didn’t think he was different, on the contrary she thought
that he was interesting and he needed help to integrate himself in his new life.
Eventully they managed to communicate and started a good friendship. After she defended
him from other boys, a few times, telling them that they had to listen to him, because he also
had the right to express his opinion, they started to respect and listen to him.
Every afternoon, after school, they met in a park and they played and talked about Zayn’s life.
Sarah was the only one who listened to his story, and she would like that other guys could
meet Zayn to know him better.
He decided to introduce her to his family because their relationship was getting stronger and
stronger. The family appreciated the fact that Sarah encouraged him to speak by himself.
However some people started to despise Sarah because she was one of Zayn’s friends.
Anyway she didn’t care, because she preferred to defend him and she didn’t listen to people’s
gossips.

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They decided to create a video about the reality in the country where Zayn lived before
coming to Canada and about the fact that he was rejected by the people from their school.
For a few days, every afternoon they prepared the video with the photos which Zayn took
when he was in India and the information about the right to free opinion that they searched on
the internet.
After they finished the video they told their teachers and they agreed to let them show the
video to the class.
After watching the video the class understood his reality and that they were wrong, because
they had not listened to him and apologised for picking him on and disrespecting him.
Zayn also began to talk to other people in the school, so they could stop bullying him. He made
new friends who would let him play with them. People started to listen to him and Sarah had
her friends again.
THE END
Written by Mitza Reis, Giulia Lupi, Paulina
Wieckiel, Julia Jarmolowicz and Evelina Cociu
RIGHT TO EDUCATION
From lessons to love
Once upon a time in a small town lived a girl named Alice. She was very poor and she lived
with her grandmother because her parents had died in a car accident.
Alice was an amazing, beautiful, sweet girl and she stitched her clothes with her grandmother
Teresa. She had long, curly brown hair, big green eyes, small ears and a normal nose. She was
tall, thin and she was 15 years old.
Her grandmother was 65 years old and she wore a pair of big glasses. She was of average
height and fat. Teresa had short, white, curly hair. She was mean and severe.

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One day Alice went to the park, she sat on a bench and cried because she had quarrelled with
her grandmother Teresa.
They had quarrelled because Alice wanted to go to school, but for Teresa it was a stupid thing.
Tommaso saw Alice and went to her and asked: “Are you ok?“ and he sat near her on the
bench. She said: “I’m okay” but she wasn’t. Tommaso was wearing big black glasses.
He was 18 years old and he had ginger hair and big brown eyes.
Tommaso was such a nice and helpful guy. He had a good heart, and he could sing and play the
guitar, but also his hobbies were sports like American football and karate. He lived in front of
Alice’s house and he knew her story.
After their meeting in the park, Alice asked Tommaso if he could help her with lessons and he
accepted.
While Tommaso and Alice were studying maths, Teresa was looking for Alice because it was
late.
When she found her, Alice was with Tommaso and they were studying in the park, so she
decided to stop that study.
She ran to them and screamed loudly During that scream they caught their things and left that
place to study in peace together.
Suddenly, while they were studying, it started to rain so they looked for a place to hide, Alice
told him: “ I’m in love with you <3” and he just kissed her.
When Alice came home with Tommaso, her grandmother had a big discussion with her.
Tommaso explained to Teresa that the school is important and he asked her to send Alice to
school because it was her dream. Teresa did not accept that idea, she wanted Alice to work at
home.
Alice ran to her room and packed her luggage, when she was downstairs her grandmother saw
her. She asked where Alice was going with that luggage and she answered: “I’m leaving this
house, I can’t stand this life any longer”.
When Alice closed the door she started crying.
She went to Tommaso’s house. When he opened the door and saw her crying, he hugged her
and invited her to go in. When his mum saw Alice she told her: “You can stay in our house how
long you want”.
The time they were spending in that house they fell in love more, Alice went to school and she
was one of the best students in her class.
During this time the grandmother was missing her grandaughter and she understood that Alice
deserved an education.
After 3 weeks Alice’s grandmother went to Tommaso’s house to apologize and ask her
grandaughter to go back to her family house.
Alice agreed and she went back to her family house with Teresa. She continued to attend
school and completed her studies with the best marks.
*10 YEARS LATER*

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Alice and Tommaso got married and now they have two sweet children, a boy and a girl. The
boy’s name is Antonio and the girl is Giorgia. Antonio is 2 years old and Giorgia is 6 months.
They have a beautiful house with a big garden, a cool swimming pool and a mustang. Both
work in a corporation for human rights and they help poor children.
They have lived happily ever after.
THE END
Written by Francesca Damiano, Aleksandra Zienkiewicz,
Tosia Kiewro, Guence Sena Bukuk, Noemi Picca and Luís
Campino.
RIGHT TO PRIVACY
A problem with photos
Beyond the mountains and woods in the distant town called Verona lived a man called André.
He was about 30 years old. He didn’t have a wife and a family. He had long, blond hair and
strange crazy eyes. He was tall and slim. He was always dreaming about having a baby, but he
couldn’t.
One day he had a very realistic dream. The man was dreaming that he had many sweet and
cute kids aged 12. Unfortunately, when he woke up everything disappeared. André got mad.
His eyes became even stranger. He started to think what to do.
He decided to go to school and take some photos of students to remember the dream. He
dressed like a school assistant, as he had stolen a uniform before.
When the lessons finished, he took some photos of the students, but the children saw him.
André ran away from school through the window. When he arrived at his house he scanned
the photos on his computer then he published the photos on the Internet.
After one day he went back to school and he dressed again like the school assistant and waited
for the moment that lessons finished.
He was walking around the school and taking some pictures of strange kids. After coming back
home he put some photos from the school on Facebook. But the photos were very
embarrassing. He did the photocopy and he gave them to the people from school so everybody
could see them. One of the students found himself in this photo on the social networks and in
the school.

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The students got mad. They decided to go to the police. At first the policeman Mr. John didn’t
know what to do with this situation. He said that he would phone to the students in the next
few days and he did that. On Monday the victims got a phone call from the officer. He had
caught André. After long talks students understood this crazy thirty-year-old man. They forgave
him all his faults and made a group photo with André to remember this sweet-bitter story.
In the police station they started the interrogatory with Mr. John and André:
-Why did you take the photo? – asked the officer -Because I wanted to have a child. - said
André
-Why did you want a child? -I like children very much .
- Are you a paedophile? -Yes, of course.
-Why? -Because when I was a child I underwent many teasing , and I wanted to have my
revenge !
- Ok, The interrogatory is concluded!
André was sentenced to 5 years in prison, because he had offended many children. 
THE END
Written by Aleksandra Kaminska, Andrea Tirelli, Maddalena Grillenzoni, Bartek Grodowski,
Maria Chiara Camurri, Enes Urun
RIGHT TO HEALTHCARE
Woodcutter Town
Tom was a child who lived in a small town called Woodcutter. He was a six-year-old boy
with blue eyes and blond curly hair, he looked like a small angel. His family was in a poor
situation and his house was really small and they couldn’t buy medicines for Tom as he had a
cardiac distress. He lived only with his mum because his dad had died because of a heart
attack. His family was very poor and they didn’t have a healthy lifestyle. He was often sick and
he was a sad boy. Tom’s mum was working very hard but they didn’t have enough money and
in the town there wasn’t a hospital, so Tom couldn’t have a health control.

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One snowy day Tom felt very badly, he felt pain in his heart and he was crying a lot. His
mum didn’t know what was going up so she called for an ambulance. She didn’t have a phone
so she went to a neighbour and called from there.
Tom’s mother phoned a lot of times but the line was always engaged. The neighbours wanted
to help Tom but they didn’t know how.
Finally someone answered the phone, she explained her son’s situation and they told
they were going to send an ambulance to her address in Woodcutter Town.
The hospital worker sent the ambulance to Tom’s home. There was a lot of snow but
the ambulance had to drive fast to arrive on time at Tom’s house. The ambulance had a slide
and crashed. Tom’s mum waited for long time but the ambulance did not come. She was very
stressed and angry. Tom’s felt worse and he collapsed. His mother was crying and screaming.
She was very upset. She started first-aid but it wasn’t working and then Tom died.
At the same time, the hospital sent a second ambulance to Tom’s. This time the
ambulance could arrive at his house. But it was late. Tom had already died and they couldn’t
do anything to save him.
After this his mother had depression. She was alone as she didn’t get her son and
husband.
Everything happened because Tom couldn’t have a health control.
THE END
Written by Inês Fernandes, Cecilia Turchi, Aleksandra Chojnacka, Sara
Gibertini, Kornelia Lasocka, Rumeyse Sena.
RIGHT TO IDENTITY
The Flower Town
In the beautiful land of Netherland there was a big garden. Surrounded by old forests, it
was home to many different flowers. In the middle there was the house of a grumpy gardener.
Around the house there were big, square patches with seeds.
Under the table with sunflowers, four flowers waited to be seeded among others of their
species. Ayse, the red rose, chatted happily with Maria, her daisy-friend, while next to them a
clove called Kenan was telling a joke to David, a yellow tulip.
- I can’t wait to meet other daisies in the garden! – said Maria.
- Keep calm, we should be planted there soon – replied Ayse with a smile.

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- Oh, I guess I will join the cloves society just today, I’ve heard the gardener complaining
about the obligation of planting us somewhere else – mentioned Kenan.
- And I feel manure is coming! I noticed that flowers are fertilised every week and it’s
today! – David told happily.
Through a long path the gardener was coming with a fresh portion of manure. After giving
the fertiliser to all of the four groups of flowers, he approached to the table with sunflowers.
He fertilized the ones on the table, but the four under the table didn’t catch his attention, they
were not noticed.
- Oh, it seems someone has just been forgotten – said a sunflower ironically.
- Yes – agreed another one. – Because we are better than them. Why would the gardener
care about them?
While under the table Maria was really worried about the situation.
- Ohh, he forgot about us, he forgot about us… - whispered Maria to their friends.
- Take it easy, maybe he just went to take a special portion for us – Ayse tried to comfort
her friend.
- We both know that its not true, Ayse, we are lost! – Maria refused to believe her.
Ayse continued her trials to comfort Maria, while Kenan looked at the sunflowers with
hatred.
- Oh, you should be more careful with your words – Kenan said to the sunflowers. – We
have already been given the fertiliser!
- Really? I haven’t noticed anything – replied the first sunflower.
- Oh, we did, and it was a way better than usual manure, look how well we look!
- Stop lying! – shouted the second sunflower.
- Stop being a jerk! – replied Ayse.
- Don’t even try to defend yourselves, everyone knows we are better. The gardener would
notice you if you deserved it!
- We will see – Kenan answered with malicious smile, but he realised that sunflowers were
right, the gardener didn’t remember to fertilize them.
In the evening, the disappointed group of plants under the table hoped that they would be
at least watered. Again the gardener forgot about them, they could only watch the other
flowers getting water.
- We told you – said sunflower looking upon the flowers under the table.
- Oh, shut up – Kenan told with resignation.
- I was right from the start, we are lost, we will die and made into a manure! – Maria
started to panic.
- But what can you do but waiting? Keep calm, Maria – David tried to calm her down.
- Yes, worrying worsen the beauty – added Kenan with a smile.
- We are treated like we were nothing. I think we just need citizenship. If we were a citizen
of a patch, we would have everything – said Ayse.

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- Will we even survive to join them? – said Maria with resignation.
After a week all plants were waiting for the fertiliser. All, but not the four under the table –
they knew they were totally forgotten, they couldn’t even get a drop of water. Kenan stopped
joking, Ayse seemed to lose her confidence and coolness, David was so sad that he couldn’t
help anybody any longer and even Maria stopped panicking, she was sitting quietly with
others, deprived of water and hope for the future. They stared at the gardener taking a
manure out of the composter.
- Hey, what are you waiting for? A fertiliser? – A sunflower laughed. – You know you won’t
get anything.
- Shhh, I have a plan! – Maria whispered to her friends. – Yes, we won’t – she replied to
the sunflowers.
- You’re just giving up, admitting it? – said the surprised sunflower.
- Yes. We all know you up there are amazing. You get a lot of water and everything,
because you need it more.
- Finally you’ve understood.
- It’s fantastic that you are so beautiful and strong.
- Nice to hear that.
- I see how everyday you turn your head to the sun and I just wonder how strong your
neck is.
- I usually follow the sun…
- But if you tried to come near us? Would you be able to bring your head closer? Is your
neck strong enough?
- I’m not sure.
- Oh, come on! – Kenan realised what his friend’s plan was and interrupted. – You boasted
about how fabulous you are for a week and now you don’t want to show that! You’re probably
not able to move your neck even a centimetre.
- What!? I’ll show you – the sunflower finally agreed.
He slowly turned his head down and down. The inevitable laws of the physics finally
worked. He felt down the table making a lot of rumble, his pot smashed in thousands of pieces.
The gardener heard the noise and came to see what happened.
- Not again, so many tiding! – he complained. – What have we got here? You’re quite dry –
he noticed the four and immediately brought them to the proper patches and watered them.
They could finally breathe a sight of relief – they were saved!
THE END
Written by Gil Alves, Paula Nieumierzycka,
Maria Silvia Coco, Kubra Aslan

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RIGHT TO EQUALITY
1939...racism in America
Martin was a 10 years old child, he was born in Nairobi and he stayed in Kenya until he was 7;
then one day he made the meeting that changed his life: he had been adopted by a white
couple. Rosemary and Ethan Rogan, she had wavy, long, shiny and blonde hair, she was skinny
and too much tall, her eyes were blue as a death fish. Her husband was the opposite: short and
plump, with short, grey hair, and brown eyes. They wore really expensive clothes and shoes:
pink dress and black sandals for Rosemary and white shirt, blue trousers and blue jacket for
Ethan, he often smoked the Cuban cigar. They were really bad and egoist in comparison of
Martin. When he grew he became a really handsome boy: he had short, curly, transparent and
black hair; his eyes were black as the coal. His only problem was the colour of his skin: black, as
the night. Because in 1939 and later in America there was the racism against the black people.
First he worked in his adoptive parents' casino, but the clients treated him badly because he
was a black child, only one could remember to him the best times of his life in Kenya: his best
friend Abu, a little monkey with a long tail, that loved bananas.
Martin could withstand criticism but, one evening while he was bringing cocktails to a
customer, a drunk man hit him and all the drinks went on the floor; Martin's father got angry
and beat him really strong. The boy was very scared and he went to his little and confused bed
room and cried a lot holding Abu. He decided that it was enough: he didn't deserve that
treatment, he didn't deserve those bits just for a little mistake. He wanted to change life.
So one night, when no one was watching him, he escaped from the casino and he ran as fast
as he could, without a destination. When the morning arrived, he discovered that he was lost.
He stopped at the end of a little street and started to play with Abu: Martin threw a banana
and the monkey caught it. But he understood that he was very sad: he missed his home and his
old life. He didn't know why, but he started to dance and he felt free like he had ever been,
even though he was at the limit of the survival. Martin was really good, he danced in the casino
every Sunday when he lived with is adoptive parents. Luckily a magician found him, when he
was dancing. The wizard took Martin to the airport because he saw that the child was really
talented, but he also did it because he had a lot of debts and he understood that as a manager
of a fantastic dancer like Martin could be his opportunity to become very rich. So the next
morning they were on a flight to Europe.
They went to Disneyland Paris, a coloured and noisy park with a lot of funny rides and
attractions, but there were many excited shows, too; Martin started to work because he liked
it: he made a dancing show... one afternoon he was preparing for his show, and saw some little
children from all different cultures: Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, American, English and

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Turkish, too. He would have liked to stay with other children who had a different culture, but
the magician said no because there was still the idea that whites could not stay with blacks.
But Martin didn't understand why: he was a child like the others and his skin wasn't a problem
for him. That night, in the dark of his room he was thinking about a thing: “I have a dream, that
one day I will hang out to this park, meet other children, know their culture and play with
them”.
At the end Martin became Martin Luther King and he found a wife, he had four children, too.
But his dream had grown with him, because he still had a dream.
28 August 1963...
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of
injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom
and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be
judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day down in Alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor having
his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification one day right there in
Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and
little white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.
With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful
symphony of brotherhood.
THE END
Written by Sandra Pavloska, Alessia Sacchi, Giacomo
Rossi, Meltem Gun, Arianna Alboni
RIGHT TO NO VIOLENCE AND NO WORK FOR CHILDEN
H.O.P.E
One day on a weekly TV talk there was a special guest, the famous Ali Iqbal Singh; the creator
of the association H.O.P.E.

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The presenter introduced his guest: “Ok everybody, welcome to our weekly TV talk!, So
tonight we have aspecial guest, Ali Iqbal Singh; Iqbal you are famous for your H.O.P.E
foundation, aren’t you? Do you mind explaining us in what does it consist of? Alì answered: “Of
course, I don’t. I will do it with pleasure.”
“I remember as it was yesterday; it was a pretty sunny day in Zhob, my town in Pakistan. I
was playing with my parents when I heard someone knocking on the door.
I thought it could be my best friend Rico, so I ran to open the door...but there were three
Pakistani soldiers!
My parents Ana and Abbas ran to me to keep me far from them but it was too late so they
caught me and took me in a big truck.
There were not so many people but I saw my friend Rico; and I asked him what was
happening and he answered we were being taken to the Pakistan army.
What will we do there, I asked, and he said we should build war weapons.
We had to stay in a big camp with many small barracks; the camp was pretty big but our
work- place was too small for us. That was about just three meters long and two meters tall,
the floor was wet and very dirty. We began working since we arrived they gave us all the
instrunctions,and we started to make machine guns and kalashnikov.
It was very disgusting and exausting working like that.
I was there for two days and I had not eaten anything , so I planned to escape. But I was
just 13 years old and I wasn't a good planner:
I think that was about midnight, and so everybody was sleeping, I went to find Rico to try
to escape together; when he heard the plan he was very scared because he said – But if we
escape they might shoot us.
So I decided to go alone; ;near our building there was a part of the fence with a small
hole...I tried to get into that but I got framed. I tried get off that but I made some noise,and
the sentinels heard me, turned on the lights and found me.
They brought me to the building again and said:
-You must hard-work, and musn't sleep more than two hours!!!
I remember there were the army boss Zulkuv who always came to our building to control
our prodution; I remember there was his assistant Nasir too, he was very bumbling and not so
evil like Zulkuv. He always gave us some food secretly when Zulkuv got off our room.
5 years had passed and I could do just the working movements and I couldn't stop .One day
the American army had attacked our base bombing it … but I was sleeping when that
happened; the bell was ringing but I couldn't hear it, so everybody had been evacuated from
the building except me. I woke up in the camp hospital; I looked around the room and my body
from down to up when I saw just one arm.I thought it was a dream but when I saw Rico who
was crying I understood was the real life.
I restarted working again two months later but, just with one arm and this was so much
harder and so much slowly; So, my friend Rico decided to help me, but Zulkuv always said to

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him :-You should work alone and you should not help anyone because you would decrease your
work!-but Rico kept helping Ali secretly.
One day Zulkuv told everybody :
-Today I won't visit you...-,so we were very quiet and worked happily for all the morning,
we could have a mini-lunch too; but when we had finished all the portions, Zulkuv arrived with
an angry face and said he had seen Rico! You were helping Ali , when I had recomended you
not to do it!! Now come with me!
He took Rico in isolation for 2 months.The worst 2 months of all my life ; I lived in isolation
like him, because I didn't know nobody and I couldn't work very well.
When Rico came back he was very different , so slimme , more tired, he didn't look himself
and wasn't so helpful like before.
Rico was so tired to do the same job so he planned to escape again with Ali. He told me he
had planned the escape when he was on isolation: we would be helped by Nasir who wouldl go
to all the sentinels to tell them Zulkuv ordered to turn off the lights so they could escape.
The next night Nasir gave us the “free way” to go and so we ran to the fence hole I could
pass but Rico was too slowly,Nasir forgot just one sentinel who found Rico and shot him.
I think he was dead but I ran so fast to a shelter.
The next day I was amazed because I was living, I couldn't beleve that; then I thought that
my city was on the sea so I could embark on a boat.
I remembered the way to the pier, I ran there and I secretely embarked to a boat to New-
York. Fortunately nobody found me during the journey.
When I arrived there, there was such a noise so I could escape into a bar.
I opened the door and everybody was amazed; they asked me where I was from, but I
couldn't answer because I didn't understand English.
A big man which was in a lonely table in that room said:-I'll take this guy to my home. That
was one of the richest men of the city but the kindest person I had ever met: he adopted me
and taught me all he knew.
When I was about 35 years I was a perfect American man and so I decided to create the
H.O.P.E. association which is against the war and the violence to all the children.-
-Ok everybody that was the great Ali Iqbal Singh’s greatest story of life.
THE END
Written by Bruno Freire , Patrycja Jankowska, Iga Dzikiewicz,
Riccardo Bellelli, Hanife Ciftici

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RIGHT TO A FAMILY
Running away from the orphanage
In a cold winter night, Patricia and David were in Pat’s bedroom and they were talking about
their dreams. Their parents had died in a car accident when they only were 3 and 2 years old
and they had nobody to look after them so they had to go in an orphanage. Patricia was talking
about her passion - playing volleyball. While David was listening to her, he was thinking about
his dream. Patricia was a dreamer. She was 15 years old. And she was kind, nice, ambitious and
very clever. Her hair was long, straight and black and she had blue eyes. She hadn’t got many
friends.
David was 14, he was a good football player and he liked swimming too. He was a simple guy,
easy-going, kind and a bit stubborn. He was a good student, but he wanted to study much
more but in the orphanage their teachers didn’t want the children to study, and they used to
make them clean all the house. In the morning Ann, their teacher went to their room and woke
them up very early. She wanted them to start cleaning the house at once but one day,
suddenly, David said “NO!”
The teacher was very angry with David and she punished him, making him cutting the grass in
the garden in the rain, but the garden was very large.
Patricia wanted to help David, but she couldn’t because the teacher locked out David.
Anne, the teacher was very strict and naughty. She had red eyes, black hair and a big nose.
Anne didn’t like children or animals.
After 3 hours, Anne opened the door, but David wasn’t there, he had escaped.
The school was encircled by a very strong and high net.
Anne discovered that David had dug a hole under the net. She started screaming, she was very
angry and nervous, because if he said what the teacher used to do in the orphanage all of them
would be fired.
At this time, David was very far away from the orphanage, and probably he was already in
town.
Patricia was very worried about David because if Anne found David, he probably would be hit.
Anne went into her car and drove to town, but she hadn’t seen the hole under the net.
Patricia saw that Anne was going away so she decided to find David in the opposite way
because one day David had told her that if they escaped the first place where the teachers
would go would be the town.
Meanwhile David was walking in a narrow road far from the town. He saw a big stable: he
thought it was a perfect place to hide. Suddenly a snowstorm came and David entered the
stable.
When the snowstorm finished he went out and he continued to walk.

17
Patricia escaped through the hole and she ran towards David’s way, but it was very difficult to
run because there was a lot of snow and it was very cold. Patricia arrived at the stable and she
saw David’s footprints. She decided to follow them.
David was very tired and he decided to have a little nap on a bench, he was closing his eyes
when he heard Patricia’s voice: “ David!!!!!! ”
Patricia hugged David, they were very happy to be together.
She had something to eat because she had stolen some food from the kitchen of the
orphanage and two minutes later they were eating.
Meanwhile Anne was in town and she was furious because she couldn’t find David. She
decided to return to the orphanage to see where Patricia was and ask her where she could find
her brother, but when she arrived Patricia wasn’t there. Anne’s face became red for the anger.
She ran to the car and she went in the opposite direction to try to find the children.
David and Patricia were walking in the country when they saw two lights coming towards
them. They were the headlights of a car, they thought it could be Ann so they started to run
but the car was very near. They tried to hide behind a bush but the car stopped in front of it
and a man got out of his car. It was a tall and thin guy in his forties’ with short wavy brown hair
and green eyes, after him a woman, probably his wife, also got out and both went to the bush.
David and Patricia were really scared but also relaxed when they saw it wasn’t their teacher.
The couple whose names were Philip and Alison started asking questions so the two guys
answered and explained what was going on with a feeble hope the couple might do something
for them.
Philip invited them to go to their home so they might be able to have a shower and to eat
something and the two students accepted at once.
Philip and Alison were a very nice couple and one could detect they were really in love. They
lived in a village nearby, in a beautiful detached house with a large garden which reminded
them of the one at the orphanage. It house an old house but it had been restructured and
inside was magnificent, full of old and stylish pieces of furniture.
As soon as they were in the hall Alison told the students to have a hot shower and she gave
them clean clothes. They were the right size as she had kept since she and her brother were
teenagers.
After half an hour David and Patricia were down in the large salon where the couple was
waiting for them. David told them again their story and all about their life.
Philip explained he was a lawyer and he could help the young students, besides they had no
children and it could be a chance to adopt them.
Patricia’s eyes were full of tears and David was really moved as well. They said nothing.
After this they went to bed, each of them had a bedroom with sharing facilities.
David and Patricia were so tired that they fell asleep at once.
Meanwhile, Ann the teacher had arrived at the village, and being late she had decided to stay
at the local B&B for the night.

18
The following day, after a big breakfast, Alison had thought to take the guys to the city centre
as there was a big market, so at about 10 o’ clock the couple and the students walked to the
centre.
Everybody was happy and smiling, full of joy and disbelief for the new situation.
Alison started to buy new clothes and new objects while, all of a sudden, somebody shouted
the students’ names. It was Ann with her eyes red by anger. David and Patricia started shaking
and crying but Philip put himself in front of the teacher telling her the two students were
under his protection and inviting Ann to go to the police to explain the situation.
Ann couldn’t believe what she was listening and was afraid of the consequences for her and
the orphanage, therefore she said something bad then she ran away.
After this the four people went to the police to refer what had happened. Sgt Barnaby took
notes and was really interested in the problem, he spoke to the chief Prosecutor and to the
juvenile judge in order to solve it.
After three months David and Patricia became Alison and Philip’s children by law; Ann and
other teachers at the orphanage were arrested and the same was closed forever.
All other children were given to families and they lived happily ever after.
THE END
Written by Mariana Rodrigues, Dawid Zajaczowski, Agata Kudla, Sara Righi, Barbara Allegretti,
Maria Chiara Camurri, Giacomo
Rossi, Matteo Barigazzi, Maddalena
Grillenzoni.

20
A STORY OF RIGHTS
A letter is found by someone and that someone by reading the letter gets touched and
tries to find the person who wrote it.
“Hi!
My name is Bianca, I’m 17 and I go to a public school in the place I live. I have a boyfriend
named Ricardo who is a sweetheart and who helps me with everything I need, mainly because
of the problems I’m having at home lately. He can’t do anything to help me except hear me out
every single time. So I’ve decided to tell my story to someone else…Let’s start from the
beginning then…
My parents are both lawyers, however my mother never worked, choosing to take care of the
house and her children. Since I remember my mom has always been present for me and for my
sister by supporting us at school and taking us to the swim practice. On the other hand my dad,
a well succeed lawyer, is always working so… always absent. But now that I and my sister have
grown up everything has changed… My mom is tired of being at home and wants to work as a
lawyer something that my dad disagrees with. He says that my mom’s place as a woman is at
home taking care of the house and the kids.
The arguments are frequent and I spend all of my time thinking about this without knowing
what to do…
How can I change this mentality?
How can show that we are all equal when it comes to rights and opportunities?
Sincerely, Bianca”
Hi Bianca
My name is Cally. I’m 16 and I go to a public school in my town.
I have a problem as yours. Do you know how? If you want to know, read my story.
My mother is a teacher and my father is a doctor. My father always says ‘’a woman’s place is
her home, she is a mother before everything, she must take care of the house and kids’.
My mother is against his idea and she says each woman is an individual and she has right to
work’. They fight with each other. One day I shared my problem with my friends and they said
‘’your father should make empathy’’ Each person should be respectful to one another. A
woman can work and her husband’s duty is to support his wife. And they gave me an idea. I
recommended my parents to change their roles. According to my idea my father became a
housewife for a week. He was responsible for all the housework and kids while my mother
would be our father for a week too. It was very funny to see my father as a housewife. He was
very bored from all the stuff and he said it was very boring to stay at home all the time. He
missed his job and friends. On the other hand my mother was very happy for those days. At the
fourth day my father gave up. My father understood my mother’s feelings and thoughts. He

21
said ‘’ My dear; you are right. You worked both at home and at school, you are tired so much
but you are with your job. So, I think you must go on your job and I promise I will help you for
the housework. ‘’ They haven’t argued since that day. Now they both go on their jobs and my
father helps my mother at all housework. We are so happy.
I recommend you to do the same thing. The best way to understand others is to make
empathy. You will see everything is going to change.
Nice to meet you Bianca chat soon...”
Hi Bianca !
We’re three girls from Poland. We’re also 17 and we want to give you some advice ;
Nela : I think your mother must stand up to her husband and show that she is an independent
woman. She should find a job in her profession. Actually you and your sister are grown up and
you don't need a parental care. Or she can talk with your dad and show that this job is very
important for her .
Kasia : In my opinion marriage doesn’t give right to control and limit the life of another person.
Also if you’re mum will be working too your family will have more money. Use these
arguments in a conversation with your parents. I think it will be good , if you give them some
examples, maybe that you’re friend’s mum works and she can combine family responsibilities
with her work.
Tosia: I think you should have a conversation with your parents. Explain to your dad that you
mum is tired of being a housewife. Tell him that the times are different now and women have
got the same rights to work in their dream job as men. In today’s world paternity leave has
become as normal and common as maternity leave. If he doesn’t agree with you maybe you
should look for support from other members of your family or some organization that are
fighting for equality.
Good luck, we hope that we’ve helped you ,we’re keeping our fingers crossed for you Bianca

Nela, Kasia and Tosia
Hi friends !
Thank you so much for your letters and your advice. All your pieces of advice have been useful
to me. In fact I read what happened last month. It was a rainy day and there had just been
another argument between my parents so my sister suddenly started crying and she couldn’t
stop. My parents couldn’t understand her behaviour and asked her what was happening.
I immediately stood up then, and told my dad Paul she was crying because of his argument
with mum, I also told him he couldn’t go on like that, he had to change his mentality and mum
deserved to change her way of living. I told him that my sister and I were fed up of this
situation, that all are equal to right and opportunities.

22
I showed him the letter you found and your answers. He looked really impressed by my words
and by what he had read. My sister stopped crying and told him her opinion, too.
Afterwards my dad sat down in his armchair and called my mum Liza next to him, he hugged
and kissed her, then he told us that three women had changed his way of thinking and that
from the following month they would work together at
the office.
I want to thank all of you my dear new friends. Let’s
keep in touch. My FB profile is Bianca Gomez.
Love, Bianca
THE END
Written by Aida Lopes, Lara Matos, Mariana Rodrigues and Miguel Pinheiro, Giacomo Rossi,
Matteo Barigazzi, Alessia Sacchi, Maria Chiara Camurri, Maddalena Grillenzoni, Katarzyna
Olek, Kornelia Lasocka, Antonina Kiewro, Meltem Gün and Enes Ürün
A DISCUSSION ABOUT WOMEN'S SITUATION.
In a school the English lesson has just finished. The teacher is a really busy man who
travels a lot and this morning he has showed his students a video he has made about his
holidays in poor countries in Asia, Africa and South America. While the teacher was explaining,
a lot of photos of women and children who were working hard were passing under the guys’
eyes.
The students were really impressed and when the bell rang for the school break, two
students started chatting about what the teacher had told them during the lesson.
Denise asked: “Do you agree with what the teacher told us?”
“Why? Do you believe him? I think that the teacher has exaggerated” Jacob answered.
Denise wasn't sure: “But the teacher travelled a lot! And anyway he would never lie about
something serious like this. So, let's pretend to believe him. In this case, what would you
think?”
Jacob snorted: “I think it's impossible to treat women or children or anybody in that way”.
“What do you mean?” Denise seemed offended, and a little bit angry.
“I mean that it's insane not to allow women to go out of her home” said Jason quietly.
Denise said that her mother rarely went out as she had to look after her and her sister and take
care of the family but Jacob answered that, in his opinion, a situation like that was normal.
“If you were a woman you would appreciate the amount of work a housewife needs to do.”

23
claimed Denise.
“You really think you can compare the duties of housewife to work of physical workers?” – he
replied. – “Think of the men working in mines or on building sites. Also, running a household is
not as responsible and psychically demanding work as, for example, work of a doctor”.
“You really think it’s not demanding?” – She rhetorically asked. - “Imagine you are a housewife.
You need to wake up first and make breakfast for whole family, then take your kids to school.
But the day isn’t over yet – you must vacuum, then go to the shop and bring heavy bags full of
groceries, while taking care of your baby child. When the kids are back, you need to cook at
least 2-dishes dinner for all your family and do the laundering. While the water is bubbling out,
your little child starts to cry and the elder moans that he needs your help with his homework.
You need to calm the kids down, make the food and launder. The same day. And at the evening
no one will at least help you washing up, as your husband lie on the sofa, telling he’s too busy
being a doctor.”
“You’re exaggerating, too” – Jacob answered.
Another bell interrupted their conversation, so they went for their last lesson.
When Jacob arrived home, he didn’t see his mother in the kitchen, as he expected. Instead, she
was lying in her bedroom with a compress on her forehead.
“I guess my flue is getting serious. Tomorrow I’ll go to see a doctor. I hope I’ll recover soon” –
she said. “The meat is in the fridge, please coat it in breadcrumbs and fry, you know how, don’t
you? And take your little brother from the nursery by 4 o’clock, dad will take Annie from
kindergarten on his way back home.”
Next day Jacob’s mother goes to see a doctor. And Jacob has to do his mothers daily chores.
Jacob gets up early, prepares the breakfast and wakes his brother up. They have their breakfast
and while Jacob is washing the dishes he feels tired but this is only the beginning of the day.
Jacob goes to school and when he arrives he sees Denise and he tells the story of what
happened to her. Denise starts laughing and Jacob gets angry with her while saying the same
things he was telling her the other day ‘’Housewives are never tired because their job is too
easy’’.
Later he had to pick his brother from school but he forgets it and goes home instead. As soon as
he arrives home, tired, he suddenly remembers his little brother and goes back to his school.
When they arrive they are very hungry so Jacob starts to cook meat which is waiting at the
fridge to cook as his mother told him. While cooking Jacob sputters his school uniform and he
must wash it because he’s going to need it the next day to wear in school. The problem is that
he doesn’t know how to use the washing machine, so he washes it with his hands and after
washing it, he returns to the kitchen to finish cooking the meat for dinner. His little brother
starts crying because the dinner is late and even after they have dinner his little brother doesn’t
stop crying. He washes the dishes, puts his little brother to bed and tells him a bedtime story to
calm him down. When his parents arrive home they find an exhausted Jacob sleeping on the
sofa, so they take him to his bed and Jacob sleeps like a rock all night. In the next morning he

24
goes to school and finds Denise to whom he apologizes to…
- Oh god, Denise… - he said breathlessly, as he reached for a chair – I am so truly sorry…
- What are you babbling about? Is everything alright? You don’t look particularly well… - She
said, in between laughter.
Jacob left his weight on the chair, and breathed deeply.
You were right… – he mumbled.
-Are you admitting I’m right? A miracle has just happened! – she laughed.
- Denise…. – said Jacob, looking seriously and straight to her eyes.
- Ok, ok. So tell me, what made you change your mind?
- I had to ‘’wear the pants’’ and do all the domestic chores for my parents. Or shall I say the
skirt? Jeez, I had no idea how much my mother went through every day. She is never quiet, or
relaxing. And all those days where I just kept asking her things… She never said no. She never
refused to help. And she was always wearing a smile. – He said, thoughtfully. A regretful tone
was notable, as his voice trembled.
Denise put her hand on his head and gently replied:
- See? Being a woman can be very hard and no one does a thing about it. But now you are
aware of that. A ‘’simple’’ housewife is not simply a woman who just stays at home and cooks
and an employed woman is as important as a man, so she shouldn’t have any more tasks than
him, just because of her gender. Your mother? She loves you. That’s why she is always willing
to help you. If you love her too, show her that. And do something to change the attitude
towards women. Fight for their equal rights and opportunities!
Those words echoed in his head. The bell rang and the class started.
THE END
Written by Matteo Barigazzi, Maria Chiara Camurri, Alessia Sacchi,
Katarzyna Olek, Kornelia Lasocka, Antonina Kiewro, Catarina
Viegas, Lara Matos, Mariana Pina and Hanife Çiftçi
A FEMALE PRIEST
There was a girl who wanted to be a priest.
She was a very religious person, and she felt the call to that profession. She wrote a letter to
the Pope, where she asked:

25
Dear Pope,
I am a girl and I want to be a priest. I want to preach and spread the
faith throughout the world.I feel that I was made for this,so why I
can’t be a priest?I think it’s a discrimination. Please, replied it’s
very important to me.”
Louise
After a long period of waiting Louise didn’t get any response from the Pope, but she didn’t give
up. She has been travelling through various seminaries, sadly no one wants to help her.
Everyday she was praying to God to ask him for strength to survive this hard time. In each
seminary she was told that she should become a nun, but she didn’t want to be a nun. The
reason why she didn’t want to be a nun, was because she was an orphan brought up by the
nuns. Every day she was looping at nuns, she saw their hard work, because instead of focusing
on God and prayers,they had too many responsibilities. That’s why she wanted to be a priest….
A Sunday in worldwide known church in San Pietro… A big religious ceremony…
Many people were in the big square. Everyone was waiting for the Pope. Louise was also there.
When she heard that Pope was going to come that church, she thought that was a good
chance for her dreams. Because she didn’t get response to her letter which was written to
Pope. And she decided to come that ceremony. She hoped to see the Pope. Maybe she would
tell her desire of being a priest to Pope face to face. But the square was really crowded and she
was disappointed when she came there. There was no chance to come close to the Pope in
that crowded place. At the end doors were opened and the ceremony started. She begged
God during the ceremony. She wanted a chance to see the Pope. But the ceremony was
completed and she couldn’t come close to him. While she was going out there was a confusion
and she found herself on the floor. Then she fainted. When she opened her eyes, she found
the Pope opposite her. She couldn’t believe that scene but it was true.
There was confusion because the Pope was passing near Louise but she couldn’t notice him.
When she fainted the Pope saw her and said his assistants to help her.
They gave water to Louise. At the end Louise understood that was real. Pope asked her some
questions to her. There was a silence for a while. Then Louise broke that silence. First she
thanked God to give that chance to her. Then she told all her story about her desire. And also
she added her letter, she said she didn’t get response to her letter. The Pope listened her
silently.

26
Then, gazing gently and peacefully into her eyes, the Pope smiled and finally spoke:
- My dear Louise, I am just a man. I alone cannot do a single thing. Before I continue, let
me apologize for not replying to your letter. I must say that I never received it,
otherwise I would have done something to let you know that I read your words, to let
you know, at least, that you had reached me. I apologize Louise, I do.
The Pope briefly looked away, interrupting his speech, but as Louise was about to open her
mouth he kindly laid his hand on her cheek, and proceeded with his speech:
- Look at you. You are perfect. God created you and He gave you a voice. Fight for what
you want, gather all your strengths and make everyone hear you. If God intends for you
to struggle then it must all be a part of His higher plan. Maybe it just has to be this way,
but don’t ever let yourself be defeated. God loves you, and He is always with you.
Louise stood paralyzed as the words hit her like a speeding bullet, resonating within her
powerfully. She was no longer able to contain her emotions and a tear streamed down her
face. The Pope cleaned it and said:
- Louise, great things are waiting for you. I believe in you. And so does God.
He looked at her and smiled, as he left and disappeared into the crowd. Louise stayed there
until the ceremony ended, but her mind was far away. Her confidence was boosted, she knew
she could make a change.
As she walked away, she started crying but because she was full of joy. She decided to spend
some days in a convent to pray and take a decision; she also wanted to talk to her spiritual
father who suggested she should become a nun in a charity order but she had to think about
that and wait at least six months.
She went back home and in her heart she had already decided. After that time she entered
Mother Teresa of Calcutta nuns where she attended the novitiate. After three years she
pronounced her final votes.
She became a nun and spent her life in a convent in Rome, helping people in need.
There were disabled people and orphans boys and girls, Sister Louise took care of them, she
loved the children.
One day the Pope visited her in the convent. This was a fantastic event, so Sister Louise called
everybody to meet the Pope. When the Pope arrived she was very excited, she ran towards him
and said:
“Thank you so much for your words, my life is very beautiful now” said the nun.
The Pope then knelt in front of her and said: “ I'm the one who must thank you,
you. I'm really impressed by your work with poor people. They are the favourite ones for God.
All women and men who work like you are an example and are equal.
It doesn't matter if women can't celebrate the mass...Maybe one day this will be possible. Give
me your blessing Sister Louise”
Sister Louse obeyed to the Holy Father and said: “I do bless you Pope Francis and hope the Holy
Spirit can help you in your mission to change the church of Christ looking at all the needs that

27
our society has. God may help you”
THE END
Written by Karolina Musik, Tosia Kiewro ,
Emilia Płodzik, Magda Swiniarska, Kasia
Olek, Catarina Viegas, Joana Veríssimo,
Mariana Pina Ferreira, Ana Rita Cortinha,
Matteo Barigazzi, Maddalena Grillenzoni,
Meltem Gün and Enes Ürün
A DREAM IN LIFE
Once upon a time there was a girl named Lily. She had a dream. She wanted to be a mechanic.
At first everyone thought that it was a joke. But later, when everybody realized that Lily really
wanted to be a mechanic they started to laugh at her. Her parents wanted her to get married
and become a housewife. They got very angry about the fact that she wanted to take a
different path in her life.
They tried to convince her that a woman has to take care of her home and family and that it is
the most important priority in her life. She was only seventeen and her parents already found a
perfect husband for her. Lily didn't want to marry him but her parents made her to do it. John,
her husband was very bossy. He considered that he was Lily’s owner. He didn't respect her.
Every day, when John would come back from work he would sit in front of the TV with beer and
he watch football matches. Every night, when he was drunk he beat his wife and children and
closed them in the basement. After a few years of this horrible life Lily decided to run away
with the kids. She started planning an escape. After a hard week of preparing, she managed to
collect enough money to rent an apartment and live for a while in another place. When Lily's
husband was at work, Lily took the kids from school and ran away of the country. Finally she
could try to make her dream come true and be a happy woman with her kids.
The destination was Australia, as far as possible from her parents and her husband was the
plan. She changed hers and the kids’ name and rented a house in Sidney with her friends’ help
so that they could start a brand new life away from all the threats and beatings.
Her life would never be the same but she was working hard to make the most of it and finally
start living her dream. She worked as a waitress to pay rent as she studied to start working on
what she loved very soon and give her kids the best live possible. Be independent and work on

28
her own account with her own mechanical workshop was the next step but for now she was
happy to get away from the life she had.
(Meanwhile in her home country…)
He was furious and out of his mind. “I gave her a house and food and this is how she repays
me?!”- He thought. “By running away with my children?! No way! I’ll find them no matter what
it takes and if it is the last thing I’ll do!
Andrea (her friend) called Lily: “Hi Lily, your husband is going to kill you”
Lily answered: “Who am I talking with?”
“I'm Andrea! I have been your best friend since our first day of high school”
“OHHH, I'm happy to hear you, but are you joking?”
“No I'm serious” “Where is he?” “He is...”
TOC TOC.
She heard someone knocking at the door: “Lily, I'm your dear, angry HUSBAND JOHN”
Lily let the phone fall while Andrea was still screaming from the other side.
She went into her son’s room and started throwing all their toys and objects into a big bag on
the floor.
“Mum, what's going on?” her little daughter Mia was crying desperately.
“Was he daddy? Was the man at door daddy?” Matt started helping her mum taking all the
photos from the shelves.
Lily didn't answer them, she had just the time to get out with them from the window: while
they were running across a little garden, they fell into a pool and tiredly came out, completely
wet and scary.
John was still running behind them, when they arrived at the police station.
“Excuse me, Excuse me!?” Lily found a police man, but he didn't seem very interested at her
words.
“Excuse me, my husband is running after me and my children”
“I'm sorry, I haven't got time”
“But he is trying to hit and kill us! How is that you haven't got time?”
“Some people have more serious problems than yours, Miss”.
Lily gave a look around her: all the station was full of men, old and young, rich or poor, who
were waiting patiently.
“And their problems are more important because they're men?!”
“Something like that....”
John found them at the police station and he seemed very angry. Suddenly he pulled his gun
out. At the end the policeman realized that it was a serious issue. He also pulled his gun out.
Another policemen came out and they caught John. That night Lily went back home but she
knew she couldn’t stay there no more. She couldn’t sleep all night. Next morning policemen

29
knocked her door. They took her to police station and they learnt her real name and everything
about her life. Both John and Lily and their children should have sent back to their country.
After the legal actions they sent them to their own country. Families learnt all the situations
that they lived but they still tried to reconcile them.
However Lily was not the same woman as they knew. Meanwhile John understood that his
behaviours were not true. Of course he thought Lily should have turned to him but he
shouldn’t have used his gun. Because that behaviour could have put him in prison. He still
thought only himself. He started to try a new strategy to make Lily return to him. He seemed as
he regretted. He thought, after Lily came back to him he was going to behave as in the past.
But Lily didn’t believe him because she knew her husband very well. She filed for divorce. All
her relatives, family and friends were against her.
According to them a woman could not divorce from her husband. A husband could have some
bad behaviours but woman must have endured those behaviors. Only Andrea supported her.
Who always tried to help her friend because she knew all the nightmares that Lily had lived.
Meanwhile Lily needed a lot of money. She looked for a job. She tried to find job as a waitress.
Suddenly she thought that she could do her dream job. She had the necessary knowledge from
the workshops that she attended in Australia. But she could not find a job because no one
wanted to give job to a woman. One day she asked for job again but she got rejected. She sat
on the pavement and started to cry. An old man came near her and listened to her. Then he
introduced himself. He also was a mechanic and he had a garage next to the one where she had
asked for a job. He had pity on her. He said ‘’I’m very old and I need a pupil. You can help this
poor old man and learn everything better. ‘’ Lily started to laugh, she both cried and laughed….
At the end the trial day came. Now she had a job and she was very confident. Andrea was with
her. Everyone condemned her. They thought she was a woman and she worked as a mechanic,
also she wanted to divorce from her husband. For shame! After a long court case, the decision
was explained.
They got divorced. According to the witnessing by Andrea and the police blotter from Australia,
the judge divorced them. He gave children custody to their mother. She hugged her children
and started to cry. Her long nightmare had come to an end. She had never been so happy as
much as that time. She felt like a bird. She took her children to her wings and flied to her new
life.
Happy End 
Written by Kornelia Lasocka, Natalia Gradel ,
Monika Miałkowska, Aida Lopes, Lara Matos,
Mariana Rodrigues, Maddalena Grillenzoni, Alessia
Sacchi, Giacomo Rossi and Günce Sena Bükük

30
A LETTER TO A WEBSITE WHICH HELPS PEOPLE ABOUT THEIR
PROBLEMS.
In these days, due to various reasons most children are deprived of education. Children work
on heavy jobs instead of going to school. Their rights of education are taken from their hands.
The most painful aspect of this situation is these rights are taken by their own families. When
we look at the streets, we can see shoeblack children. And also many children sell something in
the streets, these are sometimes water, napkins etc. All these children have to work after
school or they even don’t go to school.
But in general the big part of these working children are girls. In some areas of our country,
families think that girls shouldn’t go to school after maturity. They think girls don’t have the
right to education. I want to explain you this situation with an example. When I was 9, I had a
friend, her name was Eda and she was 12. I was at third grade at primary school but Eda had
never gone to school. She was an only girl at home and she had to help her mother with
houseworks. After a few years later I heard that she was married.
I feel very lucky when I remember Eda. But this is an injustice. Eda also has right to education
as all children have. But her family ignored this reality. Because this mentality comes from the
same culture. It must be remembered that lack of education brings ignorance. It is understood
that these families didn’t have any education at all. And they behave as they learnt from their
families. Maybe we are lucky, we can get education and we have the right of saying our
feelings and thoughts but there is a big injustice. So we must do something for these children.
We can be their chance in this world. Maybe we can take them from streets, houses to schools.
What do you think of it? Can we change their lives? I’m waiting for your good ideas and
support…
In our opinion equality and democracy are very important in today’s world. Unfortunately
many people don’t respect human rights. Women sometimes are afraid of disobeying to men.
During fighting for their rights, women should be united, they shouldn’t fight alone. There are
a lot of organizations that can help to negotiate, also some countries can help, for example,
our country Poland where is very strong democracy. Government should make education
compulsory for all children , both boys and girls, it will solve a lot of problems. Luckily the
number of women fighting for their right to education continue to grow. Each country in which
there is equality today once wrestled with the problem of limited access to certain profession
or education, it wasn’t always an easy process .Sometimes it took a lot time to achieve a goal.
That’s why we think that even if right now it seems hard in some places emancipation of
women sooner or later will have to happen.
All women from your country should united and don’t tolerate injustice that happens to them.

31
Maybe protest will be helpful or all of you should write the petition to change the law and
habits . You can ask women all around the world how to manage in a such difficult situation.
Remember we support your action against unequality and find ways to solve the problem.
That is why next week we will organize a demonstration in our school as well as write a
petition to your government, Moreover we will write a post on the web and people all around
the world could see it.
Remember you should fight for not only changing the law for women but also for your
primary position in your sociaty. Maybe it takes a lot of time but that is worth doing that for
next generations.
We are all together.
All the best from Polish team
Hi friends !
We are five Italian friends and we read what you wrote on this website about rights and
opportunities between women and men.
We live in quite a big town in northern Italy where there are a lot of immigrants, our society is
really multicultural and our schools as well. In our class 1/3 of students are immigrants. There
are students from Bangla Desh, Ghana, Pakistan, Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey, eight out of
twenty-four. They live in families where their mums do not speak Italian. These women are not
an example of equality as they are compelled to stay at home and just be housewives so there
can’t be a full integration in Italian society
The culture of these people usually influences choices and decisions and really makes a
difference. We had a friend in our school, a 16 year old girl who, after Middle school could not
go to High School as they parents could not pay for this, and they wanted her to get married to
a 30 year old man.
In our country that would be impossible but their culture makes these things happen. Even in
Italy there isn’t a real gender equality as many women are beaten and even killed. Moreover
important jobs are only for men.
It is important to fight for this equality. Our new government is formed by half men and half
women. We hope this is something new which can help to get the aim of equality.
We often talk about gender equality but it is not clear how much we want it and we think we
should work more to get this objective.
All of us, men and women must change mentality to grow up and understand there is no
difference between genders.
Perhaps the solution for lack of gender equality go through the dissemination of human rights
and especially the women rights, because to be able to respect something we need to have
knowledge of what it is and when we speak of human rights is necessary that we be aware that
as the name implies, are our rights and to do a good use of them and use them to our
advantage it is necessary to know them and know to what they refer.

32
Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom of opinion and expression, the right
to work and education, among many others. Everyone deserves these rights without
discrimination and governments have the obligation to make them to meet .
Human rights should be celebrated every day. It is of utmost importance that we celebrate
these rights by going to training courses , to lectures , etc. highlighting a particular theme to
teach and to promoting full respect for all human rights for everyone, everywhere . Women
rights are, thankfully, being more respected , however , despite any disclosure , there are many
countries that do not enforce these rights and whose inhabitants live oppressed. We should all
be fighters for respect and dignity; we should be humanists and activists and fight for those
who can't. We may not be able to do something extraordinary, but the minimum act of
courage and support, may be a great help to those who need. It's all about changing minds
and make people reailise that we are all equal!
Let's all be fighters! By Portuguese team.
THE END
Written by Karolina Musik, Monika Miałkowska,Antonina
Kiewro,Ada Sosonowska,Emilia Płodzik ,Kasia Olek,Magda
Świniarska ,Kornelia Lasocka, Giacomo Rossi, Maddalena
Grillenzoni, Maria Chiara Camurri, Alessia Sacchi, Matteo
Barigazzi, Beatriz Alves and Márcio Marques, Devran Cızzak
and Günce Sena Bükük
AN ONLINE FRIEND
The following story is about an online conversation between two teens in which one of them
looks for help and advice about something that torments him.
needafriend.com
The_Dancer: Hi! My name is Miguel, I’m 16 and I’ve always been different from the other boys.
It’s usual for a boy to like and to play sports such as football but for me it’s different… I love
and I’ve always loved to dance. Since I was little I’ve always watched dancing shows instead of
football games and for me it’s amazing.
My colleagues make fun of me because of this dream of mine and they tell me all the time that
being a dancer it’s a girl’s thing. My parents want me to become a doctor, a tradition that runs
in the family, so I never told them my dream because I’m afraid of their reaction. So I live with
this secret of an impossible dream and I have no friends or anyone to support me because

33
everyone thinks that my dream is ridiculous and walks away. I feel depressed and I don’t know
what to do anymore… Can you, John Doe, help me and advise me?
Nice to meet you,
The Dancer
(…)
John Doe: Dear Miguel,
Nice to meet you, too. I’m 16 years old. I can understand your problem very well because also
my little sister Annie felt like you a few years ago. Her dream has always been playing soccer.
At first I didn’t agree with her. “You are a boy!” I told her, and she ran in her bedroom crying.
It happened more or less once or twice every week. But I didn’t tell those horrible things
without a reason: I was envious. And angry  I hated her because she was so good at soccer. I
watched her from the window every afternoon, she was better than me and I was very jealous.
After two months I realized I was wrong and I talked to her and to my parents. I told them it’s
important to make her happy. I convinced them to go and watch one of her soccer matches.
They accepted and, eventually, I was surprised they were so proud of her…..and so was I.
Your situation is more or less like hers. If I were you I would tell everything to your family. They
want you to become a doctor? but I’m sure they want you to be happy, too. I can understand
you feel lonely as you do not have friends and your mates make fun of you, telling you are like
a girl. I suggest you shouldn’t care about this and, maybe you could talk to one of your dancer
friends about the problem.
Be sure you have a friend here. Cheers and chat soon.
John Doe
(…)
The_Dancer: Dear John Doe
You are right. I must explain my secret interest to my family. If I am successful , my family will
support me.
I want to be a dancer and I must do whatever it needs. I want to walk the road of success as
being a dancer and if I believe in my dream I must show that to everyone.
Before our chat I thought my interest was impossible, but now you give me a hope. I read
some life stories of famous dancers. Most of all had problems at the beginning of their career.
But after some time their life changed, and now they think that being a dancer was their best
decision. The important thing is not our genders but our dreams.
These stories and your words gave me a great courage. Firstly I’m going to tell my interest to
my friends. If they are true friends, they are going to support me as you 
And then I’m going to tell to my family. I want to believe that my family is going to support me
as well.
Thank you for your support. You know I am happy to have a problem like this. Thanks to this
problem we met each other 
I hope to chat you soon…

34
(…)
Dear Miguel
I am very glad that your approach to this issue has changed so much . I am proud of you and
your decision . It is great that you decided to fulfill your dreams . Always in life you have to do
what you love. Regardless of the gender
As you mentioned that you read the biographies of other dancers, their beginnings were not
easy , but always so. The most important thing is never give up and pursue a goal.
Your parents certainly want you to be happy , so it's good that you decided to tell them about
your plans. Although they really want you to become a doctor, they will understand that you
want to take different path in your life.
I also keep my fingers crossed for you that everything you did as well. If you need any advice
or just someone to talk to you can always write or call me.I always will be your friend . May all
your dreams come true . Have you met many people with whom you will entail a common
passion which is dance. I am very glad that I met such a wonderful person like you.
Write to me again sometime ...
John Doe
THE END
Written by Aida Lopes, Lara Matos, Mariana
Rodrigues, Miguel Pinheiro, Matteo Barigazzi,
Alessia Sacchi, Maddalena Grillenzoni,
Giacomo Rossi, Natalia Gradel and Devran
Cizzak
FACEBOOK FRIENDS
Hello Sarah, How are you? Are you good my friend? I’m not good these days. I have a problem.
I want to get rid of it by myself but I have no idea to solve it.
Anyway my problem is inequality between genders. You know, I have a sister and a brother. I
think my parents love my little brother much more than us. I see it in their behaviour. For

35
example when we fight, my parents always defend my little brother. Maybe you think he is
younger than me so it is normal to defend him but I’m only two years older than him. He is
right all times. Isn’t it unfair?
Another matter is our school success! You know I’m a hardworking student and I always get
high marks. On the other hand my brother doesn’t like studying and his marks are very low.
But my parents still defend him. They say ‘’don’t be sad honey, you can make your grades
high’’. But they don’t say any good words to me. Can you imagine that? They are almost going
to give him a present for his failure! Sometimes I think, I must be a lazy student to take my
parents fancy Anyway. Please help me, how can I change this mentality?
I look forward to your reply...
Your sorrowful friend,
Ceyda
Hi Ceyda! I’m fine, thanks. Everything is quite well in my life. I’m good at school in all subjects
and I get on well with my parents and friends. I had also wonderful holidays both last summer
and at Christmas.
Ohhh….. The problem you are talking about is an old one. It is like that all over the world but
governments and social organizations haven’t found a solution yet. Even in my life I have
discriminations only because I’m a girl and what I want to suggest you is not to worry too
much.
For this reason I want to tell you a story that happened to one of my schoolmates, Lucy, but it’s
quite long so I will write you by e mail.
Chat soon
Sarah
(Sarah’s email)
Dear Ceyda,
Lucy is one of my best friends, she is sweet and kind, very clever and sensitive but she is very
sad this time as she is going to finish Middle School and she should go to High School.
Do you know why? Her parents do not want her to study any longer. They haven’t had any
education and they think it is not important, especially for a girl who should stay at home to
help her mum to learn how to be a good housewife. However for her two brothers, they have
not had any problems; Philip has just started a vocational school to get electrician and Bob has
to pass his GCSE this year.
Do you think this is fair? I think it is a worse situation than yours.
Sarah

36
(Ceyda’s answer)
How can I compare your friend’s situation to mine? Such thing shouldn’t even be done. I can’t
say that your friend’s situation is worse simply for the fact that we are both being injusticed. I
only wanted to open myself to you so that I could find some closure, some sort of solution to
this problem that is constantly besieging my head. I, as a woman only want to cherish the same
rights as a man. I want to be treated equally and I want my parents to realise that I’m not
inferior and that I can achieve high places in life. I want to prove that I can be more than simple
a female that is confined to spend her life as a housewife and a mom. I only wish to be a part
of the a unified world that treats everyone with the same amount of respect. Is it so hard to
ask for a place among this so called “men’s world”?
You’re a good friend, maybe even one of the best I have. The empathy I feel for you is strong
and I feel like I can really bond with you. I asked you this due to the fact that you were more
socially accepted as a girl by your family and the rest of the people that surround your day to
day basis. Thank you for listening and answering to my problem and also for sharing the
difficulties your friend faces. I hope that you keep up the good work and that your friend can
turn her life around and be given the right to take the path of equality and succeed like you. In
the mean time I hope we can continue to talk with each other so I can get these things out of
my chest with someone and get some answers to how could I solve my problem.
I look forward to your reply and our future conversations.
Your friend,
Ceyda
Hi Sarah
There is a Nigerian writer called Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, she is declared feminist. One day
she said:
“We teach girls to shrink themselves
To make themselves smaller
We say to girls
You can have ambition
But not too much
You should aim to be successful
But not too successful
Otherwise you will threaten the man"
Unfortunately this words are true and describing your situation really well. Luckily, since the
beginning of humanity people had to fight for their rights, for the example Afro Americans who
were fighting for equality of races in the 60s and they won. That’s why I think you should try to
talk to your parents, explain them that your situation makes you feel worse than your brother,
makes you sad. It’s unfair, you should be on the same level as your brother. You can also talk to
someone that you trust, maybe he will help you more than your intervention or my advice.

37
Don’t be so meek, you have the right to education and good treatment. Remember that every
revolution begins from a spark and you can be that spark .Good luck. Please right soon and tell
me what you managed to achieve.
Love,Ceyda
THE END
Written by Maria Chiara, Matteo, Daniele, Sara, João
Rendeiro, Filipe Amador, Katarzyna Olek, Kornelia Lasocka,
Antonina Kiewro and Hanife Çiftçi
LOOKING FOR A JOB: FIGHT AND HOPE
Michelle started crying as soon as she entered her kitchen. Claire, her nine year old daughter,
had just asked about her job. She was unemployed and she had been looking for a job for two
years. Pierre, her husband was working as a factory worker in a famous car company and they
had to live with his salary only. They had to pay the rent, the bills and everything to support
their family. The economic and financial crisis which had spread all over the world, had hit
Europe in a very bad way, especially for working and middle classes. Hundreds of thousands of
people, especially young ones were unemployed, lots of people had immigrated to other
countries to look for a job and start a new life.
Michelle was 32; she had a degree in Economics and a master in Marketing and International
Trading. She had worked in a multinational company for many years but then two years ago
she lost her job because of the crisis as her company had to close the plant and open it in
another country with fewer expenses. She had sent lots of application forms to all factories
and companies in her province and in the nearest ones but either she had no answer or she
received a kind refusal.
Pierre and Michelle loved each other so much but the situation for them was getting worse
and worse. They were really worried, as they were expecting their second child: Michelle was
pregnant. Every time she went for a job interview, she got a refusal as soon as they noticed her
condition.
Until now there was no hope, all the interviews have been a disappointment but Michelle
didn’t give up so easily. She applied to one more interview and went all the way done herself in
person for it, unfortunately, just to be treated very badly. The man who interviewed her was

38
narrow-minded and had a special discrimination about women. He spent the entire interview
“attacking” Michelle by saying that women were useless in men positions and that her place
was at home as a housewife or especially now that she was pregnant.
The stress and pressure to which the pregnant woman was subjected during the interview was
too much, causing her to enter in labour and rush to a hospital to have little Leonard. For a
moment she was happy again with her family and now with the newest member of it. By
realizing the happiness she had with her family no matter the circumstances she made a
decision: “No more interviews or applications for jobs! I’ll work hard and find investors to open
my own company… about the promotion of women rights!”
The beginnings were not easy . It was hard to find investors but Michelle didn’t give up . She
decided to place the ad on the Internet that she was planning to set up a company to promote
the rights of women, but she was unable to do this alone , because there was lack ofmoney
and she was in need of financial assistance. The announcement described her situation as
being pregnant she couldn’t find work. Her friends helped her and printed quite a large
number of leaflets promoting the idea of Michelle and handing them to the inhabitants of their
city. For a long time there was no response but Michelle waited patiently . One morning a
woman named Jane wrote an email to Michelle that she would willingly help her . Michelle was
delighted, her husband also was pleased. Michelle immediately contacted Jane. When the
residents learned that Michelle was attracting investors, they realized that her idea could
work. They decided to also join in on the action. With money donated by Jane, she could print
more flyers, make quite a large number of posters and billboards. They were also able to issue
a short film starring Michelle on discrimination of women's rights. Afterwards, the response of
people was huge. Everybody admired Michelle for her persistence in her pursuit of the goal.
Many women took from her example. Her campaign brought a lot of good for women who did
not believe in their abilities. Michelle’s family also had benefits so they did not have to worry
about their life, because Michelle’s campaign helped also brought her money. Pierre was
proud of his wife and admired for what she was doing. Their son, Leonard grew very well. Jane
became an important person in Michelle and Pierre’s family. The two women became friends
and worked together for the benefit of women.
One day Michelle came with a new idea. According to her they should set women with a job.
They thought of creating a website to find jobs so women could attach their curriculum vitae to
this website. They would match suitable jobs with suitable curriculum vitae.
So women who needed job could find it easily. Jobs were going to come to their feet. Jane
admired Michelle again; she liked her idea very much. They started to create their website as
soon as possible. By the help of their previous ads they found jobs. Their website inspired so
much interest. Moreover they started to find jobs for some women. They had to expand their
idea because some women needed jobs but they had no experience or degree. What could
they do? This time Jane had another idea. They had enough money to open a vocational course
for women. So many women could improve themselves through this course. They tried to

39
concentrate on these things because they knew that many women lived in bad conditions
because of their poorness. They had to live with their bad husbands because they had no
money nor courage to leave them.
So women had to earn their own money. Their new plans worked very impressively day by day.
Each day new members attended their movement. They also had members from other
countries. They sent e-mails and supported their great movement.
By the way they tried to help women who were victims of domestic violence.
Some lawyers were willing to help these women. These lawyers were members of this
movement. They reached Michelle from the website and they wanted to be a part of their
company. The lawyers defended injured women at the court and they did not ask money.
Meanwhile they continued to promote their company by the help of ads, website etc.
Moreover they attended some TV programmes about the rights of women.
Now their movement is spreading all over the world.
A woman... An idea ... An awakening...
These can change so many things, help many women at the same time many families. Believe
in your dreams, be sure of yourself. You can change a nightmare into a dream.
THE END
Written by Aida Lopes, Lara Matos, Mariana Rodrigues, Natalia Gradel, Alessia Sacchi,
Giacomo Rossi, Maddalena Grillenzoni, Maria Chiara Camurri and Günce Sena Bükük

40
CONCLUSION
At the end of these two years we consider our work for Comenius Multilateral Partnership
really good, especially the Creative Writing Workshop whose result is this booklet with its short
stories.
It was not easy for students to do such work in a foreign language but we are happy as they
worked hard, widening their vocabulary, reinforcing structures and functions of English.
Moreover they have learnt how to work in group with cooperative learning which is a good
methodology especially for weak ones who can give what they can at the group work.
We want to thank our students, our colleagues who worked with us in this project and our
principals who have always been great supporters of our Comenius Partnership.
We also want to express our deep gratitude to Mr Francesco Grillenzoni, Italian School Council
President and to his wife Irene Ghizzoni for the precious help in printing this booklet. We
believe this is the way to ‘live’ the school, with cooperation and empathy between teachers
and parents, teachers and students, students and parents.
We hope this is just a starting point for a mutual help in order to make our schools the “
family” of our students for their good and their growth in culture, maturity and human values
for a future more aware European citizenship.
We do hope the reader can enjoy the stories as we did.
Mr Enea Storchi Incerti, Italian coordinator
Mrs Danuta Kaminska, Polish coordinator
Miss Isabel Lopes, Portuguese coordinator
Mrs Fatma Yuce, Partnership and Turkish coordinator
May 2014
http://different-cultures-same-rights.webnode.pt/

41
Italian, Polish, Turkish and Portuguese teams, in Verona (Italy) during
the 2nd mobility, when the stories about children’s rights were written

Final product stories on children's rights

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