An event at Dar l-Ewropa was the culmination after a lot of preparation and excitement amongst primary school children from eight different local schools participating in European Christmas Tree Decoration Exchange Project.
Led by Europe Direct Valletta and supported by MaltaPost, the schools guided their students in the preparation of decorations and information they later each sent to 30 different schools around Europe. The students were all in high spirits as the schools started to also receive the parcels and messages from their peers across Europe and the end result is a European Christmas Tree decorated with crafts made by children from all over Europe.
The European Christmas Tree Decoration Exchange Project is a project run by Europe Direct offices. In total 38 Europe Direct Information Offices and around 280 schools from 16 different countries participated in the project. In Malta the project was led by Europe Direct Valletta with the support of the the European Commission Representation in Malta and MaltaPost plc, together with the eight Maltese schools,.
The participating schools were:
- St Thomas More, Zejtun Primary A & B
- St Francis School, Cospicua & B’Kara
- San Andrea School
- St Clare’s College, San Gwann Primary
- St Paul’s Missionary College
- St Joseph School
"Every time we received a parcel, excitement kicked in", said one of the teachers. The parcels sent by students to the various schools in European countries included decorations that are representative of the country they live in as well as information about how Christmas is celebrated in their school and in their country. The participating Maltese schools came up with plenty of creative ideas such as sending honey rings, filming the children while preparing food that is typical in Christmas time, recording Maltese Christmas carols, etc…
The aim of the project was to educate young children in primary schools about other countries in the EU through a creative and fun activity. They learned about Christmas in other countries and about many other aspects such as language, geography, history and culture. The project helped them feel closer to other fellow young European students. At the same time students discovered more about their own culture and traditions whilst preparing the information packs.
The Head of the European Commission Representation in Malta, Mr Martin Bugelli, opened the activity praising the commitment and engagement shown by the children. He said it was enriching for the students to get to know how others celebrate the same event in different ways. "At the moment the world is celebrating the life of a great man named Nelson Mandela. His lifetime mission was precisely the quest to ensure respect for diversity", Mr Bugelli told the attentive young students.
Mr Paul Abela President of GRTU, as the host of the EDIC, said that the Europe Direct Valletta office has now been in operation for a year. He stated that “we feel very proud to host this office and GRTU has taken a strong commitment in this regard. Even though GRTU was used to doing this kind of work this project has given us the opportunity to reach a wider group of people, as is the case today”
Ms Abigail Psaila Mamo, Head of Europe Direct Valletta, presented the project and concluded that the project was a success as it got a large number of students excited about communicating with other students across Europe. Thanks to the project each of the eight participating schools this year have a European Christmas Tree adorned with European decorations. During the event Europe Direct Valletta presented students with its own latest publication ‘The EU 4 Children’ and a promotional item a token of gratitude for making the project a success.
Ms Psaila Mamo thanked MaltaPost Plc for their significant contribution to this initiative through their support by delivering the parcels that the 8 schools sent to the respective European counterparts. “As the national postal operator, MaltaPost collects and delivers mail to every address on the Island and channels mail to practically every corner of the world. So when approached to participate in this educational initiative we were delighted to offer our support to these schools” said MaltaPost’s Chief Commercial Officer, Daniel Grech. “This experience is sure to have sensitised these school children to the process of e-commerce and particularly intercultural communication as they shared Christmas practices with other countries around Europe” he continued.