Ysgol Dyffryn Aman / Amman Valley School

1. Ysgol Dyffryn Aman / Amman Valley School DYSG conference 2007

2. A. Our project involved a link with a Kenyan school. We have had opportunities to exchange cultural materials, to gain an understanding of our communities and of sustainability issues within our schools. The main focus has been in pastoral lessons. Cymru – gwlad fach yn y Deyrnas Unedig a thirlun amrywiol iawn o’r de i’r gogledd, o Fon i Fynwy ac o gopa’r wyddfa i lawr i’w thraethau mae ganddi iaith unigryw ei hun, traddodiadau arbennig iawn a diwylliant eang. Barddoniaeth:HON: Beth yw’r ots gennyf fi am Gymru…

3. B. Kenya a country located on the equator in Eastern Africa. Bounded on the north by Sudan and Ethiopia, on the east by Somalia and the Indian Ocean, on the south by Tanzania and on the west by Lake Victoria and Uganda. It is a country with a varied landscape. From the arid northern areas, to the western rift valley and of course to Lake Turkana and Victoria.With its own language, very special traditions and diverse culture. The Kenyan National Anthem:

4. C. Despite the distance between us and the differences in our everyday lives we have seen a bond and a common purpose in understanding and appreciating our languages, traditions, cultures and communities. Mewn byd prysur a chyfnewidiol mae’r cyswllt a’r berthynas yn araf flodeuo fel ein bod ni pobl ifanc y dyfodol o ddau gyfandir yn uno mewn traddodiadau a diwylliant. Gan wneud yfory yn well byd yn ein cymunedau i’r genhedlaeth nesa’.

5. D. The school in our link is located in western Kenya a few km from Kericho. The school was founded in 1974 as a day school, gradually it became a boarding school and that’s what it is today. It has 327 pupils mostly local youth, although there are some pupils from Mombasa and Kisumu.

6. E. Our school is Amman Valley it is in Ammanford in South Wales, it opened in 1928 as a Grammar school, it later became a Comprehensive School and that’s what it is today. It has 1600 pupils, mostly from local villages.

7. F. My name is Remedan, I attend Kabokyek school – this is part of my typical day. • At 5.30am I am awake, I use a small bowl of cold water to wash my hands and face. I dress in my old clothes to water the school gardens – I use my waste water. By 8.00am I am dressed in my school uniform, I have eaten a basic breakfast of rice cakes and I am ready for the day ahead. Lessons are long and hard during the morning as the corrugated iron classrooms warm in the morning sun. I am ready for my lunch of local vegetables. The afternoon lessons are fun – PE is one, my favourite! School ends at 5.00pm and its time to help with cleaning the school building. We have electricity between 6.00 and 8.00pm so we do our homework and listen to the local radio. By 9.00pm I am ready for bed.

8. G. My name is Emyr, I attend Amman Valley school – this is part of my typical day. • At 7.30am I am awake, I jump in to a warm shower. I dress in my school uniform, grab a piece of toast and run for the school bus. By 8.20am I have arrived in school. Lessons are long and hard during the morning as I find it tough to concentrate on English poetry, algebra and German. I am ready for my lunch of pasta. The afternoon lessons are fun – PE is one, my favourite! School ends at 3.10pm but its not over since I have a Rygbi match after school.I return home by 5.00pm and tell mum and dad about my day. Between 6.00 and 8.00pm i do my homework and listen to my MP3 player. By 9.00pm I am ready for bed.

9. H – If you listened carefully to those accounts you will have realised that there were differences yet there were many similarities. Yr ydym wedi sylweddoli mae gwahaniaethau amlwg yn ein bywydau ni o’u cymharu a phobl ifanc ysgol Kabokayak. Ond mae na sawl tebygrwydd hefyd.Fel pobl ifanc yr ydym yn diflasu yn ein gwersi, yn mwynhau yr un math o bethau ac yn rannu yr un diddordebau. It became apparent that in our communities we had common dreams and common concerns.

10. All shout: WATER, LITTER AND FUTURE SUSTAINABILITY. I.Water in Kabokyek: The pupils and teachers have to collect their water from a nearby river.The school built their own dam 20 years ago to collect water – now the school has grown it is not big enough. They collect their water from the same place as the animals drink – this can cause diseases to spread. The pupils have to wash their own clothes in small buckets – no water is wasted! In the dry season (between November and February) lessons have to be stopped for everyone to collect water from the river. The school had to close last year when the river ran dry.

11. J: It is challenging in Kenya to get a basic commodity such as Water. However they are far better than us at conserving water in their everyday lives – we can learn a lot from them. After all - Welsh Reservoirs face water shortages as well we have all realised that we need to work together to conserve water wherever we are in the world. Mae dwr yn adnodd hanfodol – sydd yn rhaid I ni fel pobl ifanc y dyfodol warchod a defnyddio yn gynaladwy.

12. K: “Its our future – please don’t throw it away” Waste: a constant battle in our school environment – litter is frequently apparent around the school. Yet In Kabokayek most waste material is reused and recycled.They have a very clean school environment. An important lesson for us all. In exchanging information about waste we realise the need to consider waste and not throw away the future.

13. L. Through our project we now understand and appreciate our languages, traditions, cultures and communities in Wales and in Kenya. As the youth of tomorrow we make this link workable in order to ensure a world with diverse cultures, caring communities and a sustainable future for all.

14. M. Mewn undod mae nerth a ni yw pobl ifanc y dyfodol. Yn ein dwylo ni y mae diwylliant yn byw, mae cymunedau yn ffyni a mae dyfodol cynaladwy yn bod.

15. N: Wales and Kenya together – and as the youth of tomorrow in both countries we strive to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can and wisdom to know the difference.