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Jean Genies International
Jean Genies Goes International
In 2012 Gosford City Library will be exchanging jeans with:
Nitra in Slovakia.
Our library friend Margaret Hardy, secretary of Gosford's Sister City Committee, presented a blank pair of jeans to be decorated during her visit to this ancient city in 2011. Terrigal High School students have decorated a pair to be sent in January 2012 to celebrate our Sister City Friendship. We look forward to receiving our return jeans.
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Jean Genies Are Decorated by Children in Nitra
Jean Genies was successfully arranged in Nitra City Library on May 16th. Producing a lovely event.
Many children painted the jeans and a number of them brought in their own jeans and t-shirts to paint during the day.
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Nitra City Library hosted 'Gosford Days' and books about Australia were available. Children could get to know something about Australia as well as Gosford. There were pictures of Gosford everywhere!
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Books about the Jeans project, in Slovak as well as English, were available in the library and have been quite popular amoung the young people in Nitra.
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On May 21st Mayor Maher, with other members of the delegation, visited Nitra City Library and the project was presented to them.
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Jean Genies as they vist different location around the city.
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Brossard in Canada
Through our communication with the International Federation of Libraries Association (IFLA) the children's library team have also organised a Jean Genies exchange. Tuggerah Lakes Secondary Collage - Berkeley Vale Campus were excited to decorate jeans to send to Canada with great emphasis on the school motto. AD Astra: to the stars.
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See more about Tuggerah Lakes Secondary Collage - Berkeley Vale Campus involvement in the 2012 Jean Genies program via their March 2012 issue of The Tattler.
Jeans Are Decorated in Brossard, Canada
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Elohim School in Arequipa, Peru
Australian teacher, adventurer and author Susi Prescott spreads the word about this special community where she resides and works for many months of the year. Many small communities do not have access to any public services including libraries. The school provides a caring educational environment. A decorated pair from 2010 featuring panels, created by Gosford High School, has now travelled with Susi. We look forward to seeing photos and the decorated jeans on her return to Australian in June/July.
Jean Genies Are Decorated by Children of Elohim School.
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Visit to Elohim School, Arequipa, Peru . . . The Genie Jeans tell their story.
It took us a long time to travel out to Elohim school, in the Squatter settlement of ‘Los Héroes del Cenépa’, on the desert outskirts of Arequipa, Peru.
First we had to go to the big market called ‘La Feria del Altiplano’ where we passed the Lady from Puno with her long plaits, selling her cheeses, the fruit and veg market, the potato stall where at least twenty varieties were on sale (Peru grows thousands of different types), the bread seller with her huge wicker baskets, the porridge stall, and the lady surrounded by mountains of eggs!
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We got on to the combi and travelled for about 30 minutes, up, up, up into the dust where the furthest-flung slum outposts cling to existence in the desert foothills of the mighty volcano El Misti.
The kind young conductor helped us out of the combi, and we walked along a dusty road until we came to a large rock where we were able to have a rest, with a view of the school. Further on, we met some mothers who had just left their children for their very first morning at kindy.
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Once inside, we visited Rosa, the Director, in her office, and helped her interview some new students and their families.
Then we went to Year Six, who were fascinated to meet us, and to see the photos of the beautiful Central Coast beaches where our journey began.
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They took us outside to show us their view, from the top storey out over the desert hills with the volcano in the background.
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After a quick rest on the stairs near the pot plants;
we visited Year Five, and took photos inside their classroom, and outside on the verandah. One girl had her little sister on her lap!
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We went downstairs to the infants’ classes;
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and they greeted us with great excitement and anticipation about the party which was about to begin to celebrate returning to school. They took us outside to sit with them to enjoy the fun.
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We visited Cecilia in the kitchen cooking popcorn;
and then, too soon, it was time for us to leave.
The Jean Genies are now FINISHED! The following photos show them at the Plaza de Armas in the centre of Arequipa. The Jeans were taken there for their final farewell before they set off on their journey across the Pacific to Australia.
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Year Five students 'modelling' beautiful library bags made by Terrigal High students in what will soon be a reading and computer space, 'nuestra biblioteca'.
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Past International Jean Genies