Staff from international medical humanitarian organisation
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) deliver emergency aid to more than
60 countries, and know only too well the critical importance of
languages in communicating with people in need around the world,
which is why team members from their London offices helped to share
this understanding with students at Coombe Girls’ School in New
Malden.
MSF UK Chairman Paul Foreman and Supporter
Development Officer Joanna Davies presented to Year 8 French
students, explaining why languages are needed by their
organisation. They then asked students to come up with a poster
design to help them in their campaign to recruit staff who can
speak languages other than English.
Over the following weeks, students worked on
their posters during French lessons. Five finalists were chosen
from all the entries by Head of Department Jane Davies and Head of
French Antoine Rideau – with the lucky winner, Esme Fraser, getting
the chance to visit the MSF offices in Central London.
MSF staff Joanna and Paul also spoke with a
group of sixth form Spanish students during their visit to the
school after the students and their Head of Spanish, Paloma
Villegas, expressed an interest in getting involved in a campaign
to raise awareness of a forgotten illness called Chagas, which
affects millions in South America.
The sixth formers explored the impact of
Chagas and via video link spoke in Spanish with Barcelona-based MSF
team member Gemma Ortiz, who has worked with individuals affected
by the illness. They are now exploring other ways of raising
awareness of Chagas by sharing the teaching resources with their
examination board and through local publicity.
Students, teachers and MSF staff alike appear
to have been inspired by the experience which certainly contributed
to raising the profile of languages at the school, as Paloma
Villegas said:
“Our students’ participation and
enthusiasm has been excellent. The activity has also motivated our
own staff and helped us raise the profile of our subject in
school.”
Aisha Dodwell, Public Engagement Manager at
MSF, added:
“It has been inspirational to see the
girls at Coombe Girls’ School so motivated in their engagement with
MSF. Their enthusiasm to learn more about our humanitarian work and
their ability to tackle such serious issues is a credit to the
school.”
To find out more about the BLC programme in
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here.