Plan-Ed's anti-slavery project and National Museums Liverpool link students in five countries

Children’s charity Plan-Ed has devised a school linking project called 'Make the Link, Break the Chain'which is linking a school in Liverpool with pupils in Haiti, Brazil, Sierra Leone and Senegal.

This partnership between Plan and National Museums Liverpool started in March this year when they commemorated the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade.

It saw 200 students, aged 12-13, join three other UK schools in building their own secure websites to introduce themselves to eachother.

“Making our own site has been most fun, because you get to take control, and let other people know who you are and what you’re like,” says 13-year-old Vicky.

These sites were then shared with those produced by students in Brazil, Haiti, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

Students dedicated two hours a week to the four month project from January 2007.

Through a nine stage lesson-plan programme, they studied the history of slavery, modern-day child trafficking, drew up a charter of rights and made a short film on the subject.  

Click here to look through some pages from the project  and to view their project gallery.

Students have not only been working online (via Rafiki) on the subject of slavery, but used the experience as a springboard for their own offline projects and video conferences.

These outputs include films, sculpture, video diaries and community workshops.

School pupils from Annie Walsh Girls School in Freetown, Sierra Leone will be joining students from Brazil, Haiti, Senegal and the UK for the opening of the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool on August 23rd where their work will be showcased.

They will be taking part in a slavery abolition commemorative event being organised by the Museum to mark the UN’s International Day of Remembrance of the Slave Trade.

PLAN also ran a national literacy competition  that involved writing a story about tackling child labour and contemporary forms of slavery.The winner will be judged by a celebrity panel including journalists from The Guardian. The top prize is a trip of a lifetime to Senegal and a weekend in Liverpool for the opening of the museum.

Educational materials produced by the students involved in the ‘Make the Link, Break the Chain’ school linking project will be exhibited at the event.

The launch is expected to be attended by high profile senior figures from the UK, USA, Africa and the Caribbean. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been invited too!

Plan UK chief executive Marie Staunton says: “It’s not just about building ties between schools in the UK and overseas.

“It’s about helping pupils in the UK to explore the difference they can make in the world and encouraging them to learn how international issues affect their lives.” 

Lesson plans translated into three languages are available as a resource on the Plan-ed website.


For further information or to be involved with future linking projects please contact:
Plan-ed@plan-international.org.uk

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