This evening the Mayor of Chauny held a reception in the town hall. The venue was very beautiful. There were lots of speeches from visiting dignitaries all in The French language. The photo shows the Mayor speaking. Mr Coutts spoke on our behalf (in Maori, French and English, and Mr Gallop translated the English part of the speech. The students supported Mr Coutts' speech by singing a song in Maori after his speech.
This afternoon we went on a literary tour of the Somme battlefield. We visited the village of Frise, saw where German and French soldiers had trenches and discovered stories about the war written by the author Blaise Cendrars.
Another preview of our book. This time the pages show photos of Archibald Baxter and Mark Briggs (two conscientious objectors sent to the Western Front) and a great photo we sourced from Puke Ariki Museum of a NZ soldier on the duckboard at the front line. Briggs was dragged over this, the nails on it digging into his flesh and creating huge wounds. Baxter was marched to the front line in order to try to "break his will" to resist military service. In the end he got left there, and wandered...
The photo shows pages from our book that we are publishing as part of our Shared Histories Project. The book will be launched when we are in Chauny, France. The photo shows a section of the book written by the French students in Chauny who researched the execution of a group of soldiers in Vingré. These are known as the Martyrs of Vingré [Martyrs de Vingré]. The book is bilingual in French and English.
Les Martyrs de Vingré sont six poilus, le caporal Paul Henry Floch et les soldats Jean...
Today was a visit to the printing company to look at the book being printed. It is going to be great. Our book, written by the French students in Chauny, France and the New Zealand students at Baradene College in Auckland New Zealand, is titled “La Bataille de la Conscience” [The Battle of Conscience] – 60 pages – ISBN 978-0-473-31621-1
The photos show the printing presses in the workshop where the book is being made.
A photo giving a look at what the posters for our exhibition look like. Our posters [by French students and New Zealand students] have been edited and now all loot like they belong together. They will be printed a large A1 size for the exhibition we are having in Chauny, France. They are to be printed on a matt laminate card and should look really great. We can't wait to see them when they have been printed at the end of the week. The posters are bilingual in French and English languages.
Our...
Imagine you are a soldier somewhere in a trench; unable to write, you have to dictate your letter to another soldier...
Students' recordings, with their interpretation and empathy, are attached to this post.
Download them to listen.
Wow! it is really strange to think that it is already 2015 and that this time last year we were all finding out about being accepted into the young ambassadors and that we would be going to France. This opportunity was the absolute highlight of my 2014 and has given me some incredible memories and friends. Before we left I was nervous that the trip would be difficult with clashing personalities and being in each others company 24/7. I really needn't have worried, this trip and the programme has...
2014 was a whirlwind of a year for many reasons, but none so significant as being part of the Shared Histories project as a Young Ambassador. This role took me to many places both literally and metaphorically that I never dreamed I would be able to experience in my last year of high school. Though the experience of being in France and Belgium is now over, the memories we made and things we learnt will last forever.
I had always considered myself to be relatively knowledgable about WWI and...
A couple of weeks ago on the 17th of October I had the privilege of being invited to the Battle of Passchendaele 97th Anniversary Ceremony, by the Passchendaele Society. It was a very large event held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, and was attended by various dignitaries from a Belgian Ambassador to Trelise Cooper. There was a heavenly performance from the Auckland City Choir (video here - apologies for the bad quality!) and some very moving speeches and poetry readings
.
When the...
The following members are online:
Powered by Technologywise / Design by yojodesign