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Adopt a monument - Lipari, Italy

Adopt a monument

Students from two classes in the K6-8 school, Istituto Comprensivo Lipari II, Aeolian Islands, volunteered to adopt a monument in Lipari. The monument is a hypogeum, an underground chambre with big niches for sarcophagus and loculi for buried remains. from the second DC. The monument was almost buried by weeds and shrubs and the students worked during two-three hours to remove these from the site. Below are two photos taken at the site.

The hypogeum as seen from the street in Lipari

The students in the hypogeum
The project was started and planned by Enzo Donato who is the art teacher at the school. Enzo got the approval from the authority for archeological and cultural resources in Messina (Sopraintendenza dei Beni Culturali ed Ambientali). The authority was very cooperative and he got the approval in one week.  The goal of the project is to let the students clean the site and draw it.

I interviewed Roberta, who volunteered in the hypogeum cleaning. She is 11 years old and she attends 6th grade. Lorenzo, her classmate, helped Roberta during the interview,

HOW DID YOU PREPARE THIS PROJECT?
Ita: Un paio di giorni prima, il prof Enzo ci ha informato che domenica ci sarebbe stato un progetto di volontariato. Ci ha detto di venire preparati perché avremmo dovuto liberare l'ipogeo dalle erbacce. Ci dovevamo vestire in modo adeguato. Se fossimo riusciti a sistemare l'ipogeo lo stesso giorno, avremmo fatto una sorta di concorso fra i volontari, in cui avremmo disegnato l'ipogeo.

Eng: Prof Enzo informed us a few days before that there was a project for volunteers on Sunday. He said we should come prepared as we had to remove weeds from a hypógheios. We had to use clothes fitted for the work. If we succeed to clean the site the same day, we would then participate in an art contest, with drawings of the hypógheios,

WHAT WAS THE REACTION OF THE STUDENTS?

Ita: All'inizio eravamo un poco perplessi che domenica dovevamo andare a zappare. Ma poi l´ abbiamo presa abbastanza bene. Ma della mia classe sono venuti oltre a me solo due altri compagni. Gli altri otto erano della 3A. In totale eravamo undici. 

Eng: We were a little bit confused at the beginning that we were supposed to hoe on Sunday. But then we got quite positive. But with me, only two others joined on Sunday. The other eight students from from grade 3A. Eleven students participated.

HOW WAS THE WORK?

Ita: Eravamo tutti molto attivi. Ci siamo divertiti. Se ci mettiamo di buona volontá possiamo fare questo e altro.  Abbiamo usato zappe, zappette, vanghe e rastrelli. Anche i guanti ci sono stati molto utili a proteggere le mani dalle spine o da qualche scheggia. Abbiamo consumato una decina di sacchi grandi da 100 litri.  In fin dei conti abbiamo direttamente estirpato le radici di quasi tutti gli alberi, tranne uno, il quale se non avessimo "spezzato" le radici, avrebbe potuto causare danni all´ipogeo.

Eng: We were all very active. It was fun. If we get focused we can do a lot of things. We used shovels, hoes, spades and rakes. Even the gloves have been very useful to protect our hands from thorns or some chips. We consumed a dozen 100 liters large bags. We pulled up the roots of almost all trees. We cutted the roots of one (big three) that otherwise could cause damage to the hypogeum.

FOR FUTURE PROJECTS WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST?

Ita: Suggerirei di fare venire piú ragazzi. Perché questa domenica, se fossimo stati più ragazzi, avremmo potuto finire prima e poter fare i disegni del concorso. Per le piante avevamo solo la forbice. È bene avere anche una sega manuale per le piante più grosse.

Eng: I suggest that more students should join. If we would have been more kids this Sunday, we would have been able to finish earlier and be able to draw the site for the art contest. For the plants we had only scissors. It would have been nice to have a saw for the bigger plants.


Please send in your comments by clicking on the ADD COMMENT button below. Would you like to do something similar? Have you done it? Tell about it. Do you like this? Send a greeting to the students!

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Contributor: a-StellanK (Sweden)
 Page updated 2010-06-09 09:36:46
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Wednesday June 09, 2010, SaraSa (United States):
Wow that is amazing! I never knew that people could actually adopt a monument! It is so cool how 11 kids were able to go and restore a monument!

Thursday June 10, 2010, a-piaa (Italy):
Ciao ragazzi di Lipari e prof Enzo!! E' bellissimo il lavoro che state facendo. Speriamo che serva di esempio ad altri e faccia vergognare tanti adulti che si disinteressano delle bellezze del proprio paese e le lasciano andare in rovina.Conosco Lipari ed Enzo da tanti anni e il vostro monumento sarò il primo che visiterò appena riesco a ritornarci! Bravi!!
Pia

Monday June 21, 2010, a-TerryS (United States):
This is a great example of project based learning and in such a significant cultural and historical connection. The students have the chance to "live" the learning. This is a wonderful teacher to make this happen for the students. -- www.smithclass.org

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