2010
2010
Planning for this year's trip is well underway and the students are about to embark on the research aspect of the project. There will be a few changes to our standard itinerary. On this trip we will spend a few days on the Salisbury Plain, visiting the places where many Australians trained before heading for France. It was also the site of a number of hospitals and many young Australians died here, either from wounds received in action or from disease. Many of these unfortunate man died from the Flu that spread throughout the world in the final year of the war and in 1919. Sadly for many of these men, death came after the end of the war, but before they could return home to their families. While in this area we will visit the village of Sutton Veny, where over 160 young Australians are buried in the church yard. We will spend time with some of the children from the local school and share a service of remembrance with them. We will specifically commemorate the 11 South Australian soldiers buried there. We will also be spending time with students in Belgium, and have a meal with an adult English class to help the students there to improve their English while sharing our experiences.
The Ozzie Wozzie Project
One of the strongest supporters of Connecting Spirits is Belgium teacher, Johan Durnez. At the school at which he works he is a member of a team which is working with a group of students with an emphasis on all things Australian across the curriculum. They have called this project the Ozzie Wozzie Waregem Project. Students study Australian sports for Physical Education, make toys based on Australian animals in Technology and design rugs with Australian motifs for a few examples. As we will be visiting these students later this year, we have developed an "exchange" program. A fluffy toy kangaroo named Ozzie as been sent to Belgium with her own passport and diary. She will spend the next 9 months in Belgium and travel to various places and take part in a range of activities and we will track her progress on this website. Likewise a horse named Wozzie has been sent to Australia and is spending time between Birdwood High School and Meningie Area School and will travel with us back to Belgium.