The first settlement in the region dates back to the Prehistoric Period, in around 3000 BC. The HittitesThe Hittites were an ancient people who spoke an Indo-European language, and established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia from the 18th century BC.... ruled the region in the 2000s BC, followed by the Phrygians in the 1200s BC. The region was conquered by the Romans

Ancient RomeAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of the city-state of Rome, founded in the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BCE.... in 74 BC. Following the division of the Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was a phase of the ancient Rome civilization characterized by an autocratic form of government.... in 395, the region of Yalova remained under the sovereignty of the Byzantine EmpireByzantine Empire is the term conventionally used since the 19th century to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople..... In 1302, Yalova was incorporated into the territory of the Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire , is also sometimes known in the Western world as the Turkish Empire.....Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was an army officer, revolutionary statesman, and Father of the Nation Turkey as well as its first President.... occasionally lived in Yalova in his final years. In one of his speeches he famously said "Yalova is my city."Yalova is a city located in northwestern TurkeyTurkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Southwest Asia Asia and the Balkan region of Southeastern Europe Europe...., on the eastern coast of the Sea of MarmaraThe Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating the Asian part of Turkey from its European part...., and is the capital of the Yalova ProvinceYalova is a Provinces of Turkey in northwestern Turkey, along the Sea of Marmara. Its adjacent provinces are Bursa Province to the south, and Kocaeli Province to the west..... Yalova has a city population of 90.000, while the population of the Yalova Province is 188,440.
Yalova has a number of tourist attractions, such as the kösk (Ottoman-Turkish style mansion) used by Atatürk during his visits to the city, and of course, its famous hot springs in Termal is a district of Yalova Province, Turkey...., which gets its name from the Latin word thThermaeThe term thermae was the word the Ancient Rome used for the buildings housing their public baths.....

Winter holyday in Norway

In the period 23. - 27. March our participants and teachers had their Winter holyday. Many of them could enjoy a week in the beautiful Norwegian mountains covered with white snow, and they were blessed with sunny days and even 5 days of market including a fun fair in the town of Kongsberg.

For some of our participants, this week was filled with work! 12 men and women were introduced to different areas of work where they had to learn a profession together with other Norwegians.Some were very nervous, others had done this before, and were looking forward to 5 days out in the field.

Regina worked as a nurse assistant at one of the homes for elderly people in Kongsberg. She loves this work, and has many years of practice from her country of origin; Liberia. In Norway she has to learn a lot of new words related to the work, but she is very eager to do so, and is a quick learner. While working, she picks up new words every day, and she also get much help from her collegues and the elderly people living in the center.

Two young men from Burma found their way to ASVO, a center with a large variety of activities. One of them, Zaw Zaw Tun, had been here before, and he appreciated the contact he got amongst the others working here. He and Siang Hmung soon picked up both words and activities in the workshop of carpenting. Hammer and saw were used, and after the week they could still count 10 fingers each!

Oddvar Lindbo (to the right) is perhaps one of our town's nicest man. He always welcomes every immigrant to our small town, and twice a week he even takes one lucky participant with him to work. Since Oddvar is a man who likes to talk about many different subjects, he gives our participant a great way of learning many things about the Norwegian society. Together he and Ko Ko Ni (to the left in the picture) from Burma made a strong team working toghether with practical things, and as you can see, they had a nice time together.

Xiringul from Uguristan has found work in one of the grocery stores. She does a great job, and is a fast learner. In the shop she almost knows every name of the groceries now, and she hopes she can get a permanent job here in the future.

All our participants normally spend from 4-6 hours a day learning Norwegian in a class-room. This holiday gave them 5 days out working with Norwegian colleagues, and all found it very interesting. As their teacher I had great pleasure checking out how it went, and what I saw was happy participants who were very greatful for having the opportunity to practice language in a practical setting. Some of them will continue to work 2 times a week until June, others will have to attend some more hours sitting at the benches at school.

Reunión en Monterroso - Meeting in Monterroso

Los pasados días 5 y 6 de marzo, tuvo lugar en Monterroso la primera reunión con el grupo de trabajo del proyecto Grundtvig “Sin barreras”, formado por 16 alumnos de diversas nacionalidades, tales como Marruecos, Liberia, Rusia, Francia, Holanda, Colombia, Venezuela, Brasil, China, etc., siempre en la línea de crear un entorno multicultural.



En dicha reunión, el Director del Centro Penitenciario de Monterroso, Víctor Fraga, presentó el proyecto “sin barreras” creando una dinámica de grupo basada en un entorno de interculturalidad, donde todos los alumnos mostraron sus expectativas sobre el proyecto y expusieron una breve presentación sobre la cultura de sus países de orígen.



En la segunda parte de la reunión, se proyectó la película francesa “Días de Gloria” (“Indigenes”) dirigida por Bouchareb, en la que se pone de relieve la participación de los soldados originarios del norte de África y senegaleses en la segunda guerra mundial, con un trasfondo de la problemática del colonialismo, la inmigración y la discriminación racial, película que tuvo un serio impacto político en la sociedad francesa.



Posteriormente a la proyección, se estableció un coloquio dirigido por el maestro del Centro de Adultos, Manuel Sánchez, encargado de la dinámica de trabajo con el grupo del proyecto “sin barreras”. La experiencia fue realmente positiva, especialmente por el ambiente de debate y de intercambio de opiniones que se logró en el grupo, sentando las bases para las posteriores actuaciones de este proyecto Grundtvig.


Gracias sinceras a todos por vuestra colaboración desinteresada.


On March, 5th and 6th it was held in Monterroso the first meeting with the group of the Grundtvig project "Without Barriers" formed by 16 students of various nationalities, such as Morocco, Liberia, Russia, France, Holland, Colombia , Venezuela, Brazil, China, etc.., always on the line to create a multicultural environment.


In the meeting, the Director of the Prison of Monterroso, Victor Fraga, presented the project "without barriers" creating a dynamic of group based in an environment of multiculturalism, where all the students showed their expectations about the project and exposed a brief presentation about the culture in their countries of origin.

In the second part of the reunion, the french movie "Days of Glory" ( "indigenes” ), directed by Bouchareb was projected, which emphasizes the participation of soldiers from North Africa and Senegal in World War II with a background about the problem of colonialism, immigration and racial discrimination. The film had a serious political impact on the French society.


Following the screening, there was a symposium conducted by the teacher of the Adult Center, Manuel Sanchez, in charge of the work dynamics with the group of the project "without barriers". The experience was really positive, especially for the atmosphere of debate and the exchange of views that was achieved in the group, laying the groundwork for subsequent performances of this project Grundtvig.

Sincerely thanks to everybody for their unselfish collaboration.