Elderly Norwegians meet the World

After a hectic week of planning and preparation, participants from Fredheim voksenopplaeringssenter (from now only called Fredheim) were ready to meet elderly people of Kongsberg. The participants had everything lined up for the day, which turned out to be a great success for both parts.

The participants wanted to present their countries and maybe show typical things. Posters were made, adequate pictures attached and clear and short information written in big, clear letters. The day before the happening all this were hung up in different classrooms, and tables and chairs put out to fit the visitants. Power point presentations, DVDs and music were prepared too, to make an interesting environment. Different things were exposed to show our gests the big variety of the world.

At Fredheim this day you could sip Russian tea with Brazilian cakes, or try Bosnian sweets together with African rhythms from the CD player. And last but not least, many of the participants dressed in national costumes. Beautiful colours and lots of jewellery were on place to transform persons from daily life into exotic hosts.

After the two hour visit at our school, we all met together in the Town Hall. Here immigrants could taste typical Norwegian food, whilst the elderly had a large variety of international food to choose between. Tastes from all over the world tickled our nostrils, and the writer dare to claim that all people here this day got their stomachs filled with a lot of delicious food.

After the culinary journey from near to far, our participants occupied the cat walk. One by one they presented their national costumes, and this was a very surprising and positive happening for all present. The elderly could get a closer look at the beauty of diversity, and our participants had the opportunity to relive their own nation’s splendour.

This day started as a wish from Jan Hansevold, an active man working close with groups of elderly people in our town. He suggested that this might be a fine way of breaking down myths about the immigrants who have come to live in Norway. Many of the eldest generation have never had contact with foreigners before. The arrangement we put together therefore was the first of - hopefully – many encounters between these groups of people in the future. It was a very positive event, and all teachers at Fredheim were very proud of what our participants managed to arrange this day!

First meeting in Spain - Primera reunión en España

During the days 23th and 24th October held the first meeting of the partners involved in the project Grundtvig 2 "Without barriers" Following the established schedule, which was maintained without any incident, it began with a visit to the prison led by its Director, D. Victor Fraga Gayoso.

Durante los días 23 y 24 de octubre tuvo lugar el primer encuentro de los socios implicados en el proyecto Grundtvig 2 "Sin barreras".
Siguiendo el programa establecido, que se mantuvo sin ningún tipo de incidencias, se comenzó con una visita al Centro Penitenciario guiada por su Director, D. Víctor Fraga Gayoso.

After a visit to the EPA Adult Centre, came the official reception at the town hall of Monterroso by the mayor D. Antonio Gato Soengas accompanied by various educational authorities of Lugo and Santiago de Compostela. Thank you very much for their support to our project. The mayor hosted a lunch in Monterroso to the partners who discovered one of the delicacies of Galicia, octopus "a feira"

Después de la visita al Centro de Adutos, tuvo lugar la recepción oficial en la alcaldía de Monterroso, a cargo de su alcalde, D. Antonio Gato Soengas, a la que asistieron autoridades educativas de la delegación de Lugo y de la Consellería de Educación de Santiago. Agradecemos sinceramente su apoyo a nuestro proyecto. El alcalde ofreció un almuerzo en Monterroso a los socios quienes pudieron descubrir uno de los manjares de Galicia: el pulpo a feira.

Earlier in the afternoon, we did a visit to the city of Lugo, to know his Wall, a World Heritage Site, and other various places of the city.

Durante la tarde, realizamos una visita a la ciudad de Lugo, para conocer su muralla, patrimonio de la Humanidad, y otros diferentes lugares de la capital lucense.



The second day began with a meeting with all the partners of the project. Among other things, defined the bases on which will work on the project, its objectives, its communication, its media and promotion and was established the calendar of upcoming meetings.

El segundo día comenzó con una reunión de todos los socio. Entre otros asuntos, se definieron las bases sobre las que se trabajará enel proyecto, sus objetivos, su comunicacion, su difusión y promoción y se estableció un primer calendario de las próximas reuniones.

After it, we had a meeting with the students of our Centre who will participate in the project. They could know the objetives and everyone of the partners of the project, with an interesting discussion between all the participants.

Tras la reunión de los socios, se produjo un encuentro con los estudiantes de nuestro Centro que participarán en el proyecto. Ellos pudieron conocer los objetivos y a cada uno de los socios, en un interesante debate entre todos los participantes.

The meeting finished with a typical Galician lunch in the Village of Guntin. Our partners could enjoy the excellent products of our land and enjoyed the hospitality of our people.

La reunión finalizó con una típica comida gallega en el pueblo de Guntín. Nuestros socios pudieron disfrutar los excelentes productos de nuestra tierra y disfrutaron de la hospitalidad de nuestras gentes.


Only remains to thank everyone who supported us in this meeting. Thank you sincerely for your collaboration.



Sólo queda agradecer a todos los que nos apoyaron en esta reunión. Gracias sinceras por vuestra colaboración.

Fredheim voksenopplæringssenter and the town of Kongsberg

Fredheim voksenopplæringssenter is a public school for immigrants in the small town of Kongsberg, Norway. The town is naturally split in two parts by the river Laagen; the eastern part where the main town centre is situated, and the beautiful western part where we find the famous church, the town hall and our school.

Fredheim voksenopplæringssenter has about 70 persons five days a week, where the majorities have to learn our language and about the Norwegian society in general. Our goal is to prepare them for a life in Norway, such as getting a job, understanding the different areas of society, having a normal daily life in our country.

App. 15 persons frequent our secondary school, where they work hard to pass the exam in the 5 obligatory subjects: mathematics, Norwegian, English, science and social studies.

We also have evening classes. Kongsberg has several large international companies, mostly within the technological field. Many persons working here need to learn Norwegian too, and for them we can arrange classes at our school 1-2 a week, or even set up private courses for the companies.

In the summer of 2008 national politicians decided that our town was going to receive 150 people from all over the world seeking for asylum in Norway. For our school this was a great challenge. We work hard to form our new task, namely to give them lessons in Norwegian.

Agenda of the first meeting - Agenda de la primera reunión

Como ya hemos acordado, la primera reunión del proyecto Grundtvig "sin barreras" tendrá lugar en Monterroso, durante los días 23 y 24 de octubre de 2008.
El programa previsto para dicha reunión será el siguiente:

Jueves, 23 de octubre:

10 horas - Presentación oficial en el Centro a cargo del Director D. Víctor Fraga Gayoso
10,30 h - Visita a las instalaciones del Centro Penitenciario.
11,30 h – coffee break
11,45 h – visita al centro EPA Monterroso
12,15 h. – Salida hacia el municipio de Monterroso
12,30 h. Recepción oficial del alcalde de Monterroso D. Antonio Gato Soengas en la que se ofrecerá un almuerzo a los miembros del proyecto.
(posible visita, si se acuerda, a la ciudad de Lugo durante la tarde)

viernes, 24 de octubre:

9,30 horas - Preparación de la actividad
10.00 h – Reunión de miembros del proyecto Grundtvig “sin barreras”: planificación de trabajo, calendario de reuniones, descripción del trabajo en cada Centro, planificación de futuras reuniones, etc.
11,30 h. - Coffe break
11,45 h - Reunión con el grupo de trabajo del Centro EPA Monterroso: presentación de la actividad, intercambio de opiniones, sugerencias, etc
13,00 h Finalización de la segunda sesión de trabajo
13,30 horas. Salida hacia el municipio de Guntín
14 horas. Comida en el Municipio de Guntín de los miembros del proyecto Grundtvig

(desplazamiento a Lugo y tarde libre)

Agradecemos cordialmente tanto a la alcaldía de Monterroso como a la dirección del Centro Penitenciario por su implicación en nuestro proyecto "sin barreras".


As we have already agreed, the first meeting of Grundtvig project "without barriers" will be held in Monterroso, during the days 23th and 24th December. The schedule for the meeting is as follows:

Tuesday, 23th October:

10.00 am -Official presentation in the Centre by the Director of de Penitentiary Center Mr. Victor Fraga Gayoso
10.30 h-Visit to the facilities of the prison.
11.30 h-Coffee break
11.45 h-Visit to the Monterroso EPA Centre
12.15 h. Departure to township Monterroso
12.30 h. Official presentation by the Mayor of Monterroso Mr. Antonio Gato Soengas in which a lunch will be offered to members of the project.
(Possible visit, if agreed, to the city of Lugo in the afternoon)

Friday, 24th October:

9.30 am-Preparations for the activity
10.00 am-Meeting of the members of the Grundtvig project "without barriers": work planning, scheduling of meetings, job description in each center, planning for future meetings…
11.30 h. - Coffee break
11.45 h. Meeting with the working group of EPA Monterroso Center: presentation of the activity, exchange of views, suggestions…
13.00 h. End of second working session
13,30 h. Departure to the village of Guntín
14,00 h. Lunch in the village of Guntín for the members of the Grundtvig project
(trip to Lugo and free time)

We thank cordially both mayoral Monterroso and the direction of prison for their involvement in the project "without barriers."

EPA Monterroso Center - Centro EPA Monterroso

The E.P.A. Monterroso Center, attached to the Ministry of Education of the galician regional government, is located inside the Penitentiary Center of Monterroso (Lugo).


El Centro EPA Monterroso, dependiente de la Consellería de Educación de la Xunta de Galicia, está localizado en el interior del Centro Penitenciario de Monterroso (Lugo).

Being in the national highway 610 between the towns of Guntín and Monterroso, belonging to the province of Lugo. Access output Lugo is performed by the national highway 540, to liaison with the national 610.


Localizado en la carretera nacional 610, entre las poblaciones de Guntín y Monterroso, pertenece a la provincia de Lugo. El acceso desde la ciudad de Lugo se realiza por la carretera nacional 540 hasta enlazar con el desvío de la nacional 610.


The Center E.P.A. Monterroso is responsible for the formal education of the inmates of the Penitentiary Center. His educational supply is very broad. Not only are taught all levels of education to the secondary level, but also there is a great demand for Spanish classes for immigrants, because a high percentage of the population are of different nationalities, with students from over 50 nationalities.

El Centro EPA Monterroso es responsable de la educación reglada de los internos del Centro Penitenciario de Monterroso. Su oferta educativa es muy amplia. No sólo se ofrecen todos los niveles educativos hasta la enseñanza secundaria, sino que existe una gran demanda de clases de Español para extranjeros, ya que un alto porcentaje de la población proviene de diferentes países, con estudiantes de más de 50 nacionalidades.

Without Barriers - Sin barreras

Welcome to the blog " Without Barriers"

This blog has been created to share experiences on the Grundtvig´s project "without barriers"

between the project partners and anyone who wants to participate from anywhere in the world.

The partners of this project are:

- Centro E.P.A. Monterroso (Lugo): Coordinator
- Fredheim voksenoplaeringssenter (Norway)
- Stiftung St. Petri Waisenhaus von 1692 in Bremen (Germany)
- Greta de Chalon Sur Saone (France)

Best Regards to all
Pedro Cantero