Christmas magic in Esternberg: school community makes Europe visible!

Christmas magic in Esternberg: school community makes Europe visible!

In the small community of Esternberg, Advent is shaped by an exciting intercultural project! The Esternberg elementary School takes part in the unique "European Christmas Tree" project, in which students of the 3rd and 4th classes created handmade Christmas decorations for 23 partner schools across Europe. The headmistress Birgit Himmel proudly reports that a message about the Christmas customs in the respective countries was also included in each piece of jewelry. As a sign of the exchange, loving letters came back from the European partners who are now decorating the small Christmas tree at school and delighting the children with a festive splendor, as it meinbezirk.at describes.

an important sign against poverty

But the festive mood is accompanied by a serious topic: poverty is also an urgent problem in Austria. over 1.3 million people are affected, and the awareness of this is sharpened by the Austria-wide Billa donation campaign "a donation that makes you full". This initiative not only wants to reduce the gap between rich and poor, but also specifically support the supply of staple foods and hygiene products. Such actions are more urgent than ever, especially in view of the alarming statistics, which show that a significant part of the population is affected by poverty or social exclusion in many EU member states. According to Statista , almost 18% of the EU citizens were endangered or to be affected by the exclusion, which is Urgency of such programs underlines.

This combination of festive joy and awareness of social responsibility shows that community initiatives can adopt both cultural and social challenges. At a time when the cohesion in Europe is more important than ever, the students in Esternberg set a sign of solidarity and exchange.