School: National College 'Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi'
    Radauti, Suceava, Romania

5 students, ages 15-18 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on August 3, 2007. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2002,2003,2004,2005,2006

Classes and Teachers: Ms.Olaru Elena

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.hurmuzachi.com

1. Description of Our Community

We are Amelia, Andrew, Beatrice, Diane and Veronica, a group of students from “Eudoxiu Hurmuzachi” National College,Radauti.Our town is part of Suceava state situated in the north-east part of Romania, in Bukovina.This province dispose of multiculture elements who prove the existence of many national minorities,who have different life styles and different cultures.The town is well managed by the mayor Mihai Frunza, fact confirmed by the prizes we had won for'The cleanest town'.Even if it is a small city it dispose of the oldest herd of horses in the country,a park who dates from 1911,a zoo garden,an etnographic museum and one of the oldest monasteries builded by Bogdan I(the XIVth century).

Our professor Helen Olaru informed us about the existence of this contest and advised us to participate, considering our aptitudes and pleasure to work with history. We were glad about this challenge and we concentrated our entire interest and knowledge to realize a successful site.

2. Summary of Our Project

With this project we presented the life of hutsuls, a little known ethnic group which possesses valuable traditions which deserve to be revealed. We presented their history and the way they settled in the north of Bukovina, bringing an important contribution to enrich the culture of this representative area of Romania. We followed the different aspects of their lives, like their unchanged occupation and the influence of the entry of Romania in the European Union upon the life of this population. The households- a small, but important part of their life- amazes with its authenticity. Through our project we presented the components of a hutsul house and the household annexes, each and every one with its own role, in concordance with the seasons. We made a presentation of the traditional costume of hutsuls, with its particularities that sets it apart from our Romanian one. All the information in this project is accompanied by representative photographs and video material.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:21-50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:2-3

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:4-6

E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):

a) The percentage of the students with Internet access at home: more then 50% b) Number of workstation with Internet access in the classroom: none c) Connection speed used in the classroom: none d) Numbers of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet: none e) Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access

Although our class doesn’t dispose of Internet access we consulted this source from our school Informatics lab and we used home Internet.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

In the realization of the site there weren’t any particular problems, because we live in the same locality, we have access to information and sources, and we had a good collaboration with the hutsuls. Despite all these facilities,though, the fact that we are in a humanist section represented a problem in what concerns the technical aspect of the project. It took some time to find someone who could help us with the site. Fortunately, our teacher found Andrew who studies in a realist section. He was kind enough to help us bring our project to an end. Another problem was the fact that we aren’t native English speakers and the translation of the project was difficult because of the regionalisms which didn’t have equivalents in the English language.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Through this project we wanted to let the people know about the existence of this special and unique ethnic group. Our purpose was to present their way of life, the natural, close relation with the Romanians, which we’ve personally experienced by the numerous visits to Paltin village. We also wanted to bring out the close communion of these people with nature. With this project we tried to get them out of anonymity and show the world that, although they live a simple life, they know how to appreciate nature and enjoy what it has to offer, they know how to value their traditions, to keep them and to pass them from generation to generation with the same love they had when they received them.

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

We chose the “art and culture” category because this population has its own traditions and customs which enrich the Bukovinean culture through the traditional clothing, the art of egg painting and the traditional hutsul horse. The traditional musical instruments made out of wood by hutsul men are also spectacular, among with other workmanship objects, like the dowry chests. Hutsul music and dances create a special aspect of art through the rhythm and lyrics that include different aspects of the every-day life. The fact that they sing their life denotes a big life experience passed on to the young. The subject of the project doesn’t fit in the scholar contents in our curricular area. The realization of the project cost us long hours of extra-school work, but these were in the end useful for the enrichment of our knowledge, contributing, as well, in binding lasting friendships.

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

In the project realization we used diverse technology devices: telephones, computers, cameras, books, the Internet, recording devices and some other programs used in processing the information. Andrew used software programs to realize the site. Amelia used the photo camera, and realized the photos that you have seen in our project. Diane utilized the recording devices for the interviews. Beatrice and Veronica processed the information using the Internet. The realization of the project couldn’t have been possible without these sources.

In what ways did you act as « ambassadors » and spokespersons for your Doors to Diplomacy Project both online and in person?

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

The role of the “ambassador” was taken by Amelia and Diane, the ones who organized several visits in Brodina, talking personally to the hutsuls and narrated their experience with this project trying to make this population known to the world. They have presented the way of life and the social situation of the hutsuls bringing out the rights they have as a minority. The information obtained for this project was presented in our city, Radautzi, in the context of a communication and essay session. After we made an interview in school we realized that this minority, although so close to us, is not well known. In order to inform the students about this ethnic group, we intend to place all this information about hutsuls on the school site so that our work for this project would be rewarded through the spreading of the information regarding the hutsuls.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

Our project was well accepted in a world where violence, natural disaster and the supremacy of money rule, because the life of hutsuls means a relation of harmony with nature, time and with themselves. The project attracted the attention of a humanitarian foundation in our city, Hannah Foundation, which is in close collaboration with other organizations from England and France. This organization was interested in the contents of the project and decided to promote this minority in the world and to financially support it, by giving clothes and food to people with a difficult financial situation. By presenting the information for the project to our school teachers and colleagues, we caught their interest.

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

Our project represented many hours of work in school, and for this we give thanks to our principal, Marian Olaru, for the advantages we had by working here: computers, programs and software, Internet, working space and books. The instruments we used in the realization of the project (cameras, and video recorders, voice recording devices) were given to us thanks to Mrs.Olaru Helen. In this project were included students from our school because of the answers they gave us in our questionnaires we’ve spread in school; they were a real help in the evaluation of the impact of our project, by promoting a little-known minority. The answer interpretation as a percentage helped us realize how much the students know about this population.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

On our visits to Brodina we were amazed to see their way of life, the fact that they don't dispose of water supplies because their houses are built on the mountains, at long distances one from another, and the road which connects them is actually a path. One day, when we were heading to Pleoscii, we were surprised to see a three-year-old girl riding a hutsul horse of impressive dimensions. Of course, the horse was led by the girl's father, but still, the sight had a big impact. It was a great pleasure to sit at the same table with these people and to discuss about their life, especially when they turned out to be so open and hospitable to us, some strangers. We were expecting a cold welcome, mostly because some say the hutsuls are solitary people who don't enjoy talking about their origins. With our visits we proved that this was a wrong conception. The realization of the project taught us how to work in a team, to listen to other opinions and to be more tolerant.