EXIT ROOM AFRYKA

Even though the aura outside our windows is none too appealing, while the biometrics decidedly unfavourable and so far the prospects for hot weather seem unpromising, on the 24^th May in one of the buildings of the Jagiellonian University on Wenecja 2 Street things heated up somewhat. How was that even possible?

    It was all thanks to the EXIT ROOM AFRICA project, prepared by four students of the Jagiellonian University Institute of Political Science and International Relations and members of its academic staff, represented by Prof. Robert Kłosowicz, Dr Joanna Mormul and Dr Magdalena Trzcionka. Preparations had been conducted since early spring making it possible for Africa to make its presence felt in Cracow just a few days ago.

    The event aimed to show secondary school students, using attractive and innovative methods, that studying at university is not only about attending classes, collecting tons of notes and then experiencing the tediousness of ramming the content of all those piles of papers into our heads, but rather about investigating new territories, pursuing one’s passions and learning through creative action. The pupils were invited to participate in a game of the escape room type, which has recently made quite a splash on the entertainment services market, but in the case of this specific project, it offered not only entertainment value but also educational benefits in the form of knowledge about African studies and issues discussed on a daily basis in the Institute of Political Sciences and International Relations. Four teams of secondary school students registered for the competition: Bolesław Chrobry’s General Liceum no. 1 from Pszczyna, Augist Witkowski’s General Liceum no. 5 from Cracow, Tadeusz Kościuszko’s General Liceum from Krzeszowice and Pope John Paul II’s General Liceum no. 4 from Tarnów. The students competed against each other inside three chambers, where they had to work with cartographic and iconographic material, and statistical data. Ultimately, Bolesław Chrobry’s General Liceum no. 1 from Pszczyna won as they had the most knowledge, perceptiveness and uncanny teamwork capabilities.

    A series of open lectures focused around issues pertinent to the African continent took place at the same time as the game was being played out. The lecturers included Professor Robert Kłosowicz from the Jagiellonian University, a field researcher, who discussed international relations in Sub-Saharan Africa. Next, it was Ewa Piekarska’s turn, who is an employee of the Polish Medical Mission and has frequently travelled to Africa.

  A lecture about the Western Saharan issue in international relations was also presented by Dr Joanna Mormul. During the lectures, Mateusz Gurbiel also shared his experiences from Madagascar, which he had visited as a representative of the Polish Foundation for Africa. The last lecture was presented by Piotr Tomza, who was a participant of “Nowak’s Africa” voyage, which followed in the footsteps of the renowned traveller Kazimierz Nowak.

    The richness of the event’s programme, attractive due to being based on the popular escape room concept and supported by the substantive help provided by the project coordinators, hopefully has helped secondary school students to become more aware about African issues, and perhaps while shaping their life plans they  will add these beautiful places to their “must-see” list. In the meantime, we congratulate the winners and would like to thank everyone who supported the project. We also invite you to join our Facebook fanpage, with the link provided under the article. We look forward to the next editions of the EXIT ROOM!

Fanpage:  https://web.facebook.com/exitroom.exitroom/ 

 The project EXIT ROOM team,

Marta Goleń, Agnieszka Wiecha, Agnieszka Włodarczyk, Aleksandra Wojtecka

Oprac. Marta Goleń