The works earning the first 3 ranks were selected by a professional jury.
Rank 1: Petőfi Sándor Primary School, Dorog
Drawing by: Ivett Molnár, Katalin Bökönyi, Vivien Varga and Krisztián Szilárd in grade 5, with the leadership of Melinda Kapa.
Rank 2: Zrínyi Ilona Primary School, Dorog
Drawing by: Patrícia Balázs, Kinga Boros, Katalin Kovács, Zsófia Tussai in grade 4 with the leadership of Klára Molnár.
Rank 3: Eötvös József Primary School Dorog
Drawing by: Barbara Gazda, Patrícia Kormos, Noémi Vastagh, Benjámin Vígh in grade 5 with the leadership of Péter Kolonics.
The reward for the team of pupils creating the winning drawing and its story, and the teacher helping them is a journey to the international meeting of children and awards ceremony, as well as the opening ceremony of the exhibition entitled "Tales around the World; Life stories of people with nature" in the quai Branly Museum in Paris, where the winning masks were incrusted onto papier-maché globes.
Find out more about the museum: http://www.quaibranly.fr/
The awards ceremony was organized on the World Water Day, on March, 22nd, 2007 in the Hungarian Natural History Museum, where the teams participating in the contest could watch the temporary exhibition entitled the Giant Dinos of Patagonia.
Our Paris trip
Due to the beautiful early-summer four-day trip to Paris, we now know that Veolia Environnement offering environmental services in 65 countries in the world pays close attention to environmental protection. It means not only researchers continuously working on innovative solutions to help environmental protection in all the four sectors, as well as companies complying with environmental regulations but also the company focusing on raising environmental-awareness.
In this spirit, the four sectors of Veolia Environnement in cooperation with UNESCO and the quai Branly Museum in Paris launched its environmental contest in the school year of 2006/2007 entitled „Tales around the World; Life stories of people with natural" for children between 8-11 years of age. Representing our school Petőfi Sándor Elementary School in Dorog and with the support of our teacher Melinda Kapa, four of us Katalin Bökönyi, Ivett Molnár, Krisztián Szilárd and Vivien Varga entered this program.
Our task was to prepare a mask and write a short story expressing what we, children think about the importance of the relationship between man and nature, and how the Earth could be protected.
Out of all those beautiful drawings and stories, one more captivating then the other, the Hungarian professional jury consisting of 9 members chose our mask and tale as the best and the most suitable to represent our country in the international children's meeting and the awards ceremony.
This is how we could set out for an eventful Paris trip.
On the day of our departure we were a little scared of flying, because none of us have ever flown before. Now we hope it was not the last time, because it was an unforgettable and unique experience to see lands and cities from high above!
We stayed in a beautiful Paris hotel.
Already on the first evening, we met the other winning teams on a playful dinner, so that we get to know each other a little closer. The teams came from 26 countries from 5 different continents, America, Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe.
On the following day we were expected in the quai Branly Museum. Already the gathering before setting out was a great experience, because all the teams had to wear their national costumes. So, we had the chance to see the national costumes of South-Korea, Mexico, Venezuela, Egypt, Brazil and many other countries. Lots of photos were taken of us, because all the teams found the national dresses of others more interesting and nicer than their own.
In the museum, festive and entertaining programs were waiting for us.
As the height of the morning program, we received our honorary certificate acknowledging our work in the campaign from the leaders of Veolia Environnement and the representatives of UNESCO.
We also saw the exhibition set up of our drawings which was very interesting, because the masks were displayed in a way that each country had its own globe on which their drawings were fastened.
After lunch we learnt special African songs, ditties and games from a musical clown then we saw the fascinating collection of the quai Branly Museum, consisting of ancient masks, costumes, totems, jewellery, personal belongings and symbols.
Late in the afternoon we went to see the Eiffel Tower. We were standing in a very long queue, it even began to rain but it was worth waiting and getting a little wet, because by the time we were up there, it was sunny again. The view from the tower is just unforgettable; the whole of Paris lay at our feet.
On the last day of our trip we visited the Versailles Castle; we saw the play of those fabulous fountains, and all the splendid spots of the huge garden. We even visited the famous Sun King's Hall of Mirrors.
At lunchtime we picnicked at a lake-shore, and then we played football and tried our skills at various tricky games.
We took a walk in the afternoon on Montmartre, the street of painters, where the artists themselves are selling their beautiful paintings, and people are chatting, reading, sipping their coffee on café terraces.
At dinner-time we took a boat where we were entertained by a magician, and then a make-up artist painted great masks on our faces, then we danced a lot and also saw the buildings by the Seine. By the time we reached the Eiffel Tower it was already dark, so the lights of the tower were on; it was such a beautiful sight!
On the day of good-bye, we were walking on the Champs Élysées, saw the famous triumphal arch from where 12 avenues open up to the city in the form of a star.
Paris is a gorgeous city, full of historic buildings, places of interest, but the greatest experience for all of us was to meet other kids living on different continents! We tried to talk to them, but we still need to practice foreign languages a lot to understand each other better.
It was also good to see the national costumes of other countries, we learned so many new things and we had many special dishes we have never tried before.
We are very proud to have been selected as the group to represent Hungary.
With this letter, we would like to express our thanks for this fantastic journey to the French organizers, the Hungarian interests of Veolia Environnement, namely Dalkia Energia Zrt., SARPI Dorog Környezetvédelmi Kft., Veolia Transport Magyarország Kft. and Veolia Víz Zrt to have made it possible for our country to join this international program.
The winning drawing and its story
The story of the Hungor mask
My name is Hungor, I was discovered on the side of a carved and painted wooden drinking vessel found in Hungary. I was used in a wedding-feast; the young couple drank wine from me. Thus, they had lots of children; they lived in perfect health and plenty. I protected the family from evil spirits and enemies, I ensured their plentiful crop. My body is an eagle's body, my head is a bull's head, my antlers surround a pomegranate, and my legs embrace the Earth.
Here's my story:
King Hungor had a weird dream at night. A great danger was impending over his nation, and he could save his people only if he was as strong as a bull, as fast as a hart, and had eyes like an eagle. He immediately had the strongest bull, the fastest hart and the sharpest-sighted eagle captured and had all of them locked up in his royal court. Within a short time, the bull had grown weaker, the hart had slowed down, and the eagle had gone blind. The king's nation suffered from disaster on disaster, the crop was destroyed by a flood, the houses were destroyed by the wind, and people were decimated by calamities. The king did not understand what was happening, and felt hopeless. Then he saw another dream: he is to find the most gigantic pomegranate tree in the forest and has to eat from its fruit. He had the most gigantic pomegranate tree in the forest found, had a fruit of it brought, then he ate from it and waited. But he was to face new disasters. In his third dream, a shaman appeared and said: "My Lord, My King! You did not do as little as take one step to learn the skills of animals! It was not you who looked for the pomegranate of wisdom. Why are you surprised? You have to set out on your own!"
This is what the king did. He had been wandering hungry and exhausted in the dark forest for the seventh day when a bear attacked him. He was defending himself desperately, when a bronze-coloured bull appeared and defeated the bear. Then a pack of wolves set off in pursuit of him, when a sliver hart appeared, took him on his back and ran away with him. By this time, he was completely weak, but still could not find the pomegranate tree. But then he saw an eagle with golden feathers who led him to the pomegranate tree. The king ate from the pomegranate and regained all his strength. Now, he realized what he had done wrong.
He went home and released all the animals he had in captivity. The animals regained their strength and in exchange they gave their wisdom to King Hungor as a present. The king who was now strong, fast and far-sighted was able to protect his people from disasters. He realized that the forces of nature are not to be enslaved but people need to learn from animals instead.
