夢迴故土的新非洲人巴西東北部的巴希亞省﹐省會薩爾瓦多是個瀕臨大西洋的海港﹐因為位居交通要衝﹐在1763年之前﹐它是巴西的首都﹐也是輸入非洲黑奴的大港在巴西廢除黑奴條款之前﹐共有3百萬非洲黑人被船運載至薩爾瓦多薩爾瓦多做為非洲黑人登陸的第一站﹐日後也成為非洲黑人赴巴西移民﹑求學﹑工作的首選﹐薩爾瓦多因而變成巴西黑人密度最高的城市﹐市區街頭瀰漫著濃濃的非洲風﹐有些非洲民族所消失的傳統或文化﹐在此甚至獲得完善的保存

這些遠從安哥拉﹑維德角﹑幾內亞比索等國前來巴希亞省的新住民﹐主要是為了進修和求學近年來﹐巴西政府為了改善與非洲國家的關係﹐特別騰出國立大學的名額供非洲學生來求學﹔而有些非洲國家為了向巴西取經﹐也提供獎學金給學生跨海來巴西進修

這些新住民在學成之後﹐大多選擇留在巴西就業或定居﹐主要原因是他們的祖國仍遭逢戰亂和貧困之苦但在祖國局勢漸趨穩定之後﹐有些人表示有意要重返祖國﹐除了照顧親人外﹐也可將所學奉獻出來﹐以建立嶄新﹑有未來的祖國

They live in Salvador, Brazil's most African city, but they long to return to the continent where they were born.

They are Salvador's "new" Africans, studying and working in the city that was Brazil's capital until 1763 and looking on with curiosity at the rituals and customs left behind by their predecessors brought here centuries ago as slaves.

Salvador, capital of the state of Bahia and Brazil's most populous northeastern city, was the entry port for hundreds of thousands of African slaves.

More than 3 million African slaves were shipped into Brazil before it became the last country in the Americas to abolish the practice, in 1888.

Nearly half Brazil's 175 million people define themselves as "black" or "pardo" -- a loose definition including virtually all dark shades of skin -- giving the country the world's largest black population outside of Africa.

Now Africans from countries like Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe are rushing here as students.

Fatima Nunes from Guinea Bissau, who is studying for a doctorate in public health in Bahia, adores wandering in the labyrinthine（迷宮似的）streets of Pelourinho, the neighborhood where Salvador's slave market used to stand.

Named by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, today Pelourinho is a mirror of life in Bahia, filled with restaurants and shops offering "Afro-Brazilian" food, crafts and African clothes.

"There are ancient traditions which existed in Africa and have disappeared but you can still see them practiced here," said Nunes. "They value the clothes, food and crafts from Africa more than us and have turned them into a source of income."

Swarming（蜂擁）with tourists, Pelourinho's cobblestone（鵝卵石） streets are filled the drum beat of Oludum, a group based on African musical roots and the legends of the Africans who arrived in Brazil as slaves.

Lola Acani, a Nigerian who arrived in Salvador 10 years ago, took advantage of the African trends sweeping through Salvador by opening a shop in Pelourinho. She offers clothes, bracelets, necklaces and even African-style combs in her shop.

"Salvador is my second home, but some day I will return," she says.

Most of the students come to occupy university places left open by Brazil, which wants to reactivate its relations with Africa, or were sent by governments which need professionals to build economies at home, or rebuild after years of war.

Many have found the possibility of a better future than they had at home but the dream of returning remains even though many left behind pain, destruction and death.

Pedro Neves left Angola in 1996, leaving behind Africa's most bloody civil war, a war that killed his brother. He graduated from law school in Brazil and now works as a lawyer in Salvador.

"I decided to work here because Angola was at war," he says. "But today it is better and I think about returning. I came to Brazil trying to overcome the pain and I am thinking about returning for the children my brother left behind. I miss them."

Physicist Roberto Andrade, who works for the secretary of International Affairs at the University of Bahia, said that the university has begun an aggressive policy of cooperation with African universities, offering courses and training in subjects like geophysics（地球物理）, medicine and health.

"In many areas Brazil is a reference for Africa, in subjects like the fight against AIDS and health for women," said Andrade. Brazil has a world-renowned anti-AIDS program, which offers patients a cocktail of cheap generic drugs.

Recently the University of Bahia organized a trip to Luanda to create closer ties.

Still, most African students want to pay back the help they got from their governments and countries y returning home after studying in Brazil.

吉卜賽人因為沒有自己的國家﹐在歐洲流浪至少一千年﹐飽受各國政府和民眾的歧視和鄙夷4百年前﹐吉卜賽人來到英國從事撿拾水果和花卉等季節性的工作﹐成為英國境內的少數民族之一如同在其他歐洲國家的遭遇﹐英國的吉卜賽人也面臨到文化和歷史不被認同﹑兒童教育備受忽視的困境根據統計﹐目前英格蘭地區有4萬2千名吉卜賽兒童﹐他們的教育需求不但未獲滿足﹐且吉卜賽文化也未獲學校課程的認可﹐使他們無法藉由教育來認識自己

1996和1999年公布的「提高少數民族學生學習成就」報告顯示﹐吉卜賽學生小學階段的出席率很高﹐因此學習成就也高﹐但到了中學階段出席率就明顯下滑﹔另外﹐超過半數的吉卜賽學生接受特殊教育﹐但有一半學校的吉卜賽學生﹐尚未參加中學會考為了彌補吉卜賽學生的教育需求﹐英格蘭省教育局長Stephen Twigg上個月公布一道新指示﹐以解決吉卜賽學生因制度性種族歧視﹑教師低度期待﹐所導致的學習成就低落問題

此外﹐肯特郡的吉卜賽社區也與英國廣播協會（BBC）合作﹐為「聲音」網頁錄製吉卜賽人不為人知的故事和歷史﹐並於BBC第4頻道播出這個合作計畫吸引許多吉卜賽人參與﹐包括吉卜賽學生計畫發起人Simon Evans說﹐希望透過這項類似口述歷史的計畫﹐讓英國社會認識吉卜賽的文化和歷史﹐化解對他們的各種偏見﹐最大目標是讓吉卜賽文化和歷史納入全國的課程中

In the last two decades schools have adopted an increasingly inclusive approach to pupils from a variety of different religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. But there is one group of children whose differences and specific needs are often overlooked - Gypsy traveller children.

Gypsies are thought to have arrived on English soil about 400 years ago. Researchers believe they left the Indus valley（印度河谷地） in northern India in the ninth century and travelled through Persia, reaching eastern Europe about 1,000 years ago. Their language contains Sanskrit（梵文）, along with parts of the Greek, Romanian and other languages.

They have historically moved around the UK, taking up seasonal work such as fruit- and flower-picking. Travellers say one of the main reasons for conflict between their community and the sedentary（定居的）one is that British society does not recognise the right to a nomadic way of life.

Many non-Gypsies know little more about Gypsy culture than quaintly painted wagons（馬車） and women who wear large gold-hooped earrings - although many Gypsies have neither. Although there are an estimated 42,000 Gypsy traveller children in England, they have been very much a poor relation in terms of receiving specialist support in schools and in terms of the recognition of their culture within the curriculum.

As long ago as 1967, the Plowden reports acknowledged the specific needs of Gypsy traveller children, stating that: "the children's educational needs are . . . extreme and largely unmet . . . They will require special attention and carefully planned action."

HMI reports in 1996 and 1999 raised concerns about the level of attainment of Gypsy traveller pupils, particularly at secondary school level, where attendance rates are lower than at primary school. "In all schools where information was available, over 50% of the Gypsy traveller population were on the SEN [special educational needs] register, and in one school it was 80%. In half the schools, no Gypsy traveller child has yet sat for GCSE," says the 1999 HMI report, Raising the Achievement of Minority Ethnic Pupils.

It added: "Gypsy traveller pupils are the group most at risk in the education system. Although some make a reasonably promising start in primary school, by the time they reach secondary level their generally low attainment is a matter of serious concern."

The government has acknowledged that more needs to be done. Last month, schools minister Stephen Twigg launched new guidance to help schools provide better support for Gypsy traveller children, described as the minority ethnic group most at risk in the country's schools.

"Aiming high: raising the achievement of Gypsy traveller pupils" sets out how schools can overcome difficulties arising from institutional racism, low teacher expectations and interrupted learning to raise the achievement of Gypsy traveller pupils.

Launching the guidance, Twigg said: "Gypsy traveller pupils present many challenges for schools. There are issues of racism, discrimination, stereotyping and a need for links between parents and teachers. Schools must overcome these challenges and make sure that the pupils get as good an education as everyone else."

Dean Vine, 16, a Gypsy traveller who left Thamesview secondary school in Gravesend, Kent, last term and is awaiting the results of the nine GCSEs he took, believes passionately in the need to raise educational standards amongst Gypsy pupils and to dispel some of the harmful and inaccurate stereotypes which some pupils and teachers harbour（懷抱）.

"People think Gypsies are dirty and smelly, that they beg and they thieve and walk around wearing lots of gold," he says. "I'm a settled Gypsy and live in a house with my family, although we do have a caravan（篷馬車） in the back garden and go travelling in it in the holidays.

"When people say things like that about Gypsies, I say to them that they should come round to my house to have a look at it, and then they'd see that it is probably cleaner than lots of other people's houses."

He says Gypsies should act as ambassadors to the rest of the community, as building bridges between different cultures is an effective way to dispel stereotypes. "It's true that some Gypsy girls are brought up to cook and clean the house and get married, and some boys are brought up to go round collecting scrap metal to bring money into the home, but I was brought up to believe that I could do anything I want to do," he says.

"Neither my dad nor my uncles can read or write, and all my family are very proud of what I've achieved at school. I'm doing a BTec（職業證照）in hospitality supervision at college now and my ambition is to go right to the top in my chosen career and to earn lots of money."

Dean is involved with a BBC Voices project that aims to get untold stories onto the airwaves. The Gypsy's Horse, a programme about Kent's Gypsy community to be broadcast this week on Radio 4, has been made with the help of local travellers, including school children.

Groups of young travellers have also been working in Kent schools to produce material for the Voices website. Settled Romany Gypsies are one of the largest ethnic minorities in the county, but there is little recognition of Romany culture in the school curriculum. It is hoped that teachers will be able to incorporate material from the website about Gypsy culture and history into the classroom.

On the Voices website, Gypsy children have an opportunity to talk about their experiences of prejudice, their attitudes to school and their feelings about their culture. one writes: "I'm a Gypsy traveller and I hate the wannabes who try to be like me at school. They try talking like I do and I feel like hitting them."

Don Rossiter, a language support teacher with Kent's ethnic minority advisory service, believes far more needs to be done to incorporate Gypsy history and culture into the national curriculum. "Some of [the children] adopt a cloak-and-dagger（間諜的） approach to the fact that they are Gypsies. They are proud of their culture, but if they walk down the road someone might shout 'dirty gyppo' to them. These children are seen but not heard. The Gypsy language is not valued and there aren't the same kind of learning resources for Gypsy children as there are for children who come to school from other parts of the world and speak other languages."