Universe Awareness (UNAWE) would like to welcome a new country to the team; Algeria! The new addition takes the number of UNAWE member countries to 46, with around 500 astronomers, educators and communicators supporting the programme all over the world.
UNAWE founder George Miley was delighted to welcome Algeria to the project, "It is a privilege for UNAWE to contribute to education in such an important country as Algeria. We look forward to a long and exciting collaboration with Algerian educators and astronomers."
Algeria only recently joined the UNAWE team but local astronomy organisations within the country have had a very busy few months running numerous astronomy activities. Club Aster of Amateur Astronomers is a particularly active group in Algeria that run regular activities for children. Abdelmoumene Lekdim, a key member of Club Aster, has taken on the role of National Project Coordinator for UNAWE Algeria.
In the last few months the clubs has organised a number of activities, including a night-time observing event in Bajaia, Algeria. After sunset on 11 August 2012 children aged between 7 and 18 years were invited to a night of observing the skies. This event took place around the Perseids meteor shower, treating the attendees to a spectacular show as shooting stars sped across the sky.
To celebrate the International Day of Peace on 21 September, the club arranged an astronomy event in Kherrata during which children aged between 6 and 18 years were taught about the moon and invitied to take part in a drawing competition.
During World Space Week (4 — 10 October) the Aster club joined forces with Sirius, an astronomy association based in Constantine, to arrange a special week of astronomy related activites for children aged 4 and above. Around 40 children attended activites throughout the week, including drawing competitions and an astronomy exhibition.
While UNAWE encourages each national to develop astronomy projects tailored to the needs of their own country, our growing international network provides an essential platform; it allows for the exchange of ideas, methods and materials between members. Additionally, these collaborations allow UNAWE to organise international events that introduce children to a world beyond their local areas and show them that they are important members of a global community, inspiring a sense of global citizenship and above all, tolerance.
If you would like to collaborate with UNAWE Algeria, please contact Abdelmoumene Lekdi at moum_ld@hotmail.com.
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