Croatian pupil Martin Kotarski and Bill Gates awarded in Japan

Joined by a Cookbook

Martin Kotarski
(Age 14, Croatia)
Ksaver Šandor Gjalski Primary School, Zabok
Society, culture, ecology, economy, citizen responsibility … all the words which I, a fourteen-year-old boy, don’t know much about. But, a sad friend with no proper food on his table, nice clothes to wear, pocket-money, toys to play or computer for studying, sounds familiar.
One day I came to school and saw that my friend was sad. I asked him about it. He wouldn’t tell me at first, but I found out that his father had lost his job and his mother were about to give birth to a new child. He was very depressed because his parents couldn’t pay the bills, food, give him money for his school lunch. So he lost some weight, his clothes were worn out and other kids started picking on him. He became aggressive and he fought all the time. He lost his friends and started getting bad marks. He desperately needed help. I wanted to help him but I didn’t know how. I had known before about the kids with the same problem but I didn’t think about it so much till now. Then I came up with an idea how to solve such problems in my school.
Why don’t we make a cookbook with traditional meals cooked by our grandmothers and mothers? We could sell that book and get money for poor people of our school. And not only that. We would bring old meals back to life and throw fattening and unhealthy fast food away. Say hello to delicious food my parents used to eat when they were little. I found a solution for two problems: how to help the poor people and dump fast food.
I knew I couldn’t do it without help. I went to the school pedagogue and told her about my idea. Since she is a volunteer for the Red Cross (and she deals with the social problems of school children all the time) she liked the idea. We made an action plan and she put it in motion. She decided to involve students, parents, grandparents and the whole community to collect recipes for the cookbook. She informed teachers and then they threw themselves to work. They motivated children to talk with their grandparents about the forgotten “old ways” and write down their stories in local dialect. With students’ help a recipe pile was bigger and bigger. Even my friend, an excellent footballer, brought a whole bunch of old recipes. My Croatian teacher, pedagogue and librarian took a big part of whole job – they read the recipes, prepared the dishes, took photographs, wrote introduction, all in all, gave their precious time. The National Foundation for Civil Activities, located in the capital of Croatia, stepped in with a donation of 10,000 kuna ($2,000) for its publication. The Town Hall, Red Cross, Folk Group Zabok, regional newspapers, ecological organizations and some companies gave us a hand, too. After all, Zabok is a Town Friend of Children. That means that it supports all the programs of our schools, creative workshops and sports clubs.
When it was finally published we presented it to the public. The presentation was held in our school on May 30. Some mothers and grandmothers got themselves involved by cooking some old strudels, local cheese and corn cakes and so on. Two couples performed traditional dances and made the event even more special. I had a small part as well. I had to recite a poem. I forgot some of the words, but never mind. I felt great on the stage when they said it had been my idea. The whole bunch of people came to see the cookbook and taste the meals that were served at the end of the presentation. Many people have bought a cookbook as a gift, souvenir and some were trying to cook a meal using the recipes. My friend’s mother at first bought three cookbooks and then she wanted five pieces more. “It is excellent! I really like the design – the photographs and the way it is written in the local dialect. That’s a nice touch. I can almost hear my old grandmother teaching me how to cook,” she said. Others agreed with her so we have sold five hundred cookbooks and collected $3000.
We raised enough money to help twenty – five needy families of our school friends in our region. My sad friend was happy, too, because his family was one of them. And not only that. We have become aware of the unhealthy food we eat every day and of the forgotten traditional values. Realizing that, we started visiting our grandparents more and enjoying their old stories and meals. Who knows? Maybe we will “dig out” some more good books.

The Zabok Cookbook

Zabočka kuharica, OŠ Ksavera Šandora Gjalskog, Zabok 2008., 98 pp, ISBN 978-953-55203-0-6

Sadržaj
Predgovor
… Za kuharicu se je zmislil Martin Kotarski koji nije bil lien, pak je te napisal. “Važno je zdravo se hraniti, a još je bolje znati od čega su narasli naše bake i djedovi, mame i tate. Oni su se hranili zdravije, a jela su spravljali na drugačiji način…” Te se jake dopale Nacionalne zaklade za razvoj civilnog društva pak su nam dali neke penes. …
DOBER TEK!
Urednica: Ružica Kotarski
DOMAČI KRUH MOJE BABICE
Bieli kruh, Šenični domači kruh, Kruščeki, Koruzni kruh z hrženu melju, Kruh od kumpiera, Koruzni kruh, Močica

JELA ZA SAKI DAN
JUHE
Riezanci, Nokljeci, Čučekova juha z domačemi riezanci, Štruklji na juhu, Kuhana sirutka, Župa z kuhanu sirutku, Biela župa, Biela koruzna župa, Poriluk na čistu juhu, Juha za betežnika, Ruljena kašica, Kašica h mlieku, Kašica od jajec, Rieska juha za oratje, Emprem juha, Kisela juha od čvrčki, Prežgana juha z kimlinem, Juha od telečeg jezika, Fureš, Guljaš z kumpiera, Zametena juha, Zameteni kumpier, Zameteni bažulj z kumpierem ili korenjem, Bažulj s kiselem zeljem ili repu, Bažulj z prisiljenim zeljem, Pretepani bažulj, Zelje ili kelj na slatke

TRDA JELA
Žganci, Puodljev za žgance, Puodljev za žgance od čvrčki, Koruzni žganci, Kumpierski žganci, Žganci z mliekem, Bielji žganci, Jetrica z žganci, Jagljena kaša, Jajca z koruznu melju, Vrganji z jajci, Rieske buče, Vugorki z vernjem i kumpierem, Poleana šalata z čverčki, Krpice z zeljem, Kisiela riepa ili zelje z mesem, Zaleane mese h masti, Zalejani čverčki h masti, Sir z vernjem, Purica, raca ili guska z mlinci, Pečena kuokoš z riestanem kumpierem

POGAČE. STREPE, ZLIEFKE
Pogačke, Koružnjača, Koružnjača z sirem, Koružnjača z pekmezom, Zliefka, Pečeni štruklji, Bučnica, Digana sirna strepa, Zelnica, Repnica, Strepa, Kram-pogačice, Vuzemni pereci
SLATKE ILI ZA SVETEK
Babičini vuzmeni pereci, Slatka zlievanka, Orehova gibanica, Rožičkova gibanica, Makova gibanica, Gibanica od suhega sadja, Gibanica od fig, Sirna gibanica, Pekmezova gibanica, Pruosti kolač od jabuk, Črešnjev ili višnjev pruosti kolač, Buftlini, Kraflini
Pogovor
Those interested in the book may write to prof. Natalija Jurišić at the Primary School in Zabok.

Od ideje prema projektu i eseju

 Učenik naše škole, Martin Kotarski iz 8.a sudjelovao je na Međunarodnom natječaju u pisanju eseja (2008. International Essay Contest for Young People ) u organizaciji Goi Peace Foundation-a i UNESCO-a. Natječaj je bio objavljen na web stranicama Ministarstva znanosti, prosvjete i sporta. Mentorica  je učiteljica engleskog jezika Natalija Jurišić.Između 4711 radova iz 137 zemalja Svijeta u kategoriji za djecu (do 14. godina) upravo je Martin osvojio 1. nagradu. Ponosni smo što će Martin u pratnji mentorice Natalije Jurišić predstavljati svoj esej u Tokiju 9. studenog 2008. na svečanosti Goi Peace Foundation-a.

Martin Kotarski, Natalija Jurišić prof.

Izvor: OŠ Ksaver Šandor Gjalski, Zabok

Organized by The Goi Peace Foundation and UNESCO
Sponsored by the Earthrise Society
Endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, Nikkei Inc., Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education
Supported by Japan Airlines.

The United Nations has designated 2001-2010 as the “International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World” and 2005-2014 as the “United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.” Not only should young people benefit from these global initiatives, but they should be empowered to play a leading role in them. The theme of the 2008 International Essay Contest for Young People was “My project to create positive change in my environment. How can I foster sustainable development in my community?”

From among 4,711 entries from 137 countries, the following winners were selected. The first prize winners will receive the Minister of Education Encouragement Award at a ceremony during the Goi Peace Foundation Forum 2008 to be held at Bunkyo Civic Hall in Tokyo on November 9, 2008

List of Winners

1st Prize

Children’s category (1 entrant)
    Joined by a Cookbook
Martin Kotarski (Age 13, Croatia)
Youth category (1 entrant)
    Cargados de Vida
Valeria Cortez Vaca Díez (Age 17, Bolivia)

etc.
Source: Goi Peace Foundation, Japan