Iceland review - 2006, Síða 56

54 ICELAND REVIEW
been taken against the company. The Icelandic Confederation of
Labor (ASÍ) says there have been a few minor cases that their workers
have taken to court in Iceland; Impregilo says there hasn’t been any
legal action against them regarding labor disputes.
Impregilo has recently been implicated – along with other European
companies – in a corruption scandal in another dam project in
Lesotho, Africa. A consultant pleaded guilty to passing on a bribe
of USD 375,000 to Masupha Sole, a former chief executive of the
Lesotho Highlands Water Project, on behalf of Impregilo, before its
1994 restructuring, and two other British companies. Masupha Sole
is serving 15 years in prison for accepting more than USD 2 million
in bribes. The companies denied that they knowingly paid bribes.
Impregilo was not available to comment further.
Meanwhile, it seems Icelanders’ numbers have begun to dwindle
in the Impregilo workforce at Kárahnjúkar. Amidst the tables of
international workers gathering for their meal the morning I visited
the cafeteria, I only spot one young blonde woman wearing a
traditional Icelandic sweater.
Berglind Ýr Hrafnsdóttir, 20, started working in the kitchen in
September 2004 and now helps in the Impregilo office as a secretary
SCHOOL DAYS
in the heart of the Kárahnjúkar camp sits the smallest, and the only,
italian school in northern europe. in a two-classroom cubicle two
impregilo teachers, francesca francesconi and paolo Bellentani, teach
11 children all subjects from literature to math and physics, splitting
themselves between elementary and primary courses.
Tausi, a 12-year-old young girl from Uganda, speaks a broken english
and a tentative italian. she sits alongside three schoolmates, but they
are all in different classes.
christian, for example, the 13-year-old son of an italian impregilo
employee and a mexican woman, is preparing for a high school
placement exam. “at the beginning it was hard, i was the first child
at the camp and i didn’t have any friends. if i pass my exam in june,
i’ll have to leave Kárahnjúkar and decide where to go study, because
there is no high school here,” he said. “Before this, i have done two
other work camps, in pakistan and china. i learned italian in a work-
camp school in pakistan.” christian uses an almost military language,
like a veteran who might say, “i’ve done Vietnam,” or “i’ve done
afghanistan and iraq.”
when he grows up, christian wants to be an aeronautic or civic
engineer. But he misses his hometown, mexico city, and his friends.
his buddy gianluca, 14, from argentina, says he misses his italian
football team. Valentina, a 10 year old from italy, said she would like
“more green, life and animals.”
francesca, a blond woman of 40, loves teaching here, and has few
complaints about life in the camp. so far, she’s been a teacher for
impregilo in africa, china, nepal and saudi arabia. her salary is
more than Usd 2,300 a month, with housing and meals provided
by the camp. a teacher in italy earns about Usd 1,400. Though the
school has been recognized as a private school by the italian foreign
ministry, no official has ever paid a visit. The ministry recognized
the school as equal to a public italian school based on papers and
documentation.
how can you teach different subjects like mathematics and physics,
all at the same time, to students of such a difference range of age,
level and language skills? i asked francesca. “it’s like giving private
classes,” she said. and what about physical education, if you don’t
have a gym or a pool? “The children love to play out in the snow.”