(CNN)Hours before the National School Walkout began in the United States, students in other countries got up from their desks to protest gun violence.
Tanzania
Students at the International School of Tanganyika in Tanzania hold a walkout Wednesday, March 14, 2018.
At the International School of Tanganyika in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, students and teachers used the walkout as an opportunity to talk about gun violence and US politics.
"We are lucky to live in a country that is relatively (civilian) gun-free, so it's not something our students have to think about," said Courtney Park, a teacher and librarian. "But they are aware of the school shootings in the USA, and some understand the greater contexts of the NRA and its influence in politics."
Some conversations included students' sense of "how lucky they are" that guns aren't a part of their everyday lives, Park said, noting that about a dozen of the school's teachers, plus the principal, are American.
Another teacher wanted to send the message to students and teachers in Parkland, Florida -- where a massacre a month ago sparked the walkout movement -- that they are not alone.
"This is not a problem in one school with a limited effect, said Pinckney Steiner, who teaches science. "The conversation is international and includes people of many nationalities. My hope is that the governors of all states, the representatives and senators from all states will listen to us and know that change is needed. The world is listening."
Israel
The walkout at Walworth Barbour American International School in Even Yehuda, Israel, was organized by three students, including Eduard Štrébl.
"I was inspired to organize this walkout because I watched the movement get born online and it moved me. It touched me deeply to hear about this," said Štrébl, a senior.
"I'm from Prague, Czech (Republic), and I'm not American, but to see an epidemic of school shootings in a developed country when it's so easy to limit such things, to see that there is nothing being done against that, that inspired me to organize the walkout here," he said.
Iceland
Students at the International School of Iceland took part in the walkout, but cold rain kept them indoors.
The walkout just happened to coincide with the International School of Iceland's lessons on world events.
