Open Arms serves people living with poverty in Annapolis Valley. Your involvement in this walk impacts hundreds of lives in a positive way, helping build a bright future that once seemed out of reach.
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Coldest Night of the Year, Canada, Saturday, 24. February 2018
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BLOGSPOT:
HOMELESS HARLEY LAWRENCE OF NOVA SCOTIA- MURDERED DOWN ON MAIN- We must do better Nova Scotia- Canada- we just must- tears and prayers -/SEPT. 18 n 19 2015- OPEN ARMS KENTVILLE FINALLY OPENING...THANK U JESUS AND EVERYDAY COMMUNITY FOLKS- a little good news-MAY 2014- CATCHING MONSTERS CAUGHT- HEALING GARDEN BUILT IN BERWICK NS-honour/June 28 2014- Another beloved Homeless Man savaged in Halifax Nova Scotia- LET'S FIX THIS- GOD'S WATCHING AND LOSING FAITH IN US /25 Famous people who were Homeless 2/ OPEN ARMS KENTVILLE- WHY AREN'T U OPENED 4 OUR BELOVED HOMELESS?? -Sept 24- AWESOME SHARE NS RCMP - RCMP NOVA SCOTIA SHARED THIS AWESOME RESPECT 4 HOMELESS AND PSYCHIATRIC -mental health or addiction PROBLEMS- 2do list
http://nova0000scotia.blogspot.ca/2013/10/homeless-harley-lawrence-of-nova-scotia.html
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OPEN ARMS-
(home for the homeless and hurting and mending)... 25 days to go for CNOY 2016
- 47 Teams and nearly $19,000 raised so far!- please join the walk or
donate..... 4 Homeless Harley Lawrence murdered down on Main Street Nova
Scotia.... Feb. 20 2016- Youth Video of the Homeless Youth...
reality.... - please walk for the homeless or donate.... we need u Canada
Coldest Night of the Year 2016: Youth-
20 February 2016
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Top
Teams
Sponsors
WALK Day
About
Maps
WALK Day Details
Start/Finish
Start and Finish of Walk is at Kentville Firehall, Main St., KentvilleTimes
Here's the schedule for the walk:- 3:00 - Registration opens
- 5:00 - Opening Ceremonies
- 5:15 - Walk begins (all distances)
- 6:00 - Registration closes
- 8:00 - Route closes
Between 6:00 and 8:00 pm a warm, light meal will be served to all walkers and volunteers. So, be sure to linger with us afterwards, share some laughs, hang with some friends and celebrate the walk - at least till you warm up.
Registration
Important InstructionsRegistration opens at 4:00 pm. All walkers must check-in and sign a waiver form before participating. Please come prepared with:
- All cash and cheques payable to "Coldest Night of the Year"
- Pledge sheet with all donor data filled out completely and neatly OR
- Post all pledges of cash and cheques online in your personal fundraising page and print off the "My Donor List" and bring with cash or cheques**.
- Bring a signed WAIVER FORM available online under TOOLS / FORMS on the main site .
Note: Walkers who raise $150 (adults) or $75 (youth aged 13-17) do NOT have to pay the $25 registration fee.
Route Details
View our maps to see more details about our routes.- Rest Stops Rest stops will be provided at the 2.5 and 5km marks providing some shelter, some heat, a bathroom and some yummy snacks and warm drinks.
- Safety & Support We will have volunteers at key corners and intersections pointing the way and cheering you on. As well, there will be some friendly rest stop volunteers and support vehicles keeping an eye on everyone along the route.
What to Bring
Don't ForgetWho knows what the weather will be like on WALK day. It could be warmer than expected or cold and blowy. The key is to come prepared while keeping an eye on the Weather Network.
Please bring:
- good walking shoes/boots
- hat or toque
- gloves and maybe a scarf
- a warm jacket
Contact Information
Heather Keddy Event SecretaryEmail: info@blueseaphilanthropy.org
Phone: 902-365-3665
About Open Arms
Open Arms began serving people in immediate crises in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley in 2004. In response to the most pressing needs we encountered, we began a shelter program that has hosted more than 1000 guests from throughout the Valley to date. 'Inn From The Cold' requires 140 volunteers, from local churches and the community at large each year.The churches currently hosting and coordinating 'Inn From The Cold' are:
- Centreville Baptist Church, Centreville
- King’s Presbyterian Church, New Minas
- New Covenant Community Church, Cambridge
- New Hope Wesleyan, North Alton
- New Minas Baptist Church, New Minas
- St. James Anglican Church, Kentville
- St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, Kentville
Aside from providing shelter, we help meet the immediate needs of those who find themselves in the unfortunate situation of being on the street, hungry or lonely with:
• Transitional / Permanent Housing, Food,
Clothing, Furniture and other household items
• Life skills training, addiction supports and spiritual helps
• Assessments and referrals to Training & Education options
• Employment Assistance
- *Drop-in Centre - Our main location is at 32 Cornwallis Street, Kentville with a second outreach in Berwick since 2012. A third location is being planned for Kingston.
Aside from a full breakfast Monday - Saturday, meals are also served Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings as well as two weekly meals hosted by the local soup kitchen. Daily Drop-in activities include:
- Art and literacy projects
(developed in cooperation with the Valley Community Learning Association))
- Bible study and support groups
- Volunteer training
- *Treasure House Soup Kitchen (Tuesdays & Thursdays from September to June)
- *S.A.F.E. Houses (Shelter Always For Everyone) - Developing safe and affordable housing for people in transition.
- *Prison Ministry / Outreach to youth and adults released from correctional facilities
- *Community Garden
- *Rural Food Delivery Program To Families in Crisis
- *Apartment locating / Transitional & permanent residence
- *Collection, storage and delivery of donated furniture and other essential household items.
- *Saturday Suppers
• 1st Saturday - St. Francis Roman Catholic Church, Wolfville
• 2nd Saturday - New Hope Wesleyan, North Alton
• 3rd Saturday - Movie Night (an early meal is already available at St. James Anglican Church - 'The Welcome Table', so we are open regular hours for warmth and fellowship)
• 4th Saturday - New Minas Baptist Church, New Minas
• 5th Saturday - Various groups
Other nights are hosted by a variety of community volunteers and include involvement from:
Kings Presbyterian Church
Lawrencetown Baptist Church
New Covernant Community Church
St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church
For more information and updates, check us out online: facebook: www.facebook.com/OpenArms.ca
Open Arms is entirely community supported!
"COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS ARE POSSIBLE"
Contact Information
Heather Keddy Event SecretaryEmail: info@blueseaphilanthropy.org
Phone: 902-365-3665
Questions about Coldest Night or Blue Sea Philanthropy?
info@blueseaphilanthropy.org | 1.877.743.3413
https://coldestnightoftheyear.org/location/annapolisvalley
Teaching our Youth how 2 be
Good Digital Citizens/Global Digital World 4 Youth Rising- it’s time and Seniors don’t worry accept their new
world they won’t 4get how we helped them get there our history and cultures- and that outdoors and nature matters deeply.
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BLOG:
CANADA MILITARY NEWS: hey kids-how 2
be a good citizen/ Global Citizenship/ enviroment 4 kids -games and
sites/Sawyer Fredericks- Old Man
Educating
young people to be digital citizens
Heather
Desveaux
Schools
in the Annapolis Valley were the first in Nova Scotia to be connected by 1998,
when it was easier to monitor and manage students at shared desktops with
limited ways to be online.
But
the portability of devices and applications over wireless connections have
clearly changed the playing field both inside and outside the classroom, says
Ryan Hainstock, coordinator of Technology Education and Student Data with the
Annapolis Valley School Board.
“Effectively
managing a child’s online presence is becoming an important skill from a
younger age,” Hainstock says. “We need to accept that in order for children to
be productive today, they must be functioning members of the digital community.
I know as a parent this is one of the hardest issues that I have to deal with
in my home.”
Hainstock
says common questions from parents are usually safety-related: duration of
screen time or signs their child is being bullied or being a bully. He knows
this because he while travels to the region’s schools to speak with both
students and educators during his days, by night he gives workshops for parents
who want to learn how they can better steer their children to be good digital
citizens.
Last
month he was in Annapolis Royal, last week he was Port Williams and next week he
travels to Three Mile Plains Elementary.
Hainstock
says problems with cyber-bullying escalated when children were literally left
to their own devices.
“There
was a generation where we were just buying kids portable devices without
explanation,” he says. “And with no direction from anyone, this is when we saw
a lot of inappropriate behaviour and poor decision-making by those kids.”
On the
plus side, Hainstock thinks the current generation seems to be better prepared.
“As a
society we seem to have adjusted and there is a lot more awareness of the
issues and challenges now as well as laws to better protect us from abuses,
especially around social media,” he says.
But he
says children still need to get guidelines around issues such as how to protect
their privacy and their digital identity, how to avoid racked up charges for
apps and cell phone bills, and to be generally more aware of what they post
because it is permanent and has consequences.
“And
in the real world the technology changes so fast that all the safeguards you
put in place will mean very little very quickly,” he says.
Hainstock
says that kids outgrow the technology to the point where, for example, they are
already using Facebook less than the parents in favour of other applications
like Snapchat and Kik.
“Soon
we may not even know the technology they use to communicate to each other, it
will be even further embedded,” he says.
“It’s
not the technology that’s the issue, it’s the person using the technology and
ensuring they can balance it with other aspects of their life. We must always
be conscious of even minor issues like proper etiquette while using technology
around others. There is a myth that we seem to have two worlds, the digital
world and the real world. But there is only one really world. Digital is part
of the real world.”
Hainstock
says he is encouraged by a recent report from the Department of Education that
not only promises to make technology more prominent in the classroom but also
promotes the idea of digital citizenship.
Annapolis
West Education Centre is also just finishing a major renovation that, as with
most new schools, will result in new technology infrastructure and hardware,
including Chromebook laptops for each student.
“Students
and staff will be able to take advantage of digital technologies in their
courses and enhance learning environments but will also ensure students
understand the ethical use of technology, alongside practical skills they will
need to be prepared for the workforce, studies beyond grade 12, or just moving
ahead as a digital citizen,” he says
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https://www.himama.com/schools-and-child-care-programs-are-not-protecting-childrens-information-online
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Schools and child care programs are not protecting children’s information online
March 11, 2015 | By Ron Spreeuwenberg
Over 40% of schools and child care programs are sharing children’s information online through public websites, social networks and blogs
Today HiMama released our inaugural report on Parents in a Digital Age 2015. The report is based on a survey of parents across the United States and Canada and focuses on understanding parents’ feelings, attitudes and behaviors in regards to the privacy and security of their children’s information online.
One aspect of the report investigates how schools and child care programs are sharing children’s information with parents. The results are conclusive that schools and child care programs are missing the mark when it comes to the frequency and channels through which they’re informing parents about their child.
First of all, schools and child care programs are not sharing enough information with parents. Nearly 60% of surveyed parents indicated that they wanted more information about their child’s activities and learning while in these programs. Our survey participants have children aged 0 to 14 which I think also speaks to the common misconception that parents do not want information on a regular and frequent basis as their children move from a child care to a school setting.
I would like more information about my child's activities and learning while in a child care program or school.
More alarming than school and child care programs missing the mark with the frequency in which they’re sharing information with parents is the channels through which they’re sharing information. For example, other than email, the two main channels through which schools and child care programs distribute digital photos of children is Facebook and other social networks, public websites, and blogs. These are not secure or private channels and organizations using these channels should be mindful of the risks they’re taking with children’s online safety and privacy.
For example, many people are unaware that Facebook, and many other social networks, own the digital rights to any photos posted on their site. If your organization is using one of these networks, even a closed group network, you should be getting parents permission to release their children’s photos to these companies. Public websites and blogs are completely open networks and should not be used by any organization without very explicit written consent from parents.
Parents preferred method for their schools and child care programs to share information with them is through a private password protected site. This is the most secure and private channel for sharing information and media, yet it’s the most underutilized approach relative to parent preferences.
How would you like your child care program or school to distribute digital photos of your child?
We should definitely aim to take advantage of all the wonderful benefits that this digital age has to offer, but only through well-informed decisions can we ensure the security and privacy of children’s information online. Parents often trust the decisions of their child’s school or early learning program assuming they are well versed in these matters. Parents would be wise to start asking questions. Also, it is time that these institutions start educating themselves more thoroughly in the matters of cyber security and safety.
https://www.himama.com/schools-and-child-care-programs-are-not-protecting-childrens-information-online
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BLOGGED:
CANADA
MILITARY NEWS- Schools need 2 teach from ELEMENTARY LEVELS ON- about money- and
how 2 save/about First Aid and CPR/About emergency and storms preparedness no
matter where they are- and even their pets.... LET'S GIT R DONE CANADA - Kids
and money, how young is 2 young/ showing children how 2 be safe in storms
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PDF]
nstu.ca/images/pklot/aviso%20fall%202011%20web.pdf - Cached - Similar15 The Four Cornerstones of Education:
Plus ça change ... 22 Citizenship and
Community Service – the Nova Scotian Way ... 2. AVISO Fall 2011. Erratum. The
Editor and staff of Aviso would like to ..... Valley Regional School Board. .....
electronic documentation taught in the .... younger population diminishes in the
rural.
Community Service – the Nova Scotian Way ... 2. AVISO Fall 2011. Erratum. The
Editor and staff of Aviso would like to ..... Valley Regional School Board. .....
electronic documentation taught in the .... younger population diminishes in the
rural.
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blog.core-ed.org/ - Cached - SimilarTip #2: Walk the talk ... Other young
people, whānau and wider communities can
all be guides. ... students to be Positive Digital Citizens, to help those affected by
Cyber Bullying and to .... How to escape Education's Death Valley — Ken
Robinson .... seasonal calendars and how they are used to plan planting and
harvesting.
all be guides. ... students to be Positive Digital Citizens, to help those affected by
Cyber Bullying and to .... How to escape Education's Death Valley — Ken
Robinson .... seasonal calendars and how they are used to plan planting and
harvesting.
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Vision
for Learning and Teaching in a Digital Age - OPSBA
a
vision for Learning and Teaching in a Digital Age. Student and teacher use of
technology in their everyday lives and the possibilities this creates for
expanding ..
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LOSING
OUR HERITAGE.... THE OLD WAY.... KEEPING IT IN THE NEWAGE OF DIGITAL
Views: Losing our heritage
Heather
Desveaux | Valley Views
Societies
are changing and, sadly, I think heritage societies are next on the way to
being a part of our heritage.
Recently,
I was invited to attend a local heritage banquet and it was a really nice
evening, meal and an interesting guest speaker.
I
thought to myself, “In another few years they’re probably going to have to
cancel this event because no one is going to be here.”
Oh,
it had a great turn out, about 75 people, but the average age was also 75.
Based on conversations I’ve had, other societies are a member or two shy of
shutting down because of aging membership or apathy.
“No
one new is coming to our meetings… It is the same people doing everything… The
younger generation just don’t care,” are frequent comments I hear.
No,
they’re not positive. They are justifiably tired, weighed down by their hanging
on out of a sense of obligation. Desperate for someone to step up so they can
step back.
I
speak from experience here, too.
I
admire their commitment and wish I could tell them what they want to hear — a
solution that leads to continuation; an offer to volunteer.
Often
times I get asked to do a story to advertise a society is looking for new
members. I try to honour these requests because it gives the group a chance to
reflect on the wonderful things they’ve done.
However,
it’s hard for me to indulge conversation about “the younger generation” not
stepping up. I’ve volunteered at every age and stage in my life; even while in
elementary school.
Any
society or club connected to school, sport, or nature appears to be active and
engaging younger members. It’s those activities young families are engaging in.
Our interest is in our children, understandably. That’s where our attention
should be.
My
interest in heritage was fostered by my family and our ancestry, not a society.
Others will get it from school perhaps from their studies, the emphasis on
Remembrance Day and now in Nova Scotia, Heritage Day.
All
one has to do is check out some “You know you’re from [insert town here] when…”
or “Vintage Photos of…” Facebook pages to see the high level of interest in our
heritage.
It’s
affordable and folks don’t have to leave home. They can participate on their
own time that suits their schedules without being on the hook for running
community museums. These pages are their community museums.
To
get a slice of their time-pie to volunteer, people need more of a buy-in than
“you’ll be the only one doing anything” and “We still want to be part of it, we
just want someone else to do the work for a change.”
Honestly,
I think if your society is struggling that much to find new people and you’re
at that juncture where it’s way more of a burden than a genuine interest, or
you have no time for it, it’s not going to get any better.
Last
one out shut the lights and lock the door. Yes, it is a darn shame, but history
teaches us it’s not going to be the end of the world.
If
you have a genuine interest, you’ll find another avenue to pursue and share it.
If
you would like the work of your N.S. community society — past or present —
featured for a collection, or have some feedback, please get in touch with me
at (902) 306 9467 or by email, hdesveaux@gmail.com
Heather
Desveaux lives in rural Hants County with her husband and two preschool children.
She has no trouble sleeping, but can often be found counting her blessings and
the neighbour’s cows and sheep.
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GRANDMAS
AND GRAMPAS LOVE THEIR GRANDBABIES....and by the by...we invented green ....
WWII taught us all that.... way back when survival, food and basics were so
hard...and we won the war!
Fun
with Styrofoam
Claudia
Zinck | Grandma's Going Green
Winter
brings many days stuck in the house. As a child Grandma loved these days. Many
an afternoon was spent at the kitchen table creating.
Children
haven’t changed through the years. They just want something new or different to
play with for the moment.
Grandma
decided her community kids will be making airplanes and sail boats this week.
This time we are using Styrofoam for our building blocks. A paper clip on the
airplane’s nose causes even more aerobatic thrills, especially if your house
has a staircase.
The
sailboats are great to play in the tub while having your bath or just using the
bathtub as a pond. Practice with weights on the decks.
Grandma
saves only her Styrofoam trays where cookies and watermelon were displayed.
Styrofoam allows whatever is stored on it to leech into the substance. No
matter how much soap and water is used, bacteria could be waiting.
Styrofoam
has been getting a bad name in the green world. Made from petroleum products,
it does affect our fossil fuel use. Its manufacturing processes have improved
through the years making it less of an energy gobbler. Styrofoam is light and
floatable, causing its litter to collect around coastlines and rivers.
Myths
even tell us that it takes up more space in landfills than plastic or paper.
Think of a Styrofoam cup for a moment. Think of all the cups from a coffee shop
in just one day, times all the coffee shops in the province.
Some
businesses have a cup recycle program: a special container where the cups are
stacked and the lids saved separately as a recycling project. Often paper cups
are considered better than their Styrofoam counterpart.
It has
been proven that there are more paper cups going into landfills than the
Styrofoam variety. Oh and those paper cups are plastic coated, as plastic
prevents the paper from decomposing.
Although
difficult, Styrofoam can be recycled. New containers can be made from previous
ones, reducing the fossil fuels needed to create them.
Grandma
has no artistic skills, but she can make the shapes for a boat, sail, airplane
and wing. Use markers, crayons or stickers to decorate your new toys. You have
just repurposed Styrofoam.
If you
want a bigger project to use that crumbly Styrofoam that big items are packaged
in, research “non electric slow cooker”, “hay box cooking”, or just “thermal
cooking.” Grandma is still saving that type of Styrofoam in an old pillowcase
until she has enough to make a slow cooker.
We
have Styrofoam in our world. Use it to make something else: repurpose it.
Grandma would love to hear your ideas.
Reusing
any resource before it is sent to the trash, causes less things to be
purchased, less things to be manufactured, and less consumption of our
resources. Make a Styrofoam boat or airplane. Make a child happy. You are
saving this planet, bit by bit.
Keep
green,
Grandma
As a
Grandma to seven (soon to be eight) children of her own besides being the
village Grandma at Messy Church, Claudia enjoys teaching environmental concerns
through stories and crafts. She can be reached on Facebook or on the web at www.grandmasgoinggreen.com.
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Inspired by Ireland
Mark
DeWolf
With
St. Patrick’s Day fast approaching, it’s a great time to investigate local
beers inspired by Guinness, Ireland’s most famous brew. Guinness is defined as
a Dry Stout.
The
brand is so dominant in this segment, that brewers are as likely to say they
are crafting their beer in the “Guinness style” as they would say in the “Dry
Stout” style. According to the BJCP Style Guidelines a beer made in the Dry
Stout style should be a “very dark, roasty, bitter, creamy ale.” What makes
this style standard out from others?
It
is their combination of a creamy palate, accentuated by a relative low to
moderate carbonation level, and the use of unmalted barley in the production,
which along with fairly high hop bitterness levels contributes to the
distinctively dry finish of the style.
While
many enjoy a pint of Guinness and other Dry Stouts on their own, they do pair
well with food. The classic pairing is oysters, but the style is very versatile
when it comes to food pairing. It makes a great match to robust stews and even
grilled meats.
While
Nova Scotia makes a number of great Stouts, few are made in the Dry Irish Stout
style. Most are, in fact, made in the North American style or in one of the
alternate stylistic variations of the style such as Oatmeal Stout, Sweet Stout,
Russian Imperial Stout and even Oyster Stout.
This
St. Patrick’s Day enjoy a pint of Guinness or, better yet, enjoy a locally-made
version. Head down to Paddy’s Brewpub (Kentville or Wolfville) and enjoy a pint
of their Chimney Sweep Stout.
Simple
Leek & Potato Soup
-Serves
4-6
-2
tbsp butter
-3
large leeks, washed, thinly sliced
-1
sprig thyme, leaves removed
-1
bay leaf
-2
cloves garlic, minced
-2 ½
cups diced Yukon gold potatoes
-1
litre chicken stock
-Salt
& pepper
Melt
butter over medium-low heat in heavy pot. Add leeks, thyme and bay leaf, sauté
until soft. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add potatoes and chicken
stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for approximately 20
minutes.
Remove
the bay leaf. Transfer a quarter of the soup to a blender; purée. Return the
purée soup back to the pot. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
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NOVA
SCOTIA IS LOVED GLOBALLY BY SO MANY INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AND FAMILIES...
Valley welcomes students from around the world
For
15 years, Nova Scotia has welcomed hundreds of students from around the world.
They
come to experience Canada, Canadian culture, learn English and make life-long
friends and connections.
The
Nova Scotia International Student Program oversees the recruitment of young
people, aged eight to 18, from more than 30 different countries.
This
year there are more than 1,000 foreign students studying in Nova Scotia; 106 of
whom are here in the Annapolis Valley.
The
students come from different backgrounds and for different reasons.
Kae
Yamashida is part of a special curriculum in Osaka, Japan. To graduate, she
must study abroad. Yamashida has been here for two years and is in Grade 12.
While
Yamashida will return to her home country for university, that isn’t always the
case.
“What
we are seeing more and more is kids coming and doing all of their high school
here and then continuing to university,” said Jennifer Pineo, a teacher at
Horton High, a Homestay coordinator with NSISP, and also a host parent.
“Kids
I hosted a few years ago are now finishing up their degrees in universities
across Canada.”
According
to NSISP, at least 30 per cent of hosted students come back to Nova Scotia
after their initial semester; some eventually apply for Canadian citizenship.
Representatives of NSISP travel to foreign countries to recruit students,
showcasing Nova Scotia as a safe and clean place to study.
Deanna
(Yeoreum) Choi of Korea first met NSISP program coodinator Shirley
Garland-Drake at a recruitment fair in Soul. “I gave her a little Nova Scotia
teddy bear with a little sou’wester on,” remembers Drake.
The
teddy bear, which Choi still has, must have made quite an impression.
She
came here in Grade 10 and will graduate in June.
“I
always wanted to go abroad, and I really like studying English,” said Choi.
Choi will stay in North America for college or university.
Cam
(John) Ayzeren came from Turkey in September to take his Canadian Grade 12.
“I
chose Canada because the schools and the education are better here, and it is
safer,” he said.
Ayzeren
will graduate in June, and it will be his second graduation. He has already
graduated high school in Turkey and is enrolled in architecture studies with
Istanbul University in addition to his Grade 12 here.
Ayzeren
credits this experience with helping him to grow. “It was pretty much the first
time I felt I was standing on my own feet,” he explained “without my parents
giving support. It made me grow up, be more mature than I used to be.”
While
most students come through agents who partner with NSISP, middle-school student
Cacilia Gattarminn, from Austria, is a different story.
“I
wanted to study in Canada,” she said, so “I Googled it!” She chose Nova Scotia
for the ocean and the climate.
Gattarminn,
from a very small village one hour from Vienna, is used to rural life, unlike
Ariel Molina of Brazil.
“I
actually was kind of scared,” he said of living in a rural setting.
“They
said there would be around 10,000 per city, but when I got there (Falmouth)… I
was scared it was too small.”
That
was two weeks ago.
“Now,
it’s perfect,” he smiled.
Molina
first learned about Canada when he was eight years old, and decided then that
he would live here.
When
he was old enough, he found an agent and got things rolling. Molina will study
French in Montreal in July.
He
hopes to continue his education here, eventually becoming a Canadian citizen.
But
even for these adventurous youth, willing to put aside everything they know and
love for an experience and an education and, as hard as teachers and host
families may try, it is just not that easy at first.
“It’s
totally different. You miss your family and friends. The school system is
totally different,” explained Choi.
Most
students adjust within a few weeks and, in the end, the sacrifices are worth
it.
“We
get a good education and get to make many international friends from all over
the world,” she said.
“You
learn things every day and every day is a new experience.”
-------
International
students absorb Canadian culture in the Valley
Heather
Desveaux
Blair
and Darlene Lamey, centre, with Koshiro (left), age 16, from Japan, and Yual
(right), age 15, from Columbia. The two teens recently arrived in Canada for
the first time to learn English as a second language through the Nova Scotia
International Student Program that runs year round. (Heather Desveaux)
With
all four of their children grown up and residing outside of their home, Darlene
and Blair Lamey of Windsor still really don’t know the meaning of ‘empty nest.’
Sixteen-year-old
Koshiro from Japan and 15-year old Yual Morales from Columbia flew in to Nova
Scotia — and Canada — for the first time at the end of January. They both live
with the Lameys so they can learn English as a second language and attend Avon
View High School.
The
teens are participants in the Nova Scotia International Student Program
(NSISP), made up of eligible students from around the world ages eight to 18.
Of the thousand who are in Nova Scotia at any given time, approximately 150
come to the Annapolis Valley.
“They
come from families who want to give their children opportunities to learn and
practice English, which is the international language of business,” says Tena
Moyles, the program’s co-ordinator for Avon View.
Student
participants have an agent from their host country as well as local
co-ordinators like Tena to help ensure placements are well-matched and
guidelines are followed. There are also three periods of time a family can
choose to host ranging from three to five months or a full school year at 10
months.
“We
both work full-time so we specifically request to host students at this age who
can be more independent to better suit our needs,” says Darlene. She is a
lawyer and Blair is a dispatcher for a transportation firm.
“There
is a pattern that students go through in the first few weeks,” she says. “They
are quite excited by how everything is new, but then soon they realize the
depth of the cultural differences that exist and start to experience some
homesickness.”
“They
tend to spend more time by themselves or contacting their family more
frequently, now usually by Skype and social media.”
Darlene
says she’s learned to know the cues and strategies to adjust. The Lameys have
been hosts since 2008 and have welcomed about 20 students since then from all
over the world into their century-old renovated Victorian home.
“Many
Canadians do not think we have a culture, but there are lots of differences the
international students have to adjust to besides time changes.”
It is
the opportunities in the home such as daily living routines, food and what’s
expected of them in the household which provide the first layer to teach
English, she says.
“Helping
the students overcome homesickness involves stepping up their social adjustment
by asking them to put their devices away, encouraging them to participate in
the family more and find opportunities to make friends,” says Darlene.
“I
think the boys had a slight delay in adjusting this time on account of the snow
days recently. Even more so considering the first time either of them ever saw
snow was last month.”
She
explains that school cancellations meant fewer opportunities for the teens to
interact with their Canadian peers early on “so there’s little more emphasis on
interacting with the family than usual.”
“Fortunately,
our house is usually buzzing with our children and grandchildren on weekends
who also take an interest,” she says.
Darlene
credits her African Nova Scotian heritage as the energy behind the naturally
warm atmosphere that reaches out and embraces everyone to make them feel at
home.
Koshiro
and Yual (pronounced ‘Yule’) also go to activities with other international
students from NSISP with an opportunity to meet others from their own country.
Orientation
includes some fun social activities such as an afternoon at Martock that help
break the ice more than the snow while learning how to ski or snowboard.
“It
was so much fun,” says Yual (pronounced “Yule”), “I really like snowboarding.”
While
it’s not an exchange program where Canadian students go abroad, Darlene says
there is a fair exchange of benefits each student and host family receive.
“It’s
been a wonderful experience for us, our children and grandchildren. We take an
active role in teaching vocabulary and grammar while we’re talking. It’s
amazing to watch and note the changes from when they first come to when they
leave.”
“These
are people who will be in your family for a long, long time after they leave
and possibly forever.”
If you
are interested in becoming a host family or want to learn more about NSISP,
visit www.nsisp.ca
Ren
It’s
an interesting article. I’m trying to practice english by skype at http://preply.com/en/english-by-skype
and read english articles for practice. Culture mixed up I think is
inspirational.
-------
CARING
4 OUR HOMELESS
The Coldest Night of the Year
Paula
Huntley | Valley Views
Imagine
your life takes a drastic turn of events and one day you find yourself
homeless?
Along
with being homeless often comes hunger.
Then
where do you turn for help and how does one survive these life challenges?
On
Saturday, Feb. 21 approximately 400-500 people walked together for a goal.
The
walk was called the Coldest Night of the Year — a family-friendly walking
fundraiser for the hungry, the homeless and hurting.
This
was Kentville’s third walk and, by looking at the turnout, it was a success.
Kentville Police and AVR radio’s community cruiser were at the forefront,
leading the walkers into their event.
I
participated again this year and standing with that many people all working
toward a common goal not only makes you proud, but it is an overwhelming
feeling of caring about your community. Almost $80,000 was raised from one walk
and that money came from you, the residents of the Annapolis Valley who always
know what it means to accomplish something.
In
addition to the monetary donations were all of the volunteers that were inside
doing what needed to be done, while businesses like Swiss Chalet and North End
Market provided food.
A
Beautiful Bouquet decorated the Kentville Fire Hall, and so many others added
to the atmosphere.
John
Andrews, Pastor of Open Arms/Inn from the Cold leads the team in many ways,
with spiritual, mental and physical guidance.
Our
community could not do without this program and what it provides.
If
you have never participated in a Coldest Night of the Year walk you are missing
out, not only on a great experience, but on an amazing day to meet your fellow
neighbours.
I
hope to see you next year, as I am sure it will be bigger and stronger than
ever.
Paula
Huntley lives in the Annapolis Valley and is actively involved in her community
with fundraising and other economic and social activities.
-----------
-----------------
Hants
County Ex to mark 250 year anniversary
Contributed
This
painting entitled Farm was painted by Carol Morrison. (Contributed)
In
2015, the Hants County Exhibition — the oldest agricultural fair in North
America — celebrates its 250th anniversary.
The
Art & Craft in Agriculture Show will be held May 23 and 24 at the O’Brien
building, Hants County Exhibition Park in Windsor, and is designed to celebrate
agriculture through a showcase of art and craft based on, stimulated by and/or
portraying agriculture and/or agricultural exhibitions or fairs over the past
250 years. All forms of art and craft are welcome, from artists provincewide. A
Call for Artists and show information is now available. Entry forms will be
available online soon @ www.hantscountyex.com. Entries close May 5.
The
Art & Craft in Agriculture Festival will be held in conjunction with the
show and will feature workshops and activities relating to art, craft and
agriculture. Other exciting events relating to the 250th celebration will also
be taking place at Hants County Exhibition Park, that weekend in honour of the
first fair held May 21, 1765. A painting has been commissioned as part of the
250th anniversary. It will be unveiled at a reception Saturday afternoon May
23. Prints will be available for purchase.
The Hants
County Exhibition acknowledges the Mi’kmaw, Acadian and African Nova Scotia
communities contribution to agriculture. Celebratory events are planned
throughout 2015 including four intimate performances of DRUM! at MIPAC in
Windsor May 21, 22, 23 and 24. Representing the musical heartbeat of Nova
Scotia and of all of Canada, it is a spectacular musical production featuring
musicians, dancers, drummers, and singers from four principle cultures —
Aboriginal, Black, Celtic and Acadian. The 250th Hants County Exhibition, Sept.
18, 19, 20 and 25, 26, 27 will feature it’s regular yearly agriculture and
entertainment events including 4-H, tug of war, ox pulls, petting zoo,
motorsports, livestock and horse shows, etc. New this year is a designated
Culture & Heritage area, acknowledging and celebrating Mi’kmaq, African
Nova Scotian, and Acadian communities, along with other local artist and
artisans, demonstrations and activities. The Heritage Beef Classic, also a new
event, will be held the second weekend Sept. 24-26. The largest beef show in
Atlantic Canada is expected to attract 200 entries of major beef breeds from as
far away as Quebec. For more information email hantscountyex@eastlink.ca.
----
River Festival Festival will support Clean Annapolis
River Project
Katie
McLean | Contributing writer
This
summer will mark the first River Festival, which will take place July 18 at
Jubilee Park.
The
festival will showcase the environmental, cultural, historical and recreational
values of Annapolis River.
This
family-friendly event will include activities for all ages.
A
limited number of teams will have the opportunity to compete in the Valley’s
first ever dragon boat races.
For
those looking to show off their canoe skills, the day will also include
traditional portage-canoe races, and a canoe obstacle course.
For
those with an interest in the history of the river, guided pontoon boat tours
will be scheduled throughout the day.
The
park grounds will be filled with activities, including live music, children’s
games, local vendors, and a canoe and kayak exhibit featuring more than 30
watercraft.
The
celebration will end with the Dinner on the Dauphin, sponsored by Graves
Valufoods. This five course dinner featuring Acadian recipes will be served at
Jubilee Park with a view to the river and the air filled with Acadian music.
Further
support for the festival is being rallied in the Bridgetown community with a
sponsorship from the Bridgetown Pharmasave.
All
funds raised by the Annapolis River Festival will go to support Clean Annapolis
River Project, an environmental non-profit organization that operates across
the Annapolis watershed.
CARP
has been in operation since 1990, and it is hoped that the Annapolis River
Festival will generate funds required to support core programs, such as the
Annapolis River Guardian water quality monitoring program.
Advanced
ticket purchase for select events, including Dinner on the Dauphin and guided
pontoon boat tours, will be available through the CARP office.
Advanced
team registration for Dragon Boat races will be required, and advanced
registration for the portage-canoe race and canoe obstacle course will also be
available.
For
more information on the Annapolis River Festival visit: www.annapolisriver.ca/RiverFest,
or find CARP’s Annapolis River Festival on Facebook.
CARP’s
office is located at 314 St. George St., Annapolis Royal. (902) 532-7533.
----------
Enjoy a winter wonderland in Kentville
Jennifer
Taplin
’’
This
holiday season, why not go walking in a winter Kentville wonderland?
There’s
plenty to see and do outdoors in Kentville this winter. There are several
perfect hills to take the kids sledding, and several kilometres of trails
perfect for walking, skiing or snowshoeing.
Here’s
a rundown of some fantastic Kentville trails:
The
Gorge is located on 64.5 acres of natural woodland. It’s a fun and challenging
space for cross country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter season. There are
two entrances to the park: Gladys Porter Drive which has parking, and the Grant
Street entrance which is a footpath
The
Kentville Trail is seven kilometres of maintained abandoned rail line perfect
for year-round walking, running, snowshoeing and cross country skiing. The
trail runs from one end of town to the other with many access points to
recreational facilities and the downtown area so you can take a break at a
downtown cafe or shop.
The
Kentville Ducks Unlimited Site, also known as Miner’s Marsh, is found in a
wetland habitat constructed by Ducks Unlimited Canada. This area supports a
variety and abundance of wildlife which makes for a fantastic nature hike. The
protected site also includes over a kilometre of maintained trail, complete
with viewing stands, picnic tables and interpretive signage which makes it an
ideal location for birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts. You can access this
trail from the abandoned rail line trail at the intersection of the trail with
Leverett Avenue, and from the parking area behind the County of Kings Municipal
building on Cornwallis Street.
If
you’re looking for a trail with a view — make that two — head to the
Agricultural Research Station Nature Trail (Ravine Trail). This trail system
has over 10 kilometres of trails that lead to two look-off points over the Annapolis
Valley. You’ll also pass by a small pond, waterfalls and many small streams.
The upper trails in particular are excellent for cross country skiing, and
there are many loop walks to choose from. The trail can be accessed from the
base of the Agriculture Research Station property located at 32 Main St.,
Kentville.
For
those who are more into gliding than hiking, Kentville has two great skating
options. Hit the ice at Centennial Arena or take it outside to the frog pond at
Memorial Park, weather permitting.
The
Centennial Arena is one of Kentville’s sport and recreation focal points
featuring hockey, public skating and figure skating. The skating season has
already begun and the Town of Kentville has made several improvements to the
facility and to the schedule to make your skating experience even better.
Visit
www.kentville.ca
for more information on these or many other fun winter activities in Kentville
-----------
www.ducks.ca/your-province/nova-scotia/ - Cached - Similar12 Dec 2014 ... From multi-acre
marshes to agricultural ponds to coastal salt marshes, Nova
Scotia is rich in wetland biodiversity. Nova Scotia's wetlands ...
[PDF]
Scotia is rich in wetland biodiversity. Nova Scotia's wetlands ...
[PDF]
------------
https://www.novascotia.ca/.../Nova.Scotia.Wetland.Conservation.Policy.pdf - CachedNational .Wildlife .Area .by .Ducks
. Unlimited .on .p . .7, .the .photos .of .the .
Shelburne .County ... Nova .Scotians . .Ultimately, .the .policy .establishes .a .
specific .policy .goal .and . .... Valley . and .the .Northumberland .Strait, .along .the
.floodplains .of .the . ..... harvesting .trees .or .mowing .agricultural .fields .in .a .
wetland .
Shelburne .County ... Nova .Scotians . .Ultimately, .the .policy .establishes .a .
specific .policy .goal .and . .... Valley . and .the .Northumberland .Strait, .along .the
.floodplains .of .the . ..... harvesting .trees .or .mowing .agricultural .fields .in .a .
wetland .
-----------
www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...nova-scotias...valley/article639861/21 Oct 2011 ... And get unlimited
access on all your devices ... Exotic ducks at Hennigar's Farm
Market, on the Evangeline Trail between Wolfville ... The Annapolis Valley is
home to the richest farmland in Nova Scotia. .... More Top Stories ...
Market, on the Evangeline Trail between Wolfville ... The Annapolis Valley is
home to the richest farmland in Nova Scotia. .... More Top Stories ...
------------
www.easternwoodsandwaters.ca/index.php?... - Cached - SimilarBut his grandfather, whom he first hunted ducks
with, was also a real source of ...
Don was lured to Nova Scotia by the desire to soothe a deer hunting dispute. ... In
the Luangua Valley of Zambia, 100,000 elephants were reduced to 10,000 ... as
Ducks Unlimited; Lloyd Duncanson-Retired curator of the Nova Scotia Museum.
Don was lured to Nova Scotia by the desire to soothe a deer hunting dispute. ... In
the Luangua Valley of Zambia, 100,000 elephants were reduced to 10,000 ... as
Ducks Unlimited; Lloyd Duncanson-Retired curator of the Nova Scotia Museum.
------------------
Kentville's Miners Marsh
http://www.annapolis-valley-vacation.com/images/KingsCountyTrails2.jpg
http://www.annapolis-valley-vacation.com/images/KingsCountyTrails2.jpg
http://www.annapolis-valley-vacation.com/images/KingsCountyTrails2.jpg
The
Miners Marsh Trail is a great relaxing walking trail that is located minutes
from downtown Kentville, Nova Scotia.
The
trail is located on Ducks Unlimited land and includes 1.7 km of walking trails
around and through the marsh wet lands. The area is a protected wet land
featuring wooded areas, marshlands and ponds.
The
trail is great for walking, running, biking, picnicking and for wildlife
observation in the spring, summer and fall. It is also used for cross-country
skiing and snowshoeing during the winter months. Motorized vehicles are not
permitted on the trails at all.
The
trails are kept well groomed in all seasons for all activities. They are all
wheelchair, stroller and walking aids friendly making them a good trail for
everyone.
The
land was formerly pasture land owned by the Miner family and was bought by
Ducks Unlimited in 1994. Ducks Unlimited joined with the town of Kentville and
other interested groups to transform this area back to its natural habitat.
Do
you know that 90% of our wetlands in the Annapolis Valley have been lost? It is
good to see this great interest in bringing them back, so many species of
wildlife depend on them.
Not
only was the area brought back to its natural habitant, it was decided to make
it a place for people to go to enjoy what is here. The Marsh Trail was
officially opened in August of 2010 after seven years of negotiations, planning
and lots of volunteer work. The citizens of Kentville have taken a big interest
in this area and have joined together keep the area looking neat and clean from
garbage.
Miners
Marsh Trail is located almost centrally in town so everyone has the opportunity
to utilize it. There are several benches and picnic areas in the park for
people to have their lunch at or to just sit and relax.
Gravelled
trails run both around and through the Miners Marsh with wooden boardwalks
provided over the wet areas. This trail also join up with the other 7 km of
walking trails in Kentville providing everyone with lots of room to exercise.
Several
viewing stands were added so you may better enjoy the views and watch the
wildlife living there. Interpretive signs were also put up to better educate
people on the marsh and its inhabitants. Plus there is a 100 foot bridge
crossing the Cornwallis River which both runs through the area and along the
north side. The bridge was specially designed to blend in with the natural
landscape found there.
A
visit on these trails is a very relaxing and educational experience. Local
schools use the Miners Marsh Trail a lot for field trips teaching our young
about the importance of areas like this.
The
marsh is home to hundreds of species of wildlife including ducks, muskrats,
frogs, fish and herons. People have reported seeing salmon swimming up the
river and bald eagles perched in the tree tops. Wooden nesting boxes have been
put up for wood ducks to nest in.
You
will find the entrance of the Marsh Trail at the bridge which is located just
behind the County of Kings building on Cornwallis Street, Kentville. Whenever
you have some time to spare while in Kentville a visit to the Miners Marsh
Trail is well worth the stop.
Make
sure to check out the map below which will show you the route, maybe some
photos and interesting bits of information about this trail.
Walking through the Miners
Marsh Trail is very pretty, isn't it? I'd love to hear what you think about
this walking-hiking trail. Or maybe see a picture of you on the trail.
Why
not share them with us! It's so easy! Just follow this link to find the spot to write your story
and submit your photo. We would love to hear about your story.
|
------------------
PEACE
BE WITH YOU
Heather
Desveaux
“Peace
cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” — Albert
Einstein
Windsor
lawyer Gary Nelson says learning how to communicate with others peacefully at
first was challenging for him and still is. “It is not something that comes
easily to us,” he says.
“As
lawyers, even non-litigation ones like myself who don’t make many court
appearances, our profession tends to be quite adversarial. We are taught and
expected to convince people what to do and what the outcome of something ought
to be in order to do our job.”
Nelson
says people who aren’t lawyers do this too. “We defend our positions and take
little notice of the needs people are communicating to us. The language we all
use in everyday life tends to be violent and judgemental, and is either learned
from past experiences we have or conditioned in us culturally.”
“When
we use phrases like ’too much’ ’too little’, what is ’right’ and what is
’wrong’, who is ’good’ or who ’bad’, who is “normal” or “abnormal” we are
communicating a need in ourselves that is not being met.”
“This
can sustain patterns of thinking that lead to arguments, anger and depression
in ourselves and others.”
Nelson
is president of Peacemakers – An Association for Alternative Dispute Resolution
that has been successfully operating in the Annapolis Valley for over 25 years.
Their members are dedicated to giving people the tools they can use to help
communicate their needs better so that they can develop relationships based upon
mutual respect, compassion and co-operation.
You
may have known Peacemakers better as the Wolfville Mediation Society and later
as the Valley Mediation Society. Until their part-time co-ordinator retired
several years ago, the organization regularly hosted training workshops and
actively advertised their mediation services to resolve disputes in domestic to
business and other organizational environments.
Now
solely working on a volunteer basis, Nelson says the group had to re-organize
the helpful work that it does on limited hours and resources. The name change
to Peacemakers was made to reflect a broader goal of the services they can
offer, such as sharing educational resources they have to help give people the
basics.
“If
the mediation doesn’t involve prolonged sessions, we may still be able to
assist,” he said. “The work we do aims to help the parties resolve the dispute
as well as giving the participants some skills they can apply in the future.”
“One
of the skills Peacemakers use is the model of Nonviolent Communication (NVC)
developed by Marshall Rosenberg, PhD. in which he states it “helps us to
transform old patterns of defensiveness and aggressiveness into compassion and
empathy and to improve the quality of all of our relationships”.
While
not trained as leaders in NVC, Nelson says that its principles are very similar
to those of mediation in which they have received training.
“We
see it as a helpful tool in coping with today’s world using the language of the
heart, not the head.”
Nelson
says that in addition to fostering bullying among all age groups, social media
can provoke additional difficulties in our relationships including between
peers or parents and children. “What I and others notice is that people tend to
make more violent statements online than what they would make in an ordinary
verbal exchange. It’s easier to put people down because you’re not doing it
face to face.”
“We
teach people to learn that the statements being made are not a reflection of
them but the person who is saying it and that they have an unmet need. If you
can start to consider what need of theirs is not being met, you approach the
situation much differently.”
Now,
if only we could put that in an image and circulate it on Facebook.
Peacemakers
is presenting “The Basics of Nonviolent Communication,” a free introductory
four-part DVD series starting Sat. March 7, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in Room 117,
Louis Millett Community Complex, 9489 Commercial St., New Minas and continues
for next three Saturdays. Register at first session or through Peacemakers
902-798-3793. You can find them on Facebook under Peacemakers, NS.
-----------
.jpg)
We
love u so much...
March 11, 2015. 7:44 am • Section: The Search
Canadian Jean Vanier, founder the L'Arche movement, today won the $1.7 U.S.
Templeton Prize for his work with the disabled and his spiritual wisdom. Here's
a profile I did of him in 2001. (Photo: Vanier, centre, with Stephen Posner,
right)
Canadian Jean Vanier, founder of the L’Arche movement, today won the $1.7 U.S. Templeton Prize for
his work with the disabled and his hard-won wisdom.
Here’s a profile I did of him in 2001. A great man, with much insight. The
real spiritual deal.
I remember his words about how the young “desperately want to be loved” and
how they won’t find peace in the rampant sexuality of recent decades.
He said he came to Vancouver “to tell people they’re beautiful.” And he
meant it.
….
Jean Vanier, who some call a living saint, comes with a message of hope:
Young people can find spiritual liberation
Vancouver Sun ARCHIVES
Monday, March 5, 2001
By Douglas Todd
There are many things wrong, Jean Vanier says, with people calling for him
to be made a saint. The first is that it ignores his deep flaws.
But the main one is it makes people feel they’re not as good as him.
“As soon as you say people are saintly, you’re putting them on a pedestal
and saying you can’t do it. But we are all called to work together and love
each other and we don’t have to be saints to do that,” Vanier said in Vancouver
this weekend.
The 72-year-old Canadian founder of the L’Arche movement, which runs 117
communities for the intellectually disabled in 19 countries, has a message,
especially for the young: We’re all the same, weak and wounded; and we’re all
beautiful.
That’s one of the things Vanier told about 400 young adults — including
more than 100 with disabilities — who squeezed into Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Catholic school for an event with Vanier called Seeds of Hope. They all
listened to his warm, eloquent words with rapt attention.
The young desperately want to be loved, Vanier said in an interview. And
they want to be trusted by their parents. But he worries that TV is pushing
young people to obsess about sex, which will inevitably lead to emptiness.
Secular media commentators in Quebec, where Vanier was raised, are among
those who argue the Catholic visionary should be honoured as a saint for his
devotion to those with disabilities — which, in his definition, includes
everyone.
A crucial element of Vanier’s teaching is that we must
stop madly striving for status.
Leaders in the Protestant United Church of Canada and the
Anglican Church are also making appeals for his beatification. And so are many
other leaders and ordinary people, Catholics and otherwise, around the world,
where, in addition to founding L’Arche centres, Vanier has started 1,300 Faith
and Light Christian communities in 73 countries.
The Catholic church doesn’t name anyone a saint until
well after their death. But all the talk about sanctifying Vanier is not out of
place. His parents, the late Governor-General Georges Vanier and his wife,
Pauline, are already actively being considered for sainthood by the Vatican.
Ultimately, however, the issue of sainthood is of no concern to Vanier.
The author of the recent bestselling book, Becoming
Human, has devoted his life to flattening hierarchies. He has no title. He is
not even a priest. He turns down universities that want to give him honorary
degrees, saying he thinks they’re crazy ideas.
A crucial element of Vanier’s teaching — particularly to young people whom
he urges to lead the planet and join the L’Arche movement — is that we must
stop madly striving for status.
“People are so desperate to be part of an elite,” said Vanier, who joined
the navy as a teen. So they push for victory in sports, business, school and
the professions.
Or they hide themselves in closed groups and define themselves by their
politics, race, religion — or even gender. “When women are angry at all men, or
men are afraid of the intelligence of women,” he said, “they’re not open to
differences. And they’re not in touch with their own anguish.”
Living as he does in a L’Arche community of 400 people that he founded in
1964 in Trosly-Breuil, north of Paris, Vanier talks about how people can learn
from working with the mentally disabled that no one is better than anyone else.
“Everyone is basically the same,” he said, as he bent over to drink a cup
of tea, his lanky body slightly stooped.
Everyone is suffering, he said. Everyone is wounded. “We don’t have to get
into this world of conflict and rivalry. We don’t have to pretend we’re better
than the next guy. We need to touch what is beautiful in us — what is broken in
us.”
That way lies spiritual liberation. It’s something Vanier is convinced
young people can find working with the disabled in L’Arche, which has 26
communities in Canada, including Shiloah in Burnaby and two more on Vancouver
Island.
The biggest change Vanier has seen in society in the past four decades is
the decline of traditional morality — the end of the code of shame and honour
that basically forbade such things as divorce and disobedience to parents.
Vanier, a former philosophy teacher at the University of Toronto, laments
how the loss of orthodox morality has allowed the mass media to promote rampant
sexuality — “an unleashing of sex, pedophilia and pornography, with millions of
Internet sites devoted to pornography.”
Vanier has been in tiny villages in Egypt where seven-year children turn on
the TV and watch sex-filled American sitcoms after their traditional Muslim
parents have left the home. They see sexual explicitness that was once
unimaginable in their culture.
“Forty years ago in the movies a kiss was almost pornography,” Vanier said.
“Now people in the movies always take their clothes off. In the past, people
sought order and truth. Now they seek experience. They want kicks. And they
always have to go further to get them.”
In Dead Man Walking, based on a real story, Vanier loves
how the nun interacts with the convicted murderer. “Nobody had ever told him
there was something beautiful in him.”
Vanier noted how even the great atheist philosopher,
Andre Malraux, predicted that, in response to the sexually libertarian 20th
century, the 21st century would become one of heightened spirituality.
“Unbridled sex does not give you satisfaction,” Vanier said.
Asked to name movies that he found particularly dangerous
from a moral or spiritual standpoint, Vanier instead opted to highlight one
that exemplifies his approach to life: Dead Man Walking. That film is based on
the true story of Catholic sister who ministered to American prisoners on death
row.
It showed how the nun (played by Susan Sarandon) was
slowly able to convince a prisoner (played by Sean Penn) that there was
something of value in him. All his life the prisoner had been told he was a
disgusting, worthless, violent man, Vanier said.
“Nobody had ever told him there was something beautiful
in him.” But the sister convinced him he was loved. And before his execution,
his last words to the sister were, `I love you.’ ”
Why, ultimately, did Vanier come to Vancouver, where
he’ll stay and teach and learn for almost two weeks? “To tell people they’re
beautiful.”
dtodd@vancouversun.com
-------------------
BLOGGED:
JULY 28 2013
CANADA-
NOVA SCOTIA- L'Arche Founder-JEAN VANIER (my hero 4ever)- honoured/MacKay steps
up 2 change abuse- no more excuses/Gay Pride honoured Nova Scotia/Africville
honoured/Mi'kmaq honoured/Korean, Vimy-troops honoured/Pope Papa-updated Aug
2014/Vanier Honoured by USA March 2015
---------------
BLOGGED:
WORDPRESS
NOVA
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Geraldine Browning shares her experiences with racism
with New Minas students
Wendy Elliott
Published on March 11, 2015
NEW
MINAS - Grade 7 student Kailyn Whynot thought Geraldine Browning was speaking
directly to her about the hurt of racism on March 4.
Growing
up in East Preston, Browning knew the best of times and the worst of times. She
has never forgotten that life is like a web.
That
is why, as artist Holly Carr painted her childhood on silk while Browning told
her life story, the young Geraldine sits atop a spider web.
Born
in 1934, the Gibson Woods resident never knew her mother’s father. He was
killed in the Halifax explosion. Her own mother went to work for the Rand
family in Kings County at the age of 14. Her parents met on the farm at apple
picking time.
In
East Preston, “everyone looked out for each other,” Browning recalled.
She
told the students at Evangeline Middle School her mother once made her return
10 cents she earned babysitting “because everyone was in the same condition.
They had no money.”
Entertainment
was checkers and dominos, she remembered.
“There
was no TV or radio. We’d visit and sit around the stove,” she said. Faith was
important.
Her
father died when she was seven.
“I
remember crying a lot,” she said. She recalled missing her Dad giving her a
portion of his lunch out of his black lunch box.
“My
mother had seven kids and she was pregnant. The government told her she could
only keep four kids.”
So
Browning was sent to live with an aunt in the same community.
“They
didn’t have slave laws in Nova Scotia, but they sent us away.”
Browning
was able to visit and she remained assured that her “mother truly loved us.”
Eventually,
her mother remarried “and we were all together again.” The family grew to 16
children. Browning said when all her own kids were grown, her mother fostered
five more.
“Who
does that?” she asked. “We grew up happy, even if we had porridge three meals a
day.”
At
the age of eight, Browning got to attend school. “The government didn’t care. I
was finally allowed go.”
Never
mind the one room schoolhouse was three miles away, she said.
“There
were no paved road and few cars. I never knew racism,” she said.
Browning
valued education because she did not want to scrub floors like her mother and
grandmother for a dollar a day, but she was willing to clean houses to earn the
$400 she was told was required for her to attend high school in Halifax.
“They
thought black kids did not need an education. I got a ride with my uncle in a
truck full of men heading to a work site,” she said.
Then,
Browning took the ferry to Halifax and walked up to Bloomfield school.
“I
did that for four years,” she said.
It
was in a home economics class that she first encountered obvious racism when no
one would touch her fingernails in a class of shared manicures.
“You’re
not touching me,” Browning was told by a fellow student. “The teacher didn’t
care. I was so humiliated, hurt and embarrassed. So isolated, so alone. I sat
there for a whole hour. Racism hurts your soul. I didn’t have the gumption to
just walk out. It bothers me to this day. It really does.”
Not
long afterward, Browning sat with a guidance counselor and told him she wanted
to be a social works.
“You
know and I know that your race will never have that job,” she was told.
He
said the same thing about nursing, but allowed it as her race did need
teachers, “to a certain grade at least.”
Browning
used her prodigious energy to train as a teacher and, later, as a nurse in
Montreal. When she came home to get married, she faced racism again on her
wedding day when she was rejected at the Mayfair Beauty Salon.
“God
made us all the same,” the mother of nine told the New Minas students. She
warned them that bullying is hurtful and called for all to become “the best
person you can be.”
Base
decisions on whether they feel right inside, she advised.
“Don’t
put a small value on yourself,” she said.
“Watch
out for traps. Pretty girls, be careful. These are different times now. It’s
not easy.”
A
long-time community advocate, Browning received an honorary Doctor of
Humanities from Acadia University last spring, but she’d rather be called
Geraldine than Dr. Browning.
---------------
ICT Success Stories
|
DIGITAL EDUCATION & LEARNING
 |
Given the limited educational resources of some countries, ICTs offer new opportunities to deliver education and training to schools, marginalized societies and people with special needs efficiently and cost-effectively. Worldwide, there are many innovative ICT-focused initiatives that seek to modernize countries' educational systems and prepare students to participate in the Information Society. Targeted efforts have been made, especially at the primary and secondary school levels. Despite the many hurdles facing developing countries as they strive to modernize their educational systems, the examples highlighted below prove that ICTs can be an effective vehicle for bridging educational divides and the wider global digital gap.
|
ICT stories from the field
Global Teenager Ghana
Success Strategy: Using ICT as an instrument of educational instruction Global Teenager Ghana has been able to facilitate structured exchanges among schools and teachers using the internet. This is to encourage inter-cultural awareness and understanding. The project uses ICTs to connect both local and international teachers and students to develop educational content, promote cross cultural learning and increase ICT literacy among the young people.
The project is targeted primarily at the youth and extends to their educators by promoting new ways of learning, new teaching methods, local capacity development and networking using ICTs.
It is expected that the project will increase awareness among stakeholders in the education sector; increase in teachers and students benefiting from ICTs for learning and teaching; improve quality of content in education dissemination in Ghanaian schools and on the long run to form as a basis for the inclusion of ICT in secondary school curricula.
The mode of deployment is via the use of a learning circle. This is an interactive internet and email platform where students and teachers liaise to research, discuss and exchange ideas thereby developing answers to learning goals. These learning circles provide interfaces in English, French, and Spanish to facilitate cross cultural learning. The project has proved very popular and the interests have been sustained. This is attributed to the global teenager website competition. it is an innovative way to train students and teachers in the act of website development. Three students and a teacher receive training in web development prior to the competition and at the end of the selection process, each school has its own website.
Project Partners: Rescue Mission Ghana, Schoolnet Africa, Thinkquest Africa.
ICTs for blind Ethiopian youths
Success Strategy: ICT equipments were donated to Wolaito Soddo boarding school for the blind. The equipments include 7 computers equipped with an adaptive software supporting Amharic – the Ethiopian official language ,and two flatbed scanners all presented by United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), International Telecommunications Union (ITU) , Adaptive Technology Center for the Blind (ATCB) and Wolaito Soddo Boarding School for the Blind (WSBSB).
The first stage of the project was the donation of the ICT equipments adapted for the visually impaired to the school. The second phase will entail the training of 5 blind teachers in the relevant computing skills to operate the special equipment adapted to people with such needs including the use of a specialized printer for producing Braille output.
The project has encouraged the staff of the school to independently produce educational materials in Braille which will be used in the course of their teaching.
The equipment donation will allow the staff and students to gain skills in ICT. Also the ability to self produce these learning materials pose a tremendous opportunity for the schools sustenance and for the benefit of other schools nearby.
Partners: United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Adaptive Technology Center for the Blind (ATCB), Wolaito Soddo Boarding School for the Blind (WSBSB)
HotCity Wireless – Philippines
Success Strategy: The HotCity wireless initiative has deployed the use of ICTs in bridging the religious divide in the Philippines. The north of the country is predominantly Christian as opposed to the Islamized south. This is an example of the dichotomy which prevails in the country. The religious friction has been fuelled by violence, hate and the Moro people clamouring for an independent Islamic state.
This initiative could not have come at a better time. The initiative brought about by a non-profit organization ‘HotCity wireless’ uses ICTs to spread a message of peace and mutual respect across the divided regions. This is done by educating children on ICT technologies and then allowing these children to interact and talk about peace.
The use of children empowered with the ICT mechanism is grounded on the notion that with the youth there is hope and perhaps a solution to violence and hate, also given the resolute character of children they may be more resolved to end hate and violence. The technology deployed is the use of line of sight wireless technology for internet connectivity.
HotCity focuses on using ICTs for global collaboration and knowledge exchange by providing the citizens with the opportunity to develop and upgrade their technology skills, share information resources and encourage youthful participation in positive global change. Through this initiative the children can see the good and beauty in other cultures.
Source: HotCity wireless
Audio Library in Arabic Literature for Palestine
Success Strategy: An audio library in Arabic literature and poetry has been launched for educational use in the West Bank and Gaza in Palestine. This audio library initiative seeks to preserve the culture and history of the Arabian people. It will also serve as education and entertainment to the radio listeners, illiterate persons, and blind persons and for educational purposes.
The recorded books which constitute the library are taken form both classical and contemporary literature. The choice of this audio format is for ease of recital and performance of new and old poetry. This is an important aspect of Arabic literature.
The library is produced in digital MP3 audio format. The initiative is seen as a promotion of the reading – listening tradition and an incentive to literary development. Already, 21 local radio stations will broadcast the library as part of their regular programming. The Palestine ministry of education is set to distribute to schools the audio literature materials which have been recorded as part of the schools curricular for educational uses.
Partners: UNESCO, the Palestinian Government, local radio stations
Sushiksha -Indiag
Success Strategy: Project Sushiksha is a functional literacy program for illiterate people, who are easy targets for swindlers and money-mongers. Illiteracy is often coupled with vulnerability, so the program is inclusive of local spiritual practices to sustain morale and fight false allurements to gain the resources to improve material development and an ethical lifestyle in family life.
Sushiksha is an educational program, especially for Women from disadvantaged backgrounds with limited accessibility to the lights of knowledge and self-reliance. The curriculum includes basic reading and writing in the local vernacular (Bengali) and basic arithmetic for accounting. In addition, greater awareness of environmental development for a sustainable quality of life is also instilled. Participants are also trained to make handicrafts using various internet resources to acquire new commercially applicable skills..
According to the project's developers, true education at the primary level should have a flavour of spirituality and should be irrespective of age, cast and creed. The project's activities focus on enhancing members’ morale by various means, including ICTs, and on urging participants to contribute to society and use resources more judiciously. The programme aims to help local communities help themselves to become self-reliant, rather than dependent.
Begun in 1996, the project has scoped a population of at least 50,000 slum dwellers of the Tollygunj slum in Kolkata, as well as 1,000 people from the remote village of Bhitargarh, Mecheda in the Midnapore district of West Bengal, India. The Centre for Adul women established in Bhitargarh in 2000 included regular cycles of continuous education and knowledge certification, contributing to the cultural and valuable content orientation of citizens from the area.
Following the encouraging experiences of this first phase, 'SUSHIKSHA' was launched in 2004 at the VIP Enclave complex. Prior to the start of the project, a survey of more than 150 residents had indicated significant mismanagement and exploitation of domestic finances due to lack of awareness of basic arithmetic. The Programme for Domestic Help aims to restore freedom of expression through the ability to make written complaints to local authorities. In this programme, training in part-time income-generating activities can be followed. Courses in time management and better performance in domestic services have been also given.
The concept of this particular project has evolved and the importance of social emancipation has been stressed through coherent activities. The programme has sought to raise social awareness on value-based life style respectful to moral values and ethics rather than simply improved living standards. Health and education for all are promoted as universal goals. .
From its beginnings in 2004, the Bhitaragarh Village project has directly enlightened 60 women and improved the social awareness of 60 families, with a membership strength of approximately 500 people. The programme has impacted the residents of this village and the surrounding area. The members of the Sushiksha family are more self-reliant and able to protect their rights and work to improve their living standards.
Target group: : Illiterate population, with special focus on women and young people
Partners: Institute for International Social Development, Morning Glory Montessori for the domestic Help of the complex residents
Source: WSIS Stocktaking Database and the website of the activity
Broadcasting in Ghana
Success Strategy: Rural Broadcasting began in October 1962. From that date, broadcasts to rural communities took on new character, with programmes designed to educate, inform and entertain rural people including farmers, fishermen, cocoa growers and market vendors broadcast in different Ghanaian Languages. Special programmes for rural women are also broadcast. These programmes have become very popular with listeners, as reflected in the many Listener Research Reports.
Rural broadcasting is a key aspect of broadcasting in Ghana, since many rural people who are the greater part of the country's population are engaged mainly in agriculture, the backbone of the country's economy. Broadcasting radio and television is a vital medium of public information. The most effective of such media is television, because it combines picture and sound and is more interesting and attractive. However, radio is the most widespread, as it is relatively cheap and can operate easily on ordinary dry cell batteries without electricity. In Africa, there are an estimated 100 radio receivers per 1000 people, but no more than 10 television receivers for the same number of people, and even those are concentrated in the towns. The picture is no different in Ghana, where there are 219 radio receivers to 1000 people compared to 13 TV receivers for the same population, which are found mostly in cities.
An important branch of Rural Broadcasting is the Rural Radio Forums. This was introduced in 1964 following a successful pilot project in Rural Radio Forum undertaken by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. Through the Rural Radio Forums, listening groups of farmers are formed in different parts of the country. With the help of GBC, farmers are encouraged to listen to broadcasts on improved methods of farming and to adopt the methods for their own use. With the availability of adequate transport and portable tape recorders, the rural broadcaster maintains close and regular contact with the rural listener, thus helping to solve social and economic problems. Staff of the Rural Department give listeners on-the-spot advice and assistance, with the collaboration of Regional Agricultural Extension Officers.
Not only do the active and energetic staff of the Rural Broadcasts Department broadcast special programmes to farmers, fishermen and other specialized groups, but they make follow-up trips to villages to ensure that people are practising what they hear on air and that the programmes have a real impact. The programmes feature agricultural news and interviews with successful farmers, as well as talks by experts on new methods of farming, nutrition, child-care and market reports.
Partners: Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), local communities and University researchers from Ghana
Malaysia: Birth of Internet Age Farming
Success Strategy: The Malaysia economic crisis in 1998 uncovered the vulnerability of the Malaysian food supply and at the same time increased the awareness of the importance of the local agricultural sector. The Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture then introduced the Third National Agricultural Policy 1998-2010 (NAP3) which stipulates various steps to develop a robust agriculture industry, to be taken not only by the government but also by individuals involved in the agricultural sector. An important aspect of any changes is the effective dissemination of information to inform and educate the participating parties especially farmers and smallholders.
Though currently various websites exist they are not applicable to the Malaysian agricultural sector due to differences in weather, crops and production techniques with language being the biggest barrier to access of foreign websites.
TaniNet as a project then started in September 1999 and is essentially an information service run as a project under the Demonstrator Application Grant Scheme or DAGS, within the ambit of the National Information Technology Council (NITC). Among the main objectives of this scheme was to introduce the Malaysian rural farming community to agricultural biotechnology through an interactive Internet-based service both in English and the Malaysian native language, Bahasa Melayu. Specific objectives included the provision of on-line information and services on agriculture and biotechnology, forums for discussion access to expert advice and trouble shooting and increase awareness.
The Taninet or “Your friendly agricultural website” is equipped with a typical set of facilities such as articles on agricultural related topics with the support of an archiving system, bulletin board, query and FAQ services and event directory. A member ship scheme exists for the interested parties. Databases have been planned that will hold up-to-date knowledge on agricultural products and experts available within the agricultural community. Finally, TaniNet also aims to provide commercial services in order to self-finance its existence. For this, TaniNet is supported with various applications within e-commerce services.
Other means to attract and retain interest include scheduled conferences to bring together the farming community into round table discussions, online tutoring and virtual tourism. Promotional initiative include a “Lucky-gift” given to the lucky TaniNet visitor and “TaniNet family of the month”, chosen from the farming community and published on the web site to encourage others to compete for this special appearance.
A case study done on this project concludes that TaniNet is also the platform for future communication and to redress the digital divide between the farming community and others. The future of internet age farming seems possible by targeting the younger generation without alienating the elders for total community development. Partnerships among the government agencies, private sectors and the community are necessary to ensure the right governance with strong financial and good management structure. Finally local content facilitates the management of incremental development through small group participation towards an informed community.
Source: The TaniNet website
Sharda – India
Success strategy: Sharda is an innovative approach to bring students to school by using ICTs for facilitating learning and increasing student's interest and motivation. The project is targeting urban poor children living in slums and LIG group community. By the end of 2006, under the project have been established 487 computer learning centres in municipal primary schools in Delhi and a number of students are now learning through computers. The network is made possible by the work of 500 education volunteers and 2'500 PCs working under Linux OS. The project aims to bridge the digital divide and build the confidence of the under-privileged communities by providing them with equal learning opportunities, in particular in math and languages.
Partners: The project is being implemented by the Municipal departments of education in Delhi, HCL Infosystems, Azim Prem Ji Foundation and Red Hat.
Source: the NICT website and an online questionnaire sent by Hajela Mukesh in October 2006
Fantsuam – Nigeria
Success strategy: One of the basic objectives of the project is to empower women in rural areas of the country to work their ways out of poverty, promoting the use of ICT in support of traditional governance in rural development, education, rural-urban-rural and rural-rural connectivity, eCommerce, IT transfer for the manufacture of tropical solar-powered computers in rural areas, accessibility.
The project’s overall goal is poverty alleviation and mobilize local human potential through a large range of bottom-up activities such as providing scholarships for ICT training and business incubation services via internet and web-based e-learning programmes for women and youths underpinned by microfinance. A parallel campains to raising awareness about health issues, mainly reproductive health, are driven with local resources. A Mobile Rural Library and ICT Service (MRLIS) works with 40 communities and provide them with access to information from regional, national and international sources. Intensive e-learning possibilities are offered to local teachers, researchers and formal and informal community leaders. An important back-up to the project is the Nigeria’s first rural Cisco networking academy, Fantsuam Academy.
Target group: Local rural communities
Partners: Fantsuam Foundation, African Development Foundation,African caucus, World Summit of the Information Society, African Stakeholders Network of the United Nations ICT Task Force, AMARC Africa, APC, Economic Commission for Africa, Free and Open Source Foundation for Africa, Global Knowledge, infoDev, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), Winrock International, Kryss – interactive theatre for young people’s advocacy rights, Mountain communities forum, University of Jos, Youth Team Against AIDS and Sickle cell Disease
Awards: Communications Prize for the Association for Progressive Communications (People-Centered ICT Policy in Africa award for 2001)
Source: http://www.fantsuam.org
REACH Afganistan (Radio Education for Afgan Children)
Success Strategy: Developed to help address the educational needs of Afghan children aged from 6 to 16 who, due to conflict, have received little or no education for many years, REACH Project is designed to bridge the considerable educational gap. It is hoped that, by listening to the weekly radio programmes on BBC World Service's Persian and Pashto Services at home, children will be exposed to Afghanistan's traditions, culture, and history, as well as receive information about present-day concerns such as mine awareness and health education. The 15-minute Our World, Our Future series are designed to broaden children's horizons and encourage them to become active learners, by giving them tasks to do during and after the programmes that will stimulate learning. Without having the role to replace formal education, the programme series are conceived to complement it and stimulate young listeners to go further in their studies as well as in their active understanding of their immediate and global environment.
REACH does not teach: it gets children to learn by awakening their curiosity, helping them understand and ask questions about the world, helping them set their lives in a wider context’, assert the organisers of the project.
All of the programme staff, writers, and actors are themselves Afghan refugees. This double identity makes possible their full implication and commitment to bring the children beyond the basic theory lessons and the usefulness of the practical advice. These actors have a greater knowledge of the real needs and aspirations of the local children and could target this specific demand through relevant action and broader knowledge. Aware that the intended audience tends to have low level of literacy, the programmes are designed to be effective uniquely on a basis of a single listening comprehension.
Target group: children, youth
Partners: UK Department for International Development, UNICEF and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
Nunga IT – Australia
Success Strategy: Nunga IT is bridging the digital divide for Aboriginal youth in the poorer western suburbs of Adelaide, Australia, by helping them to acquire IT and multimedia skills in a conducive learning environment.
Over 2,500 people, 95 per cent of them being youths between the ages of 9 and 18, have benefited from the computer-based education programme in the last three years since the project's inception. They have learnt how to create web pages, many of which are posted on the project website, as well as animation, short film and music production. All this has helped improve the young Aboriginals' sense of identity and self-worth by giving them ownership of their work.
This ICT facility allows both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth to work comfortably together in an environment that supports them at school. It has also succeeded in attracting the interest of others who were disinclined to study and appeared to be moving away from the public education system.
Using ICT, Nunga IT has also improved health standards among Aboriginal people through its "health by stealth" approach. Key messages about means to better health standards are embedded in each of its lesson plans.
Target group:Aboriginal children and youth
Partners: Government of South Australia
Awards: GKP Youth Award 2003 - Finalist: Education
For more information:see "ICT for Development Success Stories: Youth, Poverty, Gender" - A Knowledge for Development Publication Series of the Global Knowledge Partnership here
Boats and River Networks to Deliver Access to Information Technology - Bangladesh
Success Strategy:Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, a Bangladesh NGO, has adopted a pioneering approach to bridging the digital divide and its commitment to providing free public access to computers and the Internet. Through the use of indigenous boats converted into mobile libraries, schools, and the Mobile Internet Educational Units on Boats program, Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha provides educational services, access to technology, and computer training to poor communities in a Northern Bangladesh watershed. The boats, which anchor at remote villages, rely on generators or solar energy and mobile phones for Internet access.
Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha is dedicated to alleviating poverty among the poorest people in the Nandakuja-Atrai-Boral Watershed, serving 86,500 families and an area covering over 240 kilometers crossed by thousands of rivers, tributaries and streams. The Access to Learning Award will enable the organization to sustain its services and expand programs to meet an increasing demand.
“All our program activities are concentrated in and around the rivers using a familiar vehicle for people to approach technology. Our boat libraries are crucial to the progress of the villages along the river basins,” said Abul Hasanat Mohammed Rezwan, executive director of Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha and founder of the boat project.
Relying on skilled volunteers, Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha educates men, women, and children on issues ranging from agricultural practices and to micro enterprise and literacy. Farmers learn about strategies for productive and sustainable farming and the ecological hazards of pesticides. Throughout the year, they are able to connect with educators via onboard e-mail and check current farm prices online to remain competitive in the local market.
“Seeing a computer, let alone touching it, was beyond our wildest imagination,” said Abdul Azad, a farmer who travels an hour to the docked boat library from the remote village of Kalinagar. Students who would otherwise be unable to attend school during the monsoon season continue their education through the year using the libraries’ onboard field staff. With literacy rates in Bangladesh at only 42 percent, Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha is making a significant impact on educating young people, especially girls. In fact, over 70 percent of the program’s beneficiaries are women. In a highly competitive job market coupled with pervasive poverty, student participants are eager to learn technological skills they hope will translate to a career later on.
The project is intended to extend further even if government subsidies are not available. Over the next five years, the program hopes to double its capacity.
Target group: Local communities, with a special focus on women and children
Partners: Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha (SSS)
For more detailed information:see the SSS' website
Source: the Council on Library and Information Resources (Clir) website
SchoolNet
Success strategy: Between 1998-2001, Thailand’s SchoolNet project connected over 4,000 schools to the internet, and the Government plans to make another 1,000 schools Internet-enabled by the end of 2002. Of the total 5,000 wired schools, all secondary and 1,500 primary institutions have been connected by the end of 2002. All of Thailand’s universities are already connected to the internet. The Telephone Organization of Thailand (TOT) provides free internet access to all schools, leaving them only with the cost of a local phone connection (three Baht per call).
Source: the SchoolNet website
Radio Education in Columbia
Success strategy: In the remote village of Sutatenza, Columbia, an idealist amateur radio operator named Jose Joaquin Salcedo Guarin (known as “Salcedo”) set out to improve the lives of the village’s 8,000 residents. Realizing that the majority of people in this and many other small Columbian towns were illiterate, Salcedo crafted a plan in 1947 to use radio transmissions to provide basic education instruction to these isolated villagers. After gaining an operating license from the Government in 1949, and winning praise from the Columbian president, Salcedo formally launched Radio Sutatenza. The first of its kind, Radio Sutatenza provided instruction, inter alia, on health, basic arithmetic and reading. Salcedo’s vision was to give rural Columbians the necessary skills to help themselves. By utilizing the wide reach of radio transmissions, Radio Sutatenza was able to take advantage of the economies of scale, while helping to develop untapped human capacities throughout the country. Over the course of 43 years, Radio Sutatenza branched out to other rural Columbian villages, training over 25,000 people throughout the country. In 1990, the pioneering station was sold to Caracol Network of Columbia. Information was gathered from the Rockefeller Foundation’s comprehensive global study on Participatory Communication for Social Change.
For more information: see the Rockfound Foundation website
Public Domain Information Centers
Success Strategy: The Public Domain Information Centers Programme (united and extended Public Legal Information Centers Programme and Public Business Information Centers Programme) is aimed to create the network of community centers for free public access to the different kind of public domain information, e.g. legal, consumer, business, ecological, educational, etc. across the Russia and CIS countries. The website of the programme has till now connected more than 1350 telecenters throughout the CIS region and provides useful information about ongoing and forthcoming initiatives related to the dissemination of legal information concerning all aspects of life.
Partners: UNESCO IFAP National Committee of Russia, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Russia, Ministry of Culture and Mass Media of Russia, Special Communications Service, Garant Co., Ltd, Kodeks Co., Ltd, Konsultant Plus Co., Ltd
The WorLD Project in Uganda
Success strategy: In 1996, Uganda became the first country to participate in the World Bank’s World Links for Development (WorLD) project. Designed to help new generations learn about world cultures, encourage school-to-school project collaboration (both inside and outside of Uganda), and serve as an information channel for teachers around the world, WorLD Uganda has connected over 32 schools to the global information network, with more than 1,920 teachers and 30,000 students currently participating. WorLD also helped to create SchoolNet Uganda, the country’s first NGO dedicated to ICT-based education. In a more recent pioneering project, WorLD is also participating in a bilateral initiative with Schools Online and the Gates Foundation to use VSATs to connect 15 rural schools to the internet. Similar to ICT-focused education projects in other LDCs, Uganda’s Internet-enabled schools are used for community “after-hours” IT training, which bolsters the overall understanding of the ways that new technologies can empower all Ugandans.
For more detailed information: http://www.worldbank.org/worldlinks/english/html/uganda.htm
Crossing Borders - East, West, Southern Africa and Central Africa
Success Strategy: Crossing Borders is a cross-cultural distance learning scheme linking young African writers to experienced UK mentors and developing their work through email tutorials. We try to get them to hear, identify and develop their voices as writers. We operate in Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Southern Africa, Ghana and Cameroon. Over 100 African writers are enrolled, working in poetry, fiction and children’s literature with around 30 mentors drawn from a wider range of cultural backgrounds in the UK.
The website of the initiative is a kind of a crossroads on the information super-highway, which allows participants to do that uniquely human thing - talk. The website has also been developing long-term resources. The first step is a feature in which contemporary writers from varied cultural backgrounds discuss the genesis, technique and cultural context of a piece of their own creative work. Instead of a pedagogically narrow or orthodox approach to writing, mentors and project people create a flexible and heterogeneous resource reflecting a multiplicity of literary practice and cultural influence. The purpose is to publish further the work of participants themselves, creating a sense of celebratory exchange across Africa.
The programme operates in Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. This project draws on the creation of cross-cultural mentoring relationships using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to bridge geographical, digital and mental divides.
The cross-cultural developmental dialogue between Africa and the English-speaking world through writers from both horizons is supposed to stimulate the sharing of thinking, values and solutions facilitating mutual understanding and complementarity. This will has been implemented through dedicated online information technology facilities, which will open up shared creative and cultural space. The emphasis is on building a new international community of writers, on new work for a new world.
Target group: Young African writers
Partners:The project is funded by the British Council in London, designed and managed by the Department of English and Creative Writing at Lancaster University and enabled by a network of British Council offices in Africa.
Habitat Learning Centre – India
Success Strategy: Habitat Learning Centre (HLC) is a multi-purpose learning centre running a wide variety of programmes to uplift underprivileged children and facilitators working in the slums of Delhi, India. It aims to do this by bringing the potential of IT to underprivileged women and children who have never been exposed to computers and the internet. ICT in this instance has been used to get children off the streets and back into schools by making learning fun. Many children have been inspired to re-enter formal schooling systems after their programme at HLC.
Extensive use of the internet has allowed HLC to be in constant contact with all its partner NGOs, and made co-ordination of various programmes very simple. To date HLC has partnered with 29 NGOs, trained 209 facilitators and 731 children in the basics of computer literacy and computer-applied skills. This project has already been replicated in two areas where partner NGOs operate, carrying forward HCL's objective of bridging digital divides and educating women and children on the use of ICT.
Target group: underprivileged children, youth, women and members of local communities
Partners: Habitat Learning Centre (HLC) in partnership with 29 NGOs
Awards: GKP Youth Award 2003 - Finalist: Education.
For more information: see "ICT for Development Success Stories: Youth, Poverty, Gender" - A Knowledge for Development Publication Series of the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP)
I Educate – El Salvador
Success Strategy: The programme I Educate (Programa Educo) has as its purpose the provision of educational services to communities in the economically poorest rural areas of El Salvador with large deficits in educational coverage through participation of the community.
Educate focuses on providing basic educational services by applying specific teaching methodologies to the problems of desertion, absenteeism, and low school population. The central strategy here is social mobilisation of specific key community groups. Parents, populations with a gap in schooling, teachers, principals, students and unemployed, are full participants in the educational processes of their community. The "Teleaprendizaje" for instance is focused on providing the third rural cycle with technological resources.
I Educate seeks to reach children and youth, especially girls, between the ages of 4 and 22 years who live in rural areas. Particular components of the initiative are geared toward children with disabilities, the illiterate population, and children that must repeat grade levels.
The organisers claim that main impacts of the programme are both increased access to education and educational services on the part of the community as well as improvement in the quality of education through the contracting of trained teachers and through books that are reflective of and harmonious with the reality of the country.
Partners: Departments of Education, Estate, Work and Health; World Bank; Banco Internacional de Reconstrucción y Fomento (BIRF); Government of El Salvador; and rural communities
Source: see The Communication Initiative website and Pasantía Internacional sobre el Programa Educo website (Spanish only)
Providing Information Technology Employment Training to People with Disabilities
Success Strategy: According to current estimates, roughly 18 percent of those living in Central America have some form of disability, as compared to an average of 10 percent in developed nations. The main causes are war, land mines, natural disasters, and poverty, which contributes to increased malnutrition and the emergence of easily preventable, disabling diseases. “I am blind since I was born and I thank you because this is the first time I am able to send an email by myself working with the computer,” wrote Jose Reyes, age 22, in a message to staff at the Trust for the Americas, a Washington, DC-based, nonprofit organization affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS). Jose is one of more than 200 individuals with disabilities who received training in information technology as part of an IT employment-training project launched.
Such training is now opening up windows of opportunity for people with disabilities in four Central American countries—Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. With the goal of sustaining long-term supports for the disabled in the region, the project set out to enhance the employment prospects of individuals with disabilities, while strengthening the capacity of local NGOs to provide the disabled with ongoing IT-related job training. A website was in Spanish was develop a website linking disability organizations throughout the region. The training provided exceeded The Trust’s initial expectations. In all, more 130 individuals within 44 NGOs received instruction in how to train those with disabilities for employment. In addition, 200 individuals with disabilities, 170 of them women, received direct IT employment training. Equipping disabled women in particular with workplace skills was an important goal of the project given their largely overlooked needs. With a knowledge infrastructure now in place, the project’s impact is being sustained as those NGOs that received training pass on their knowledge within local NGO networks. Also fundamental to sustaining the project’s impact is a new website—the Virtual Disabilities Resource. A specialized ICT Centre and additional web resources have being developed in Spanish to provide those with disabilities and their advocates with vital information on current laws and best practices, while creating a vehicle through which experts worldwide may share ideas.
Partners: Trust for the Americas (affiliated with the Organization of American States (OAS)), World Bank, eBay Foundation, Premier Programming, Fuhril - Honduras, Ruscitti
Source: The World Bank website
Wiring Secondary Schools in Indonesia
Success strategy: Despite efforts from the government and private sector, less than one percent of Indonesia’s population has access to the internet, and the majority people that do have access are located in larger cities. However, the Indonesian internet Service Provider Association (APJII) has launched a dynamic effort to bring together public and private actors to connect 2,000 secondary schools to the internet by the year 2000. Working with the Ministry of Education, Oracle and Cisco, APJII successfully connected about 1,800 schools by 2000, resulting in more than a half a million new internet users.
For more detailed information: see http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/cs/indonesia/material/IDN%20CS.pdf
Workforce Transition Project, Cisco Networking Academy - Argentina
Success Strategy: This ambitious project started in 2000 had allowed 3,200 Cisco Networking Academy students and the 60 instructors design the network of more than 40,000 schools in Argentina over a 24-month period. The project is expected to improve ICT qualifications and provide better opportunities for teachers and students in the country.
The Cisco Networking Academy Program, a 560-hour, eight semester curriculum teaches students how to design, build and maintain computer networks. The program started in Argentina in March 1999, but in spite of its short life, the program has been growing rapidly. The Regional Academy, which is responsible for recruiting up to ten Local Academies, took special care to expand its Local Academy activities not only in Buenos Aires, but throughout Argentina.
"This project, given its magnitude and scope requires logistics that commit human, technical and institutional resources of the highest level," said Jorge Mantovani, general manager of EDUC.AR. However, it is estimated the Argentina government will save $25 million, equivalent to the costs of surveying and designing the networks for all 40,000 schools. Without Academy student involvement, the national authorities would have called for international bids, with the consequential administrative and financial costs implied.
EDUC.AR is the first state-owned internet company that will provide users with access to electronic resources in education and education-related subjects. EDUC.AR is an ambitious project developed by the Argentina government, will focus on national content and will be used as a tools at all levels of the education system. In this way, Cisco will be the building block for access to electronic networks.
Target group: Schools and Youth
Partners: Government of Argentina, Cisco Systems Inc., EDUC.AR,
Talking Through Keyboards
Success strategy: In an effort to encourage global cross-cultural communications, California-based Schools Online in the United States launched a collaborative project between students in the United States and Egypt. Equipped with computers and training from School Online, students in Watsonville, California were able to use the internet and other ICTs to communicate with their counterparts in Giza, Egypt. The experimental project, which began in January 2002, is an effective method to broaden the horizons of a new generation of global citizens. Srila LaRochellle, Director of Business Development for Schools Online, said, “Through online collaborative projects, children become more aware of diversity and are more understanding of other cultures.”
For more detailed information: see Talking through keyboards case study
Giri Pragna
Success Strategy: Giri Pragna means enriching tribal knowledge. ‘Tribals’ are aboriginals in their respective regions, miles away from civilization. Governments and Private Organizations presume that providing normal schooling is enough. ‘Giri Pragna’ Project is based on the concept of the IT Visionary Sri Rajendra Narendra Nimje that if opportunity is provided, tribals too can succeed. Giri Pragna provides opportunities to tribal children in 50 school complexes covering Class VI to X, 10,000 children per annum for computer education and Computer Aided Education and teacher’s training in a systematic way.
Computer Education syllabus can be changed as per the need every year which will ensure tuning with time. The broad band revolution is due in few years in India and the connectivity will change the methods of harnessing and evaluation of learning and teaching methods. Trained teachers during the initial period of three years will act as resource persons to cover hundreds of schools in Government sectors in coming years. Project is conceived as a continuous educational initiative and funds are provided for three years in advance. Many Non Resident Indians have shown interest to expand the project to other schools. Giri Pragna will cover all tribal families for computer education by 2008.
Partners: ITDA, Khammam owns the project who is the prime body for tribal development in Andhra Pradesh State. It has 50 School complexes in Khammam district for imparting primary and secondary education for tribal children. Project has tapped the resources of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), a Government of India’s initiative to strengthen education in the country. ITDA provided hardware, software, CBT material, furniture at each school complex. Trained computer professionals are deployed to provide training to students and teachers in all school complexes.
Source: The Stockholm Challenge website
For more information: see the website of the organization
Rainforest Literacy Project – Papua New Guinea
Success Strategy: The Rainforest Literacy Project is based on the idea that laying the groundwork for genuine informed participation is a literacy challenge. Using radio programmes and printed materials designed for semi-literate audiences, this initiative addresses the local need for land management skills and informed land management decisions. According to organisers, Papua New Guinea's land groups have a long tradition of participating in local and regional consensus-building forums. The goal is to bring technical information and skills-building support to land groups within the existing system of community self-governance so that they might make informed decisions and take effective action to ensure the survival of the rainforests.
The project is based on a communication strategy called "Multichannel Learning", which is based on research that shows that people learn in various ways and through various means, and that the chances for successful learning are improved when more than one learning channel is used. Multichannel Learning reinforces its messages over and over through multiple media and in different settings. At the core of the project is a series of 'interactive radio instruction' programmes that are broadcast during scheduled meetings of the land group forum. In the village of Itokama, for example, representatives of 10 local tribal groups of the Managalas Plateau gather for strategy meetings focussed on how to manage and conserve their part of the rainforest, which is under threat from loggers and land developers. The meetings are centred around listening to a radio programme in Pidgin English. The programme and meeting's guiding principle is 'kuae-fie-nami' ('speak and understand each other'), meaning that the answers to land development problems lie in dialogue rather than in one-way initiatives.
Target group: local community leaders and members, youth
Partners: EDC, PwM. Funded by the Norwegian Rainforest Foundation
Women Take Up the Challenge to Accelerate Jordan's Economy
Success Strategy: Although 48 percent of Jordan's population is female, only 11.9 percent of the women are economically active. While female illiteracy rates have dropped considerably in the past few decades, most students still gravitate toward studies in the arts and humanities rather than computer and engineering related fields.
This project towards "Achieving E-Quality in the IT Sector" is targeting to lessen the gender gap existing in the ICT Sector by teaming efforts to build women's technical and professional capabilities. The intention was to give women enough of an edge to compete effectively in a male-dominated ICT market, and to enable them to secure stable, well-paying jobs.
The project had five strategies:
- Explore opportunities and challenges in the ICT market and policy environment
- Sensitise existing policies
- Build women's capacity
- Link participants to the local and regional ICT job market
- Raise awareness on the importance of ICT
"People who think of technology only in terms of machinery may think that computers are in danger of dehumanizing education. But information and computer technology can open a world to our students. For them up-to-date information and knowledge are just a click away," says Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah.
Launched in January 2002, the project has established 10 Cisco Networking Academies across the country. More than 600 students have enrolled in the course to date, 66 percent of which are women. These 345 women are now training to achieve the globally recognized Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification. The initiative seeks to empower women by imparting technical knowledge with demand-driven networking skills and ensuring a gender sensitive policy environment, giving women a competitive edge in the job market. The program attempts to function as an equalizer by addressing issues of gender inequality in the IT workforce. Graduates of the program will be linked up to the job market with a job placement program established in conjunction with the public and the private sectors in Jordan.
In the awareness-raising component, the project succeeded in creating exposure to the project activities and objectives and raised awareness on the importance of including women in the ICT sector.
The project's success has attracted interest from NGOs and women's organizations in other countries in the Middle East. As a result, this Jordanian pilot project will be replicated in Egypt and Lebanon in addition to other countries in the region.
Under this program UNIFEM has created a database, which will evaluate the ICT sector in Jordan from a gender perspective. There is gender bias among the ICT strategies and an ICT bias among female-development related policies both of which are disruptive for the economy and the women of Jordan. The database will be used as a tool to monitor and assess policies and practices identified as being a hindrance to the employment of women. The findings of this research was discussed in "E-Quality in the ICT Sector" international forum held on the 15th of October 2002.The doors to a better life and a better future have now been opened for many.
"In a country where women make up almost half the population, they have the power to make a difference, when given the opportunities and the environment. We congratulate all Jordanian women who are now part of the Cisco Networking Academy Program and we are proud to be working with the Government of Jordan and UNIFEM to make the vision of the leaders and the people of Jordan a reality," says Erin Walsh, Manager, International Strategy and Partnerships, Cisco Worldwide Education. The project also addresses Cisco's commitment to the Least Developed Countries (LDC) initiative through strategic partnerships, announced at the G-8 Summit in July of 2000.
Target group: Young Female Professionals, women from low-income groups, Government and public institutions, NGOs, schools, universities and the private sector
Partners: Government of Jordan, Cisco Systems, Inc., the Cisco Foundation, UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women)
Awards: GKP Gender and ICT Award 2003 - Finalist: Multi-Stakeholder Initiative (Global/Regional)
Hungary’s SuliNet
Success Strategy: Launched in 1996 by the Ministry of Culture and Education, the SuliNet portal (now Irisz-SuliNet) was designed as a central repository for public education materials for teachers, students and parents throughout Hungary. With an initial budget of USD11 million (1997) and sanctioned by an Amendment to the Public Education Act, Irisz-SuliNet has proved to be a sustainable and productive response to the ever-changing decentralized public education system in Hungary. On the technical development side, the portal helps teachers develop their IT skills, including infrastructure basics, network planning, organizing and implementation. On the social side, it provides users with an e-mail account, list services, a newsletter and a variety of other cultural and social development tools. With more than 2,000 active institutions in its network, Irisz-SuliNet has connected all of Hungary’s secondary schools and more than 20 per cent of its primary schools to the internet.
For further information: see http://www.sulinet.hu
Building Digital Libraries in Africa
Success Strategy: As part of its intergovernmental Information for All Programme (IFAP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designed and implemented a project to disseminate information residing in the public domain to underprivileged segments of ten African countries (seven in Sahel and three in East Africa). With the goal of collecting and capturing local content in digital format, UNESCO worked with national and sub-regional government agencies, civil society and NGOs to create CD-ROM anthologies containing educational and training documents relating to agriculture, history, science and technology and government, among other subjects. 
The grassroots programme was designed to raise awareness among Africans about the availability of public information that can be used to help them better their socio-economic positions, while teaching them the skills necessary to sustain the project over the long-term. Using Greenstone’s Digital Library software, the project organizers generated over 1,300 localized documents to be distributed throughout marginalized segments of society in the 10 participating countries. Bundling the some 2,000 CD-ROMs with PCs and printers, the project administrators worked with local distribution centres (i.e. libraries, telecentres) and grassroots organizers to educate the public about how to use this newly created content to their advantage.
The digital libraries project in Africa proved that ICTs, specifically CD-ROMs, present a cost-effective method to share information in the public domain. By keeping information channels open between all levels of society, and making the content contextually and culturally relevant, more people throughout the developing world will be able to participate in the global information society. Moreover, given that the project relied on local content and basic digitization technologies this pilot project is scalable and transferable to other marginalized groups around the world.
For more detailed information: see the UNESCO website
World Schoolhouse Project - Dir, Pakistan
Success strategy: Since 2002, the World Schoolhouse Project is committed to ensuring that girls and women in Pakistan rural areas learn to read. In order to help underwrite schooling, new schools are established and equipped, and various facilities for boosting the teaching competencies of the school personnel are made available. Target subject matters are basic mathematics and English. Recently, ICT basic skills have been also integrated in the training modules after rise of awareness of the importance of the empowerment resources available through internet. The initial programme ahs broaden its focus from increasing access to primary education to effective literacy, including e-literacy.
For people living in Dir communities, the success of the project is obvious. Before its beginning, by lack of awareness and monopoly of the traditional law, in the area there were no schools for girls, and a tremendous majority of autodidact teachers were practicing. At present, the schoolgirls ratio is continuously growing and trained educators provide pedagogically consistent learning programmes, inter alia through the use of ICTs. A special attention is given to the quality of schooling.
The project has been implemented by the Developments in Literacy (DIL) and Khwendo Kor (KK) under the auspices of NetAid. Due to the highly satisfactory outcome, the project concept has been replicated in many other provinces of Pakistan as well as in other emerging countries as Afghanistan, Peru, Colombia, Zimbabwe and Haiti.
Partners: Developments in Literacy (DIL), Khwendo Kor (KK) under the auspices of NetAid
New Home, New Life - Afghanistan
Success Strategy: The Canadian International Development Agency supports this radio soap opera on everyday Afghan life, by contributing to the expenses in drama broadcasting and production, monitoring and evaluation, educational features and published materials.
Partners: Canadian International Development Agency - CIDA
Source: WSIS Stocktaking Database
@campus Mexico: Online Learning Program for Public Servants
Success Strategy: Institute for Connectivity in the Americas has implemented an interactive portal for public policy makers, entrepreneurs, community activists, and digital pioneers dedicated to using ICTs to shrink the digital divide in the Americas.
@Campus is an online learning program for public servants, helping to consolidate civil service reform in Mexico. The project provides civil servants with an Internet-based education portal offering courses and information on certification. ICA’s portal provides the project with complementary resources for knowledge creation & capacity building. These include case studies, projects and funding criteria, news articles, events, and virtual discussion groups on themes.
With financial support from ICA and the expertise of the Canadian School of Public Service, Mexico instituted a pilot phase where 800 public servants have received training. The goal is for up to 47,700 public employees to have access to the e-learning platform, and for the project to be a reference project for future rollout in the region.
Partners: Institute for Connectivity in the Americas (ICA), Secretaría de la Función Pública (SFP)
Arabic Language for non-native Speakers – Global Campus - Egypt
Success Strategy: The Arabic for foreigners distance learning program is presented by the Arab Academy which is an educational portal that aims at teaching Arabic language and Islam to Muslims around the world. The Arab Academy offers a comprehensive learning package for non-native speakers that guide them through all Arabic language levels. It also offers Islamic educational lessons that may be of benefit to both native and non-native speakers of Arabic. Hence, the Arab Academy addresses the needs of all Muslims: native and non-native speakers of Arabic.
The Arab Academy is one of the first site to offer a comprehensive professional Arabic language program. Any education program is based on a curriculum. The Arab Academy has invested heavily in the development of its own interactive curriculum Copyrights are its own. The curriculum was tested, evaluated and used by students and teachers for over three years.
The programme embraces different training modules such as modem Standard Arabic, Quran Arabic, Hadith, Syirah, Arabic for Christians, Colloquial Arabic, Business Arabic, Language & Culture, Arabic Songs, Story Telling-Culture, Story Telling-Religion (Muslim & Christian).
Target group: broad audience
Partners: The Information Technology and Software Engineering Centre, The Arab Academy, The Arab Cyber Education (ACE)
E-Link Americas: Satellite Connectivity Project - Latin America and the Caribbean
Success Strategy: E-Link Americas is a landmark project aimed at connecting the remote and underserved areas in the Americas using ICTs for social and economic development. E-Link Americas aggregates demand and creates regional infrastructures to offer low-cost, high-speed internet service for social development. Satellite and terrestrial wireless technologies are used to deliver affordable, financially viable, internet access to municipalities, universities, schools, hospitals, telecentres and other community-based organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Existing infrastructure are leveraged using wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) technology, to extend access to businesses and homes.
E-Link's services are based on high-speed internet access through VSAT terminals, which are connected to a satellite gateway in Canada using the Ku band. Each access point can be extended using Wi-Fi technology. E-Link's services are delivered using a broadband VSAT satellite Ku-band hub, low cost digital remote terminals and local terrestrial wireless links to provide uniform access to internet telecommunications resources.
E-Link services are managed by in-country partners generating local employment. In order to provide service to the entire region of Latin America and the Caribbean at affordable costs, E-Link Americas works with Local Service Partners. Local Service Partners act on behalf of E-Link Americas in each country or region. Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru. In addition, when a local organization subscribes to E-Link high-speed internet service, E-Link provides all the necessary equipment, including small satellite dishes and high-speed access devices.
The concept of using open standards such as DVB-RCS and Wi-Fi and the capability of purchasing locally manufactured products and obtaining local support are key differentiators that set E-Link apart from other service solutions.
Partners: E-Link Americas supported by Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the World Bank, the OAS, the Institute for Connectivity in the Americas (ICA), and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
Thailand: IT Training for Inmates
Success strategy: Inmates are given the opportunity to learn about modern technology and acquire skills in demand by the labour market that they can use when they complete their sentence. With the skills and work experience acquired while serving their sentence, many former inmates have successfully found computer related jobs and earn sufficient income to support their family. Their lives and standards of living have changed for the better. This reflects the project’s success and the immeasurable benevolence of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in providing the opportunity and a new life for these individuals.
For more detailed information: see IT for Poverty Reduction: Sample cases from Thailand [PDF] report published by the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center
Rebuilding a Nation on ICTs
Success Strategy: After the grueling years of war, let alone telecommunications, virtually no infrastructure existed in Afghanistan. With the need for Afghans to rebuild infrastructure and restore a knowledge base in all sectors, access to communications is considered a vital factor for rebuilding of this nation. ITU is committed to help the rebuilding of Afghanistan with a contribution of over half a million dollars. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has joined forces with ITU to provide experts to Afghanistan on a cost-sharing basis.
UNDP in partnership with Cisco have achieved a milestone in terms of developing human resource considering they helped train women to be among first computer specialists trained in Afghanistan.
The University of Kabul's new Cisco Networking Academy, earned the first industry-standard certification for computer networking ever offered in the country. Six women and eleven men graduated in April this year. Considering the Taliban regime, and its radical interpretation of Islamic law, this event certainly was a milestone.
Three new classes are to begin at the university next month. The first all-women class is scheduled to begin in June, and is to be taught by women trained under the UNDP and Cisco Systems programme.
The migration of many of the skilled labour force during the past two decades created a void, especially in the fieldof ICTs. Now that Afghanistan has the tools to help themselves, things are beginning to look hopeful. With the new graduates available, Afghanistan will have the skills to build a networking system on its own.
UNDP and network hardware vendor Cisco Systems launched the academy last October to create a core of Afghan specialists who can help move the country onto the digital highway. Cisco Systems trained the Afghan teachers and provided networking equipment for the academy. UNDP supported the training, supplied computer hardware and forged the partnership with the university.
For more information:see the Cisco website
Computadores para Educar - Colombia
Success Strategy:The Computers for Schools program was founded in 2000, and in its first three years of operation it has provided 19,223 refurbished computers from Colombian public and private companies to 2,117 schools. The program aims to establish a permanent flow of computers to public schools in all regions of the country, offering new generations and communities access to better opportunities for education, knowledge and progress. There are estimations that the technology and training program is benefiting approximately 750,000 youth from across Colombia. Computers for Schools is based on the successful Canadian initiative with the same name, and aims to become a long-term program in Colombia.
Uganda Connect
Success strategy: Originally intended as a computer literacy project, Uganda Connect has evolved into a key source of information and technology transfers to this less developed, yet potentially ICT-friendly country. When the project administrators realized the benefits of access to the internet during a forum on the internet sponsored by ITU, the project slowly became more comprehensive. Rather than simply training students and teachers to use computers, Uganda Connect set out to empower them by giving them access to the internet. In collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP), Uganda Connect decided to pilot a project to connect rural communities through high-frequency (HF) radios and a special radio modem. In 1997, the first HF-based e-mail pilot project was launched in Arua, a rural village about 500 kilometers north of the capital, Kampala. The pilot e-mail project was a success, and clearly demonstrated that HF radio could serve as a viable connection technology for underdeveloped societies. As an illustration of the project’s success, after the first year approximately six of the original trainees were helping volunteers teach new students how to use computers and the internet. Moreover, through the deployment of ICTs throughout the Ministry of Education's headquarters, Uganda Connect has connected several dozen government officials to the global info-communication network.
For more detailed information: see http://www.uconnect.org
Background materials: see the ITU’s Wired in Uganda case study
Tunis Virtual University (VUT)
Success Strategy: The Virtual University of Tunis (VUT) was created in 2002, abiding by the policy framework of modernization of higher education and its accessibility to all Tunisians. The creation of VUT witnesses the development of ITT in Tunisia and the evolution of higher education to make effective use of digital multimedia technologies contribute to a stronger knowledge economy, and a better trained learning society.
The mission objectives of the of VUT are to:
- Spread distance-education and make it accessible to all qualified people Merge all initiatives in the area of education based on digital multimedia technologies
- Foster a continuing learning environment with the vision of building a learning society Upgrade the skills of young professionals through continuing education and training
- Address the challenge of the steady growth of students in higher education by progressively spreading distance education in priority disciplines to cover 20% of the university curriculum online by 2006-2007
- Promote equal opportunities in higher education to all qualified people including non-traditional students Participate in widening access to higher education and at the same time improve the quality of education
- Spread continuing open education by making use of advanced digital multimedia technologies and covering the education of part of incoming future students enrolled in higher education institutions.
The Virtual University of Tunis provides open distance education using multimedia technologies to cover various educational levels: university and college courses, continuing education, life-long education.
A first pilot experiment of distance education in partnership with the Directorate of Higher Institutes of Technological Studies started in February 2003. The experiment covers two modules at an introductory level in Business Administration. These modules are General Introduction to Management and French.
This experiment will expand to cover other courses, disciplines, and programmes offered by the Higher Institutes of Technological Studies, and will hopefully contribute to the creation of new opportunities for many Tunisians. By complementing and actively sharing resources with other academic institutions, the VUT is committed to further improve both the quality of education and the variety of disciplines available. On the basis of large and effective partnerships, the VUT is on the way of implementing a modern and efficient distance education.
Partners: Ministry of Higher Education of Tunisia, Tunis Virtual University, Higher Institutes of Technological Studies, Directorate of Higher Institutes of Technological Studies, Georgia Tech (USA), Agence Universitaire de la francophonie (AUF), agreements are planned with other Arab, European, and North American Universities
Awards: Winner of the national contest Best Digital Content and Applications - Tunisia 2005, Category e-Learning Nominee for the WSIS-Award 2005, Category e-Learning
Community Access to Broadband at Schools – Turkey
Success Strategy: Turkish Ministry of Education developed this project to provide fast, robust and continuous internet access to computer laboratories at 42,500 primary and secondary schools and Ministerial institutions.
Further efforts are being deployed to adapt and use efficiently this digital opportunity, which is exclusive in many rural districts. Previously, rooms are usually not functional after schools hours. Therefore necessary arrangements have been implemented, such as staff assignments, security measures, etc. in order to allow local communities to enjoy broadband access. This would enable a broad range of people, including those who cannot afford to have a PC, to access to the internet and help narrowing the digital divide in Turkey.
Target group: Schools, pupils, youth and rural community members in Turkey
Partners: Turkish Ministry of Education
Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative
Success Strategy: The Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI) was established in recognition of the vital role that education plays in creating long-term, sustainable development and how Information and Communication Technologies for Education (ICT4E) is a catalyst for improved education, community empowerment and socio-economic growth. GeSCI works to help achieve the UN Millennium development goals.
We believe that improving education is a cornerstone of sustainable socio-economic development and a key mechanism to enabling people to share in a country's prosperity. With an estimated 350 million school-aged children not attending school and more than 800 million illiterate adults worldwide, the challenge is great and the stakes are high, says Stephen Nolan, Executive Director, GeSCI.
Developing regions can derive major benefits from the creation and implementation of rational, directed e-schools strategies. But it is crucial that, from the beginning, these strategies be formulated using a complete and sustainable approach, so that the resulting systems can be deployed with maximum impact on education and community development.
GeSCI’s role is two-fold. Firstly, GeSCI concentrates on facilitating and supporting ICT4E initiatives working with the local Ministries of Education and ICT in developing countries. Specifically, GeSCI firstly provides assistance with planning of ICT4E initiatives, providing knowledge and experience in the drafting of national plans so that each country can take ownership of a strategic and attainable plan.
Secondly, GeSCI also convenes global partners, so that needs identified can be successfully matched by resources, be they donors or other private sector entities who can provide expertise, technical, physical and financial support. GeSCI has initially focused its work on four priority countries, Namibia, Ghana, Bolivia and the state of Andhra Pradesh in India. Currently, work is progressing in each partner country with each working towards its own ICT4E strategy. In addition to these countries, it is also working with the Jordanian Education Initiative on a codification, analytical and problem-solving exercise in Jordan and with SchoolNet Africa’s One Million PCs campaign.
Target group: Children, youth, communities in developing countries
Partners: UN ICT Task Force, the Governments of Sweden, Switzerland, Canada and Ireland (GeSCI)
Cape Verde: Mandatory ICT exposure
Success strategy: In a 1998 Resolution, the Cape Verde Government stipulated that all school children should have some interaction with a computer by the time they reach their fifth year of learning, and that they should receive basic ICT training during their seventh year. Further, the Resolution highlighted the importance of distance education as an additional and complementary element of education.
One of the key educational and training initiatives in the country is the Projecto de Consolidação e Modernização da Educação e Formação (PROMEF). Funded mainly by the World Bank (to the tune of USD 6 million, or 80 per cent of funding), in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science, Youth and Sports (MESYS) and a Portuguese development foundation, PROMEF was designed to evaluate and analyse ways in which ICTs can be used to improve the education and training systems in Cape Verde. Another of PROMEF’s undertakings includes the creation of databases relating to the education sector such as a statistical database with basic information from each school, a database for evaluating students’ work, and budgetary, human resources, scholarship and student databases. Additionally, the Government has consistently allocated around 18 per cent of its annual budget to education.
For more detailed information: see the ITU’s Cape Verde case study
Reflect - Uganda
Success Strategy: The overall goal of the project is to establish a functional communication system using community identified ICT to promote the flow of information in the area and thus to satisfy the participatory identified information needs of the marginalized within the community.
The Reflect groups are involved in programmes creating and boosting ICT skills of the community members. The substantial use of internet is aiming to enhance practical as well as scientific knowledge. The Community members are urged to increase their information level on some crutial health issues (HIV/SIDA, contraception, etc.) in order to reduce harmful behaviors and practices as well as to enhance their artistic skills. Music, Dance and Drama through internet is expected to promote art and even to turn it into professional and renumbered activity. Facilitators and groups are free to be creative and use and adapt participatory ICT tools as they find appropriate, as long as their activities link to the project core values. The project is now placing greater emphasis on networking and strengthening community development capacity.
Target group: marginalized community members, youths
Partners: ActionAid, DFID, local NGO Literacy and Empowerment
Abtal Shotar – Global Campus – Middle East
Success Strategy: eKnowledge offers kids innovative content brought to them through a unique and amusing cartoon characters: Abtal Shotar™. The exotic cartoons deliver educational material in a way best enjoyed and understood by young children. Featured in educational interactive games with voice-over narration in both English and Arabic, vibrant colours and motivational songs, we are confident that kids will love them!
The Educational games are presented in interactive activities series. The Super Adventure Series propose the Colours & Shapes Circus and Alphabets & Numbers Forestactivities providing various learning and entertainment inputs designed especially for children.
The Smart Workbook Series are more education straightforward oriented and provide bi-lingual Arabic and English thematic training as well as art & cultural activities through e-hobby book structure.
Target group:Children and Youth
Awards: Winner of Suzanne Mubarak Prize for Children Content 2003, Specialised Educational Content category
Partners:The Information Technology and Software Engineering Centre, The Arab Academy, The Arab Cyber Education (ACE), The Arab Film & TV School, e-Knowledge, The International Plant Genetic Resource Institute, The Middlesex University – UK, The Regional Information Technology Institute (RITI), The World Bank Institute
For more nformation: see the website of the activity
Education in Bhutan
Success Strategy: In Bhutan, the traditional monastic system is still very active in the education system. The modern, English education system was established recently and has grown rapidly. The royal Government of Bhutan has cited concerns over the quality of current English language and Mathematics instructions. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is seen as a key tool to improve teachers’ access to better learning. Educators have been exposed to new approaches to primary and secondary education. CIDA supports the project’s goal to increase the capacity of Bhutan to provide a gender-sensitive curriculum and instructional curriculum for primary and secondary English-language courses.
Partners: Canadian International Development Agency - CIDA
Source: WSIS Stocktaking Database
ICT for Women – Global Campus – Egypt
Success Strategy: ICT for Women is a project for the development of women in the Information and communication technology (ICT) sector. The overall objective of the project is to promote sustainable development for women through empowering them to set up their own small businesses or progress in their careers. Such a project is critical for providing women the knowledge and skills an appropriate platform, resources and capacities to compete in the ICT sector at the national and regional levels. The project will create a niche of developed female small business entrepreneurs who will have the knowledge and skills to tackle the challenges of the ICT market.
The project is expected to generate employment opportunities as well as give more chance for these women to advance in their careers or to be employed after acquiring new skills. The project proposes two modules on socio-economic indicators, educating women in ICT and reducing unemployment and small business failure, to be piloted in the greater governorate of Egypt (Cairo, Qaliobeya, & Giza).
Target group:women, young professionals, entrepreneurs, unemployed women
Partners: The Information Technology and Software Engineering Centre, The Arab Academy, The Arab Cyber Education (ACE), The Arab Film & TV School, e-Knowledge, The International Plant Genetic Resource Institute, The Middlesex University – UK, The Regional Information Technology Institute (RITI), The World Bank Institute
E-lephants Bring Learning to Thailand's Remote Areas
Success Strategy: With over 40 villages involved by the beginning of 2004, the "bringing school to the children" project initiated by the Thai Non-Formal Education Department in 2001 has begun to have a real impact on learning in remote areas, and all thanks to... elephants! In a bid to tackle illiteracy in the deepest corners of Thailand, elephants were chosen as the ideal means to bring education to children in villages that lack access to learning. Many have no reading and writing skills. Furthermore, basic agricultural methods and health awareness are hard to bring to areas without any form of ICT, even at the level of a simple television set.
The elephants are used to transport teachers and health workers across difficult terrain to places that are often inaccessible to other forms of transport. And they offer a considerable cost saving over conventional vehicles: for each elephant used in place of a car for the purpose, the project can educate some 3'000 more people. Examples of work carried out to date include teaching of reading and writing in the Thai language, plant growing lessons and health information on prevention of such diseases as malaria and AIDS. So far the project has met with great success, and the tribal villagers who are on the receiving end seem to enjoy their new learning experiences and greet the arrival of the elephant-schools exuberantly. Even Thai elephants, who have been out of work since ecological measures curtailed the felling of trees and they were no longer needed to transport the wood, have now got new jobs - ones that preserve every bit of their worth and dignity.Winding Hope - Rwanda
Success Strategy: Project Radio Rwanda was created to distribute radios that are powered without electricity or batteries, and provide vital education to these children about practical issues such as health care, clean water, improved farming methods and a host of desperately important subjects.
Radios are providing a lifeline to the isolated children of Rwanda, thousands of whom have been forced to take on the role of adults heading households after being orphaned by the genocide, war and HIV. One of the most devastating consequences is a legacy of approximately 65,000 child-headed households, which has been compounded by more children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. In total, over 400,000 children live alone without an adult, the oldest children looking after three to five younger children. These families are extremely vulnerable, living in abject poverty (two thirds of the country lives below the poverty line) and traumatised by acts of violence. They have little chance of accessing formal education or health services. The luckier families make enough money to send one child (usually a boy) to school. Without school and relatives, these children therefore lack all the traditional sources of information.
Adapted to the local social context, the Lifeline radio does not require batteries or electricity (very expensive and hardly available in the countryside) and can be taken into the field while children work, allowing them to listen throughout the day. The Lifeline radio is an invention using state-of-the-art direct charge technology. Human energy, applied by winding the crank handle, is transferred via a transmission to an alternator. The alternating current produced by the alternator is then rectified to direct current - which in turn charges an internal rechargeable battery. The transmission has, through design and material choice, been developed to withstand the harshest operating conditions. Similarly it has been robustly engineered to be maintenance free and ensure many years of reliable service. In accelerated lifetime testing the Lifeline radio has undergone 500 000 input crank cycles without failure. Similarly that battery has been subjected to 10000 typical usage cycles without failure.
A radio is donated to a household on the pre-condition that it is shared with neighbouring children. Useful programmes of educational value are essential to connect the children to the outside world and improve their quality of life. They requested information about HIV/AIDS, malaria, stomach diseases, hygiene and nutrition. Heads of households often cited as important information on how to take care of younger siblings, as well as on farming and agricultural assistance, the market price of crops, the weather, and current events in Rwanda. Music was far down the list for most heads of households.
The Lifeline radio can access the BBC, Voice of America (VOA), Radio Rwanda, and Deutsche Welle providing a combination of locally understood programmes in Kinyarwanda, English and French.
Currently, over 2000 radios have been donated and distributed for the project. Thousands more radios are needed to provide all 65,000 households with a radio, training and support along with support for radio programming. Each radio provides at least ten children with access to radio listening, providing up to 11,000 children with critical information and education that can dramatically improve their day-to-day lives. The children stated in surveys that being able to listen to the radio helps to ease their sense of isolation. Daily newscasts serve to let them know that the violence is over and Rwanda is now stable, that they are safe in their homes.
Partners: Freeplay, War Child UK, RefugeeTrust, Radio Rwanda, The Communication Initiative, Radio for development, UK's Department for International Development (DFID), the European Commission (EC), the UN Foundation, UNDP Equator Initiative in collaboration with the Government of Canada, IDRC, IUCN, BrasilConnects and the Nature Conservancy
Radin Mas Primary School
Success strategy: Inaugurated in 1926, the Radin Mas primary school has become a pillar of high-technology in Singapore’s education system. The school, which serves as a model of educational institutions of the future, has some 200 computers, most of which are connected to the internet via Singapore One’s high-speed domestic backbone and ADSL lines. With a computer-to-student ratio of 1:5, Radin Mas is one of the best-connected primary schools in the world. Rather than simply using computers as a reference tool, the focus of Radin Mas is to deeply integrate computers into the learning and creative process. For example, the 2,000-plus students who attend the school are encouraged to engage in cross-cultural e-mail exchanges with students from around the world, create e-cards for mother’s day, make music with midi-enabled keyboards, and use the two dozen iMacs to experiment with digital art. Some of the 9-11 year olds have even created a virtual zoo.
For more detailed information: see http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/cs/singapore/material/Singapore.pdf
eCitizenship for All Awards 2003
Success Strategy: Nettimaunula is an excellent example of the spirit of eCitizenship for All. The project is creating an advanced form of networking in which citizen participation and e-inclusion are central. Nettimaunula counts on high involvement and co-operation of local stakeholders (the unemployed proved an essential human resource). The innovative programme is for the benefit of the community and, particularly the sectors at risk of being left out. Nettimaunula offers cheap broadband internet connections, free computing for those who cannot afford it, training on basic ICT skills, especially for the elderly, and a virtual community tool for local people to provide local content as well as to participate and interact on issues concerning the development of the community.
Partners: the City of Helsinki
Awards: Winner of the category eLearning and Inclusion: Nettimaunula Project from the City of Helsinki (Finland)
Source : http://www.hel.fi
UN Water Virtual Learning Centre
Success Strategy: The Virtual Learning Centre was developed to focus on Integrated Water and Environmental Management. The entire course has been developed and is available on CD-ROM. It will be made available via Regional Centres of Excellence. The programme will be offered through affiliated institutions in Africa, Asia and the South Pacific, eventually expanding worldwide. Main partners include the Asian Institute of Technology and the University of the South Pacific.
The curriculum is broad and rich and the delivery platform flexible and user-friendly. It is composed by 10 courses, aided by a "resource databank" containing copyright-free materials, public domain images, graphics, documents and databases. Course materials were electronically transcribed and placed on the WVLC website and CD-ROMs. The learning material will be disseminated through a global electronic network of regional and national training institutions, the first components of which will be established in Africa and the South Pacific. The regional training network will provide "train-the-trainer" courses and promote self-paced distance learning. Once in place, the core curriculum will be customized to regional needs.
UNU will offer a formal Diploma to programme graduates, the first offered in the history of UNU. This “Diploma in Integrated Water Resources Management from the United Nations University” will be awarded for the successful completion of the full programme.
The broad goal of the United Nations “Water Virtual Learning Centre” is to enhance local, national and basin-scale capacities for sustainable water management in the developing world. The WVLC represents a concrete and strategic response to recommendations from the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which called for strengthening of integrated water management through capacity building of national officials, water managers and their institutions.
During 2004, formal agreements for the creation of Regional Centres were signed with University of Ghana, the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand, and the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. The inaugural offering of the WVLC began in the first quarter of 2005. With the success of the first phase, a second phase is anticipated.
The WVLC has been explicitly designed for expansion and diversification. Throughout the second phase, UNU/INWEH will collaborate with existing regional training institutions, international agencies and bilateral donors supporting distance learning in the water sector, to broaden the scope and impact of the WVLC. The goals are to expand the global coverage of the WVLC, through creation of additional RTCs in Arabic, Spanish and French-speaking regions as well as to diversify the platforms and “spin off” new WVLC course derivatives.
Target group:Practicing professionals in the water sector wishing to upgrade their knowledge of modern water management concepts and practices, non-water professionals
Partners:United Nations University (UNU), International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU/INWEH) and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), Division for Sustainable Development (DSD), Asian Institute of Technology and the University of the South Pacific are executing the project under the aegis of UN-Water, the inter-agency coordination mechanism of the UN. Cooperation is also sought with other UN training initiatives and with academic and NGO networks at the global and regional levels. Financial support is provided from the UN Development Account.
Tajikistan-Uzbekistan: Silk Road Radio Project
Success Strategy: Silk-Road Radio was launched in Tajikistan in 1998, with its expansion to Uzbekistan in 1999 and to Kyrgyzstan in late 2004. Under the auspices of UNESCO Tashkent and co-financed by numbers of international agencies, Silk-Road Radio produces radio programs and delivers educational messages in the Central Asian countries to millions of listeners.
The flagship Soap Opera entitled "Har Dardning Davosi Bor" (A Cure for Every Ills) is a production of tight collaboration of Silk-Road Radio's Uzbek and Tajik creative teams, mostly covers the topics of rural population's concern. Another Soap Opera of Silk-Road Radio entitled "Shahar Bekatlari" (City Stations) targets more youthful and urban audience.
Each Silk-Road Radio Soap Opera accompanied with needs based short reports -storyline reports- that reinforces the themes of the Soap Operas from factual angle.
Using the more traditional technology of radio to reach large audiences in innovative and engaging ways, the Silk Road Radio Project in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan highlights contemporary issues and priorities through a twice-weekly radio drama series produced and transmitted in the country’s language - Uzbek, Tajik and Kyrgyz.
Building on a centuries’ old tradition of story-telling in the region, the themes dealt with in the radio dramas can be grouped in three categories in accordance with the priority areas of the main funding agencies: family and reproductive health, agricultural themes, and contemporary national issues such as humane and considerate treatment of displaced and underprivileged groups in society, ethnic harmony and tolerance in society and the trafficking of women.
New themes are constantly surfacing in the light of ongoing needs assessment, consultation with stakeholders and audience research. These are incorporated in the radio drama storylines and scripts through existing and developing characters and scenarios. In this way, the Silk-Road Radio Project continues to be a medium for effective contemporary education, while also drawing attention to current, topical issues.
Target group: Uzbekistani, Tajik and Kyrgyz community
Partners: UNESCO, OHCHR: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, SDC: The Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation, OSCE (Kyrgyzstan), UNFPA, British Embassy (Tashkent and Dushanbe), BBC
Edutopia: Ultimate education - Republic of Korea
Success Strategy:In 1995, the Korean Government made a decision to use information and c
ommunication technologies (ICT) to remodel the country’s educational system and to create “edutopia”. This term reflects the government’s goal of creating an education welfare state, in which all citizens are given the possibility to develop their full potential. Already highly impressive is the fact that every primary and secondary school in Korea has access to the internet. By early 2001, all were equipped with a local area network (LAN), at least one computer lab and access to the government backbone network, PUBNet. Connection speeds of up to 256 kbit/s are provided free of charge and schools get discounted rates for higher speeds. Today, over 96 per cent of all schools have their own web pages, every teacher has their own PC and 93 per cent of Koreans between the ages of 7-19 use the internet. In 2000, the student to PC ratio was 17:1 and over 50 per cent of schools were equipped with multimedia equipment, such as scanners and digital cameras. As things stand today, about half of all schools have a network connection speed of at least two Mbit/s. The Government plans to provide all schools with this speed by 2005.
ommunication technologies (ICT) to remodel the country’s educational system and to create “edutopia”. This term reflects the government’s goal of creating an education welfare state, in which all citizens are given the possibility to develop their full potential. Already highly impressive is the fact that every primary and secondary school in Korea has access to the internet. By early 2001, all were equipped with a local area network (LAN), at least one computer lab and access to the government backbone network, PUBNet. Connection speeds of up to 256 kbit/s are provided free of charge and schools get discounted rates for higher speeds. Today, over 96 per cent of all schools have their own web pages, every teacher has their own PC and 93 per cent of Koreans between the ages of 7-19 use the internet. In 2000, the student to PC ratio was 17:1 and over 50 per cent of schools were equipped with multimedia equipment, such as scanners and digital cameras. As things stand today, about half of all schools have a network connection speed of at least two Mbit/s. The Government plans to provide all schools with this speed by 2005.
For more detailed information: see the ITU case study on Korea
Asia Pacific Initiative
Success Strategy: The Asia Pacific Initiative (API) was launched in 2003 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg and is designed to promote collaborative research, online learning and capacity development.
The API is a knowledge-sharing project and its first objective was to support the development of a new Media Studio to promote online multi-media broadcasting at the UN University. The blended approach intends to use new technologies to enhance joint capacity development activities involving satellite technology and the internet to link field based studies to online learning, communication and real-time next generation broadcasting. This studio functions now as one node in a networked virtual organisation composed by a growing number of partner universities, research institutions, NGOs and businesses in the region.
Recent activities undertaken to date include multimedia-broadcasting experiments (Video over IP), case study development in Okinawa (Japan), the Bangkok (Thailand) and the Greater Mekong Sub-Region, as well as the development of courses on Asia Pacific Sustainability with support from FASID in Japan. Future pilot experiments will be undertaken in a range of areas including IP/internet broadcasting, video-on-demand, real-time streaming, e-learning and interactive communications, on various broadband infrastructure. Harnessing creative power through new technology is has become a vocation for the API network.
Partners: UNU (United Nations University), Keio University, CISCO Systems (Japan), LEAD (Japan) and Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development (FASID) in Japan, Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand), The Institute of Global Environmental Strategies (Japan), The University of Hawaii (USA), Tsinghua University (China) and TERI (India)
Adopt-A-School Lebanon
Success Strategy: “Adopt-a-School” a development project aimed at rehabilitating fifteen public schools in the Bekaa region. Adopt-A-School is a $1,000,000 project that deals with the disparities between public and private schools. The strategy combines health, humanitarian, and efforts for a three-year period beginning 2005. The fifteen schools that were selected from the Bekaa were assessed based on the most in need. The project is embracing actions in order to respond to the urgent need of improving the quality of public schools and reducing the alarming dropout rates. ICT training and information resources sharing are main priorities of the project.
Target group: disadvantaged children
Partners: Al-Waleed Bin Tala Humanitarian Foundation, UNICEF
Source: the UN website
Digital scouts in Indonesia
Success Strategy:Indonesia’s “Digital Scout” programme is aimed at marshalling ICT-savvy youth to visit remote areas to help bring knowledge to locals about the uses and benefits of new technologies. This programme also enables participants to learn what applications and training would be most appropriate for a given community—rather than applying a “blanket” solution to unique problems.
For more information: see http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/cs/indonesia/material/IDN CS.pdf
Technology Savvy Youth – Korea’s Efforts to Create a New Wired Generation
Success Strategy:Given its vocationally oriented background (i.e. education for employment in a given sector), the Sunrin High School might seem an unlikely visionary for a twenty-first century education system. However, the Seoul-based high school—which has around 1,000 students and 80 teachers—has come to represent the future of interactive educational training in Korea. While not the only Internet-enabled high school in Korea, Sunrin was designated the country’s first “internet high school" in 2000. Two E1 (2.048 Mbps) connections provided by the Government, connect the school’s more than 600 computers to the internet, providing students with access to a variety of Web management, e-commerce and multimedia design resources. Additionally, teachers have made their published books (some 15 publications) available to students in electronic format, thus reducing the need for students to bring books to class. The content, which includes a variety of multimedia tools, allows students to expand their understanding of the internet, while learning from a variety of unconventional resources (e.g. graphic design from Japanese Manga cartoons).
For more information: see http://www.sunrint.hs.kr
Background materials: see the Sunrin internet High School case study
FODEPAL - Regional Project for Economics, Agricultural Policies and Rural Development Training in Latin America
Success Strategy: Executed by FAO and funded by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI), FODEPAL is a regional project that relies on the academic support of the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) and other high level and prestigious academic institutions from Latin America.
The project is headquartered at the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago, Chile. FODEPAL aims to create institutional capacity in Latin America in the design, execution and evaluation of sustainable policies by means of e-learning and the application of the new technologies of the information and communication (TIC). From the year 2001 to December 2004, FODEPAL has organized 38 courses, in which about 2.300 managers have been trained.
Partners: FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) and other high level academic institutions from Latin America
Cemmozhi Tamil Tutor CD ROM - Kerala, India
Success Strategy: Information technology has many tongues, and the power of this new tool is helping bridge the language gap that straddles the diversity of India. A firm here has come out with its third language tutor, that makes it easier to learn a new tongue.
After working on Hindi and Malayalam, the Ernakulam-based Allenpark Infotech has brought out its Cemmozhi Tamil Tutor CD ROM which, it says, "is a combination of learning and fun". It starts with the alphabets, offers a writing skill section, lessons for vocabulary practice, speech practice, stories, songs and proverbs and selected verses of ancient Tamil classics -- Thirukkural, Aathichudi and Kotraivendhan with notes in Tamil and English.
This CD's writing skill section allows users to prepare a work book by taking printouts of the alphabets. To sharpen one's pronounciation, it offers a record-and-compare facility.
"We look forward to employ the advancements in multimedia for the sake of Indian languages -- and hence our titles like Vidyarambh Hindi and Malayalam Tutors. Tamil is the ancient most Dravidian language, which can claim a proud history of thousands of years," said Thejus.
Thejus said the lack of options for expat Tamils to learn their mother-tongue were shrinking, due to the "lack of efficient learning aids".
Later this year, this firm plans to release new titles for Gujrati and Bengali. "The script works and researches for the same is in full swing. Another title meant for the kids, for those who take the first step to learning is also in the production," said Thejus.
The firm says their Malayalam and Hindi Tutor CD ROMs have been receiving a "warm responses" from various parts of the world. "Many language classes organized by different community organizations have included our CD ROMs as their teaching and learning materials. Various associations for promoting Indian Language and culture has also welcomed the CDs wholeheartedly," claimed Thejus.
Basically the CD is meant for those who are new to the language. For instance, to learn Tamil using Cemmozhi, the learner not at all requires prior experience in the language.
Partners: Allenpark Infotech
Source: mail message of Frederick Noronha to the bytes4all readers mailing list on the 3 June 2005
For more information: see http://www.letuslearntamil.com
ICT Portal for Teachers
Success Strategy: The "ICT Portal for Teachers" provides a gateway to internet resources and websites to help teachers utilize ICT to enhance their teaching. The portal is part of an Asia-Pacific Programme on ICT in Education run by UNESCO's Asia and the Pacific Bureau of Education and sponsored by the Japanese Government through Japanese Funds-in-Trust.
The concept of the project immerged form the awareness that teachers as continuous moderator and generator of knowledge have to follow the dynamics of technological change and benefit fully form the opportunities offered by ICTs. Nevertheless, it means not only that teachers need training in computer literacy but also in the application of various kinds of educational software in teaching and learning. Furthermore, they need to learn how to integrate ICTs into their classroom activities and school structure using them for permanent up-date and alternative reference to the school programmes.
The quality of teachers is known in virtually all countries to be a key predictor of student learning. Therefore, teacher training is crucial. ICT can become a tool that on the one hand facilitates teacher training and on the other hand helps them to take full advantage of the potential of technology to enhance student learning. Especially in poor areas of developing countries, many if not most teachers lack adequate training for the job they are doing. Thus, teacher training provides a relevant locus for ICT. This is not only because training a teacher can leverage impact on many more beneficiaries, but also because it is not difficult, even in poor countries, to bring most or all teachers to ICT, rather than having to take ICT out to all the teachers.
Thus, the programme focus is on how to use ICT to reduce disparities in both educational access and quality and, ultimately, bridge the digital divide. UNESCO envisions that the ICT programme will result in an educational environment involving enriched curricula, resource sharing, quality multimedia material, and a cadre of teachers who are competent in facilitating better learning with ICT.
Target group: Schools, teachers, children youth
Partners: UNESCO, Japanese Government (funding through the Japanese Funds-in-Trust)
ITU’s Internet Training Centre Initiative
Success strategy: Designed to help people in underprivileged countries develop the skills to function in the global networked economy, the ITU’s internet Training Centres Initiative for Developing Countries (ITCI-DC) brings together public and private actors, NGOs and local businesses to narrow the knowledge gap between industrialized and developing countries. Adopting a “train the trainer” methodology, ITU’s initiative will tap into and expand upon the unrealized human capacities throughout the developing world, thus giving marginalized groups an opportunity to become active participants in the global information society. The multi-million dollar three-year project is expected to significantly increase the number of indigenous knowledge workers, while helping local businesses and governments create domestic incentives to avoid the “brain drain” that stifles ICT modernization in many developing countries.
Background materials: see the ITU's internet Training Centre case study
Bridging the Traditional and Virtual Classroom in Canada’s First Nation Schools
Success Strategy: KO’s internet High School (KIHS) provides Grade Nine and Ten students from remote and isolated First Nation schools in Ontario’s far north with the opportunity to receive a high quality secondary school education without having to leave their families and communities. Until KiHS, students as young as fourteen had to leave home and attend school in urban communities. With KiHS, these students can remain home during these critical years and are better equipped both academically and socially to cope with the challenges of city life when they choose to complete their high school education in the south.
KiHS is not a distance education program. It represents a unique departure from both traditional classroom models and conventional models of distance education. Unlike other internet based secondary school programs, KiHS requires students to attend a classroom in their community from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. under the direction of an accredited teacher who is responsible for classroom management, tutoring, and mentoring as the students complete their assignments online. In addition to the normal classroom responsibilities, each KiHS teacher is a specialist responsible for delivering two courses to classes across the network. The KiHS teacher for example in Eabmatoong First Nation is a specialist in computer science and, while he is responsible for classroom management in his home community, he teaches computer science to all 148 students attending the 13 KiHS classrooms across Ontario’s far north.
The KiHS platform has been adapted for use by other Aboriginal educational organizations including Oshki-Pimache-O-Win, Nishnawbe Aski’s post-secondary institute. The Faculty of Education at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Canada is considering using the platform for delivery of its proposed community-based Bachelor of Education degree.
Partners: KO’s internet High School (KIHS)
For more information: see see the website of the activity
OKN in Nepal Raises Hopes Among Rural Women - Jhuwani Community Library
Success Strategy: For more than a decade, READ - Rural Education And Development, Nepal - has been building community libraries. These libraries are run with the active participation of the community and have their own income generating scheme for meeting operating costs and financial sustainability. Over time they have organically expanded into community centres, dynamically involved in the overall development activities of the community.
The community libraries are contributing in diverse fields, such as education, health, empowerment, childhood development and cultural promotion. They provide knowledge, information, inspiration, support and above all motivation to drive the community into shaping its own future. The establishment of libraries spurs progress and development in the area, and this in turn creates positive changes and growth opportunities for the library itself.
Launching of OKN in Nepal
In July, 2005, a new component was added to the myriad activities at Jhuwani Library - the Open Knowledge Network (OKN) project was launched. This project includes the installation of computers in the library and provision of training to the community on the use of computers for addressing issues in the community.
This could be possible by making the people more informed about more societies, by bridging the technological divide between men and women & rural and urban families. It is expected that they can also voice their concerns and share their experiences.
Women are looking forward to working on raising the status of rural women and creating space for their own identity. They are also hoping to use ICT tools to get united for their progress and achievement. The formation of women’s groups within the community centres has helped the women to gain self-confidence through increased interaction, encouraged their journey into the public sphere and honed them for participation in decision-making roles. Jhuwani Community Library and OKN are planning to continue organizing frequent awareness raising programs for women, and organizes interaction programs promoting dialogue and discussion around women's rights. This platform has helped them to identify problems within their areas and to seek solutions through dialogues with concerned parties.
Partners: Jhuwani Community Library and the Open Knowledge Net (OKN)
Source: OneWorld website
IkamvaYouth - South Africa
Success Strategy: IkamvaYouth is a by-youth, for-youth non-profit organisation based in Khayelitsha, a township in the Western Cape of South Africa.
The organisation aims to broaden the post-school opportunities of Khayelitsha's youth, to fight unemployment and poverty. It does this through three core programmes: supplementary tutoring, career guidance and life skills, and e-literacy development.
Saturday classes for all metrics subjects are given by at average 140 learners and 20 volunteers. Personalised learning support is provided in different disciplines and according to personal difficulties and learning background. In addition, the programme provides a space for intellectual debate and own reflection on scientific and real-life issues and encourages all participants to express their vision and concerns. The learning forum is transforming in a social forum and its vocation evolves into an empowerment one.
Offering career guidance is essential in order to broaden our members' post-school opportunities. Unfortunately, this programme is yet to be deployed, a lack of volunteers is sometimes a major problem. The organisers of the activity plan to establish a mentoring system, whereby volunteers take on a group of learners interested in the same field and develop their skills.
The aim of this community service is to help learners access all the information they need about study and job options. Once universal internet access is provided, this kind of activities would be greatly facilitated. Some of the learners need also particular help in choosing proper field of education or in “decoding” different acceptance requirements, filling out application forms and applying for bursaries and financial aid. Information and communications technology is integral to the way the organisation operates, as well as the way it delivers its free services to its constituents. internet is a principal source of information in the absence of libraries and well-equipped information centres.
The e-Literacy is a major feature in the initiative. The far majority of our learners have never used computers before. Computer literacy is a high priority in the skills development opportunities they are seeking by being members of Ikamva. With access to the internet, the learners will be far better prepared for their post-school experiences, whether they are working or furthering their studies.
There are two parallel e-literacy programmes:
Operation Ukufikelela (Access) is an ambitious mission to bring free computer and internet access to community members. Refurbished computers networked into a LAN is the basic equipment of the activity.
The first step to make participants skilled and aware is to train them in computer use and basic text and visual software.
Further action is needed to secure the internet access. A connection between centres in different villages is intender in order to empower teacher and allow them to benefit from a useful feed-back from other professionals and to share information and knowledge with organisation concerned in local and regional social, technological and economic development.
The Ykamva Youth is also the South African HUB of the Ford Programme's Global Education Initiative. It is an international tele-communities project whose goal is to endn the digital, gender and cultural divides. GEI operates through a global learning communitycomprised of networked iInternational Education HUBs at schools and community-based tele-centres.
The classes run by the GEI are essentially interactive distance learning classes, which enable the network's Hubs to interact with each other, as well as scientists, engineers and lecturers around the world via video and audio links (VoIP). This is our learner's first exposure to computers and learning through technology. The pilot programme runs from February to May 2004, and we hope to participate in further programmes as GEI consolidates the African GEI network.
Target group: youth, community members, illiterate adults
Partners: GEI, Ford Programme, Digital Partners, Setcom
Award: Global Junior Challenge Award 2004 Finalist
Smart Schools in Malaysia
Success strategy: Smart Schools not only teach students how to leverage the power of information and communication technologies (ICTs), but they also prepare them to participate in the global community by teaching them international languages—mainly English—and other skills. The Ministry of Education hopes to make all of Malaysia’s schools “smart” by 2010. A crucial component of the Smart School project is the Mobile internet Unit (MIU), which uses “smart” buses to bring ICTs to rural schools. These “cybercafés on wheels” make one-day visits to approximately 20 schools each year, leaving behind PCs, training materials, and, where possible, an internet connection. With the Malaysian Government allocating 20 per cent of its annual budget to education, the Smart School initiative further demonstrates Malaysia’s commitment to preparing future generations for the ever-evolving information age.
For more detailed information: see http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/cs/malaysia/material/MYS CS.pdf
Updating Ethiopia’s Educational System
Success strategy: As part of its national educational reform plan, the Department of Education (DoE) is working with USAID to improve teachers’ IT skills. Under its Basic Education System Overhaul initiative, the DoE provided 2.1 million Birr for four local computer suppliers to provide 170 workstations, four servers, and nine laptops. USAID will provide training for teachers and aid in the reform of the country’s primary schools.
At the university level, the Addis Ababa University (AAU), the largest tertiary university in Ethiopia, is a host to the World Bank’s Africa Virtual University (AVU) programme. The AVU, which seeks to reform the pedagogy and human development practices to prepare students for the digital age, provides students with real-time access to lectures from around the continent. Connected via a VSAT link, the AVU is comprised of a one-way video stream to the university and an audio response link, whereby students can interact with the lecturer. The AVU at AAU courses cost up to USD 200 for courses in programming, computer hardware maintenance, and computer literacy – a price many students have been more than willing to pay. The AAU itself now also offers a degree in computer science.
For more information: see http://www.avu.org
Background materials: see the African Virtual University case study
European m-Learning Project
Success Strategy: m-learning is a €4.5m 3 year pan-European research and development programme supported by the European Commission's Information Society Technologies (IST) programme within the 5th framework. The project was deployed from 2001 to 2004. m-learning's aim is to develop prototype products and services which will deliver information and learning experiences via technologies that are inexpensive, portable and accessible to the majority of EU citizens.
The products and services in development are designed to capture the interest of young adults (16 to 24) who are not currently taking part in education or training and to assist them in the development of life long learning objectives. The learning themes focus on subjects of interest to young adults, e.g. football and music, and the modules include activities designed to develop aspects of literacy and numeracy. m-learning's target audience includes young adults who are unemployed, under-employed or homeless.
m-learning infrastructure includes a Learning Management System which, together with the microportal interface layer under development, will facilitate access to m-learning materials and services from a variety of mobile devices plus web and TV access. For interfacing with devices with minimum multimedia functionality, and for the benefit of learners with sensory difficulties, m-learning is developing speech-to-text, text-to-speech and SMS facilities. Support for collaborative learning and peer-to-peer interaction is also being developed. Development of the microportal layer is an iterative process informed by work with groups of young adults.
Depending on the technocal capacities of the mobile phones used, different learning interface could be delivered : maths, languages, driving theory and even geography. The method allows to support a personalized curriculum and make progress at one’s rythm, Surfing on the web being also a possibility, many research opportunities are also available. Using PDAs, it is possible to give the learners access to online webpage building and community tools. Throuhg m-learning features it is also easy and confortable to obtain travel advice, health and food information, news or shopping proposals.
Both organisers and trainees testify so far the results and feedback have been really positive.
Partners: the European Commission's Information Society Technologies (IST) programme, Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA), universities and commercial companies based in three EU countries - Britain, Italy and Sweden
Source: the m-learning website
Electronic Distance Learning Project - Rwanda
Success Strategy: The project is aimed at establishing an ICT network at the Kigali Institute of Education (KIE) and improving connectivity with KIE Regional Distance Learning Centers. The project also aims to increase technical capacities of KIE academics and to enable administrative staff to improve skills to facilitate better administrative and financial management.
EDC staff and dot-EDU partners will undertake activities to lead towards building the technical capacity of KIE. This will include:
- Provision of hardware and software for connecting KIE's campus and four (4) regional training centres.
- Provision of necessary ICT hardware and software to establish internet Learning Centres and ensure high speed internet connectivity and training for each of six additional distance learning sites.
- Providing access to training materials on computer skills for staff and students at KIE and the Distance Learning Centres.
- Technical assistance in training the staff at the Regional Distance Learning Centers and KIE academic staff in the development and instructional design of using ICT-based pedagogical modules. Training will also be required for the ICT staff in the areas of information management systems and web design.
Improved connectivity with Regional Distance Learning Centres is expected to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of distance training provision to pre-service and in-service secondary school teachers in order to provide a more qualified secondary school teaching workforce and ultimately better education for young people in Rwanda. Increased overall capacity will enable the Kigali Institute of Education to become a leader in high quality teacher training and information technology while facilitating community access to education and information communications technologies (ICTs)."
Partners: Education Development Centre (EDC), World Links, KIE, dot-EDU
Malaysia’s Multimedia University
Success Strategy:Located in the heart of Malaysia’s Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in Cyberjaya, is the Multimedia University (MMU). The first of its kind, the MMU concentrates exclusively on high technology, focusing on subjects such as software development, digital media and IT engineering. Unlike many other “cyber cities,” (e.g. Silicon Valley in the United States and Bangalore in India) the MMU offers students (totaling more than 12,000 from over 31 countries), access to the technologies of a developed world environment within their own, developing, country.
For more information: see http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/cs/malaysia/material/MYS CS.pdf
Egypt’s Software Play
Success Strategy: As part of its National Plan for Telecom and Information, the Egyptian Government is aiming to take the lead in “Arabizing” software for the Middle East region. With a population of over 62 million people, Egypt only has around 5,000 expert programmers and system engineers. In an effort to address this shortfall, the National Plan sets out the creation of a National Institute for Information Technology that will eventually train 5,000 IT literate students per year. Realizing that it could not achieve this feat alone, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has solicited the help of a number of companies, including Cisco, IBM and Microsoft. By cultivating domestic talent with the help of experienced multinational companies, the country could become a hub for Arabic software for the Middle East.
Background materials:see the ITU website
Computer Skills Training for Philippine Workers - Lebanon
Success Strategy: Computer skills training courses for Philippine workers are being organized in Beirut as a result of an innovative arrangement between UNESCO Beirut and the Philippine Embassy in Lebanon. The computer course is part of a training programme organized by the Philippine Embassy in Lebanon. Other courses include baking, cooking, hair technology and sewing. The programme started two years ago and aims at providing non-skilled Filipino workers with a broad base of skills needed in the Philippines. The courses include training on the use the internet, basic software programmes and email.
Target group: Schools, children, youth
Partners: UNESCO
Source: WSIS Stocktaking Database
ICT Application for Non-formal Education Programmes
Success Strategy: UNESCO’s Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All (APPEAL) has supported member states in systematizing the non-formal education curriculum, training personnel and developing learning materials. Since the late 1990s, APPEAL has also has been promoting the concept of Community Learning Centres for generating grassroots based interest and participation in literacy, basic education and continuing education activities for disadvantaged people. To respond more effectively to the diverse learning needs among and within member states, this project will take advantage of the power of ICT to contribute to promote EFA and encourage the application of alternative strategies to APPEAL activities. Using the potential of ICT, the project will also explore more effective use and delivery of existing resources and develop new resources to widen access to and improve the relevance and quality of learning.
APPEAL deploys at present several cross-cutting projects on ICT. It is unquestionable that ICTs open up new horizons for progress and the exchange of knowledge, education and training, and for the promotion of creativity and intercultural dialogue. The opportunities to accomplish UNESCO's core missions - to promote "the free exchange of ideas and knowledge" and to "maintain, increase and diffuse knowledge" - have possibly never been greater. Education, science, and culture are at the heart of the trend towards a knowledge society as are the media and information; thus all UNESCO sectors have a role to play in this process. The goal of this cross-cutting strategy is to show how UNESCO intends to provide a coordinated response, based on an interdisciplinary approach.
Below are some valuable examples of UNESCO ICT projects in education :
Partners: UNESCO
Internet Kiosks in Indonesia
Success Strategy:In a public-private initiative, the Indonesian internet Kiosk Association (AWARI) is working with the Universiti Terbuka (Terbuka University) and the Ministry of Education on a distance learning and public awareness campaign, for the benefit of some 300,000 students and thousands of community members. Specifically, Indonesia’s Warung internet (“warnet”) initiative is helping to raise community interest in the internet via public access points (PAPs). The warnet concept has been so successful that by May 2001 there were more than 2,500 such public access points (PAPs) throughout the country.
For more information: visit the ITU website
Bringing the Internet to Lao PDR’s Schools
Success strategy: In the small village of Phon Song, an NGO internet project is currently under way to provide computer and internet training to students and teachers in a local school. The project’s participants include Schools Online (a US non-profit organization), the Jhai Foundation (comprised of US Vietnam war veterans) and local community leaders. To defray the costs of connecting the school, the wired classroom will be open to the public and businesses after school hours.
For more information: see http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/cs/laos/material/LAO CS.pdf
Association of Computer Technologists in India (ACT-India)
Success Strategy: This project is intended to promote IT education in remote areas world wide. Presently this action has been implemented in India and some African countries. Free IT education, tech seminars and IT end user organising are its peculiarities. Empowering the women community with IT education is also in the highlighted topic.
Under the project’s umbrella, the organisations involved as well as many individual members are making efforts to bring IT education to the poor communities in remote districts. Alternative approaches to knowledge management & sharing have been studies in order to adapt these disciplines to underdeveloped rural reality in Indian villages. An overall IT campaign is also launched working to mobilize more and more people to get involved in similar programs and contribute thus to the increase of the computer literacy rate and the skills potential of citizens throughout India.
Target group:Remote rural communities, women, youth
Partners: TakingIT Global, ACT India (Association of Computer Technologists in India)
The e-Learning for SMEs - Global Campus - Egypt
Success Strategy: The "SME's e-Learning Project" addresses the SMEs in Egypt and the problems that they are facing as a result of their lack of experience and knowledge of the economic environment. A large percentage tends to fail because of improper decision-making. Lacking know–how and relevant experience, they have difficulties to make decisions and show economic performance. Through technology, the e-learning can help deliver necessary knowledge to the entrepreneurs. Rising awareness that the quality of the human resources is crucial for strengthening the competitive performance of SMEs, the project aims at empowering small & medium entrepreneurs through developing their skills. The overall goal of the program is to help accelerate the business development of SMEs and ensure their effective contribution to the country's socio-economic growth.
The project aims at delivering ten main courses such as e-marketing, e-management, basics of the information technology.
Target group: SMEs
Partners:The Information Technology and Software Engineering Centre, The Arab Academy, The Arab Cyber Education (ACE), The Arab Film & TV School, e-Knowledge, The International Plant Genetic Resource Institute, The Middlesex University – UK, The Regional Information Technology Institute (RITI), The World Bank Institute
Wireless Project connecting schools in Chile
Success Strategy: The “Wireless IP Multimedia Diffusion Project” in Chile has connected 60 secondary level educational institutions in the Valparaiso and Araucanía regions, through wireless technology (Wi-Fi). In its current stage, the project distributes high quality audiovisual material to the schools in the program to complement the students’ curricular activities. The project teams REUNA (Red Universitaria Nacional, National Universities Network) with the Universidad de la Frontera and the Universidad Federico Santa María de Valparaíso. Besides serving educational institutions, the high speed and low cost infrastructure being developed could help the development of revolutionary applications like telemedicine, digital libraries, virtual laboratories, and distance education.
For more information: see ICAmericas website
Training the Trainers in Uganda
Success Strategy:Together with the Uganda Curriculum Development Centre, the Makerere Institute of Computer Science and selected secondary schools and teacher training institutions, UNESCO helped design the “ICTs for African Educators” CD-ROM. The multimedia, HTML-equipped CD-ROM helped to familiarize both teachers and students with basic computer-assisted education training techniques. Designed with local interests in mind, the project was designed to facilitate the move from traditional, static educational training towards a more interactive learning environment. Not only did the programme help to build the capacities of Ugandan students and faculty, but it also helped to demystify ICTs within the community. Moreover, the focus on training the trainer/educator ensured the sustainability of the programme over the long term.
Background materials: see the ITU Wired in Uganda case study
NairoBits Digital Design School – Kenya
Success Strategy:The NairoBits Digital Design School gives talented youths from Nairobi's disadvantaged slum neighbourhoods access to multimedia education. By teaching these youths basic computer and web design skills and stimulating their creative competencies and entrepreneurship, the school enables students to apply the technology in their own specific situations.
Students who complete the basic course can apply to the school's WebLab, where they design and build websites, collaborate with artists, and develop presentations for business. The WebLab functions as a link between regional demand for multimedia skills and the NairoBits graduates. The School maximises participation of graduates in future training activities, enabling it to use generated profits to train more youth and educators.
Incorporating the internet in NairoBits curriculum means youths learn much more and use it to communicate with other youth groups within and outside Kenya. NairoBits' gender policy demands training of an equal number of boys and girls.
Target group: Youth
Partners:NairoBits Digital Design School
Awards: GKP Youth Award 2003 - Finalist: Education
For more information: see "ICT for Development Success Stories: Youth, Poverty, Gender" - A Knowledge for Development Publication Series of the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) here
Te Ara -- The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Success Strategy:Te Ara is the world's first born-digital national encyclopedia is a comprehensive guide to New Zealand's peoples, natural environment, history, culture, economy and institutions. This 9 years project was prepared for production during 2004 and went 'live' in February 2005. While preserving and presenting cultural heritage in line with the challenges of the future, Te Ara is demonstrating valuable cultural assets clearly and informatively using state-of-the-art technology.
Te Ara offers many pathways to understanding New Zealand. In Māori, Te Ara means 'the pathway'. Through interlinking text and image trails, the Encyclopedia takes you on a journey of discovery of the People of New Zealand, the first big theme developed through the Encyclopedia.
Te Ara is highly innovative in its layering of content for multiple audiences; in its design and information architecture it is a cutting edge production, especially in the use of multimedia content including audio, video and innovative maps. The entire resource is available in both Māori and English.
Te Ara's first theme introduces New Zealanders to one another and to the world, and explore the origins of New Zealanders - the voyages, the stories of settlement, and their rich and diverse heritages. There is also a major essay on the development of the New Zealanders as a people.
At the same time Te Ara provides full encyclopedic coverage of New Zealand by its inclusion of a series of overviews which present 'New Zealand In Brief', and a historical perspective through a digitized encyclopedia from the 1960s. Te Ara involves ordinary New Zealanders in the preparation of their national encyclopedia by including public contributions about specific topics.
The project is now rapidly expanding and gaining popularity. When complete Beginning with the theme of Peoples, it will eventually present a comprehensive guide to New Zealand - its natural environment, history, culture, economics and government.
Te Ara will consist of nine themes. Beginning with the theme of Peoples, it will evolve into a comprehensive guide to the country's peoples, natural environment, history, culture, economy, institutions and society.
Partners: The Ministry of Culture and Heritage for Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Awards: Winner of the national contest Best Digital Content and Applications - New Zealand 2005, Category e-Culture Nominee for the WSIS-Award 2005, Category e-Culture
The Global Knowledge Support Program - GKSP-Egypt
Success Strategy:GKSP-Egypt is an initiative to build the foundation of innovation and knowledge in the 21st century knowledge economy. It draws together key people and organizations from different industries, functions and geographies in comprehensive and Services of learning, development, research and practical action as an attempt to help countries develop holistic education systems aimed at building dynamic knowledge societies that are key to competing in global markets. The project focuses on identifying practical means of harnessing knowledge, innovation and new ICT in order to promote empowerment, informed decision making, and global competitiveness, and consequently, build the foundations for a sustainable knowledge society.
The ambition of the Initiative promoters is to enhance human resource potential of the country and contribute to its overall development. "Since knowledge is increasingly presented as the crucial factor in the development of both the society and the economy our mission is to help transform Egypt into a knowledge-based economy by fostering a flexible, adaptive, market-based economy, innovative and learning society where knowledge is created, acquired, disseminated and used by organizations, individuals, and the whole community for greater socio-economic development and global competitiveness."
GKSP Services include inter alia:
Global Knowledge Shops
The Global Knowledge shops (GK Shops) aim at facilitating the gathering of special interest groups, either virtually through the internet and the video conferencing technology or physically through face-to-face roundtable workshops. Special interest groups will be meeting on-line through GKSP's discussion forum in order to improve communication and have the opportunity to exchange knowledge and ideas among each other.
In addition to online discussions, video conferencing sessions are to be held for each group with experts of the discussed topic. The Link of Egyptian Executives and Professionals to International Experts through video-conferencing, facilitates exchanging Knowledge as well as tackling new approaches and trends of business. This mode allows for the productive communication among participants across geographic barriers.
The GK Shop will also allow for the practice of new technologies, tools and strategies that utilize knowledge and information in addressing knowledge challenges. The Knowledge Tools include: Decision Architecture, Situation Analysis, Option Development, Option Evaluation, Risk Assessment.
Global Knowledge Diwan
The knowledge Diwan is formed for the benefit of executives. Members attending the GKSP's activities will be members at the Diwan. The Knowledge Diwan aims at empowering leaders of the knowledge based economy through several services that it provides.
Partners:The Information Technology and Software Engineering Centre, The Arab Academy, The Arab Cyber Education (ACE), The Arab Film & TV School, e-Knowledge, The International Plant Genetic Resource Institute, The Middlesex University – UK, The Regional Information Technology Institute (RITI), The World Bank Institute
Source:WSIS Stocktaking Database and the website of the activity
Technology and Information Transfers to the Philippines
Success Strategy:In an effort to introduce more State-run school students to ICTs, many public and private sector actors are involved in technology and information transfers throughout the Philippines. In 2000, the Department of Trade and Industry launched a programme called “Personal computers for public schools”, which offers disconnected schools a typical donation of 20 PCs, as well as IT training and technical support. While a 600 pesos grant from Japan helped to get the programme started, the Government is seeking additional donors to help modernize over 1,000 public schools throughout the country. Microsoft has provided much needed support through its Philippines’ Connected Learning Community programme that also gives schools a variety of ICTs and free access to the internet. Additionally, given the increasingly mobile nature of the internet, the Department of Science and Technology, with the help of Daewoo, has built four IT-enabled mobile classroom buses that bring ICTs and the internet to rural and isolated areas. Since 1998, the mobile schools have introduced more than 18,000 students from over 300 remote schools to ICTs.
For more information: see http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/cs/philippines/material/PHL%20CS.pdf
Radio Sagarmatha: Marrying Radio and the Internet in Nepal
Success Strategy:There is no question that in urban and rural Nepal, as in much of the developing world, radio is theubiquitous media, available cheaply (at less than a dollar), and representing no barrier where illiteracy is widespread. Broadcast in the Kathmandu valley, Radio Sagarmatha is the first community FM radio in southern Asia.
The first broadcast took place on 17 March 2000. An innovative programme was introduced which was divided into three parts. The first consisted of what is called “browsing on the radio”, involving discussion of a website. In the second part, “ Sabdartha”, or “meaning” in Nepali, technical jargon related with the internet was explained. This was the most popular section, and received numerous requests for specific information. In the third part of the programme, an experienced internet user was interviewed to explore tried and tested ways to get valuable information from the internet, as well as ways to get practical benefits from the information acquired. Since then, the duration of the programme has increased from15 to 30 minutes, included live transmissions from ICT events, interviews, live internet browsing and much more. Requests have been overflowing, private companies have helped sponsor events, listeners have participated and have even offered to form a club to sustain the programme.
Source: Bytes for all website
Global Development Learning Centre - Ukraine
Success Strategy: The Global Development Learning Centre wishes to enable the Ukraine to become part of the Global Distance Learning Network and have access to courses, seminars, and discussions with participants from around the world linked by interactive technologies for learning at a distance.
Partners: Canadian International Development Agency - CIDA
Source: WSIS Stocktaking Database
Daughters of the Pacific – New Zealand
Success Strategy: Daughters of the Pacific is a community group of Christchurch-based Pacific women. The group is particularly interested in issues of culture and identity as they affect Pacific people born in New Zealand. The activity is exploring issues of identity and the impact on that identity as Pacific daughters born in Aotearoa, raising awareness of the changing face of Pacific peoples in Aotearoa as well as supporting Pacific women in their individual and collective aspirations and grassroots valorisation.
The community network established a website as a place to share experiences and stories with others. The forum gives the opportunity to create a sense of belonging, validation, cultural understanding and pride. The website aims at providing a link for promoting greater cohesion between generations and cultures through dialogue, exchange of points of view and experience and better mutual understanding.
Target group: Pacific Women born in New Zealand
Partners: Informal structure based on common origins supported by the Community Employment Group of the Department of Labour of NZ
Cisco Networking Academy Programme
Success Strategy: The Cisco Networking Academy is driven by the ambition of changing the way people learn. The Programme is a comprehensive e-learning program, which provides students with the internet technology skills essential in a global economy. The Networking Academy program delivers Web-based content, online assessment, student performance tracking, hands-on-labs, instructor training and support, and preparation for industry standard certifications. The internet enables anytime, anywhere learning for all students, regardless of location, socio-economic status, gender, or race. Through community feedback and electronic assessment, the Academy program adapts curriculum to improve outcomes and student achievement. The Global Learning Network infrastructure designed for the Academy delivers a rich, interactive, and personalized curriculum to students around the world. The internet has the power to change the way people learn, work, and play, and the Cisco Networking Academy Program is in the forefront of this transformation.
Launched in October 1997 with 64 educational institutions in seven states, the Networking Academy has spread to more than 150 countries. Since its inception, over 1.6 Million students have enrolled at more than 10,000 Academies located in high schools, technical schools, colleges, universities, and community-based organizations. Inter alia, the Academy has been expanding workforce training for ICT technicians in 32 countries with over 5000 students enrolled, including 25 percent of women.
Target group: Youth, Students, Young Professionals, Women all over the world
Partners:Cisco, USAID, UNDP, ITU, partners from business, government and community organizations
The Tech Angels – New Zealand
Success Strategy:At Wellington Girls' College, a problem arose when the technological needs of the school could not be met by the staff available. This prompted the need for development and support of ICT skills for teachers. Mentoring needed to be offered, on the spot and all the time.
The Tech Angels are unique Kiwi answer to bridge the digital divide between students and teachers. Students use their own skills and knowledge to teach and support the teachers in their use of ICT. There are multiple benefits for staff, the student and also the students’ own communities.
The programme was launched in 2003 when the school’s technological needs started to outstrip the ICT skills among its teaching staff. Sponsored by the Ministry of Education, the students volunteer to take part in the programme and are given professional training in ICT and how to teach and support college staff. Each week students called Tech Angels provide mentoring and support in ICT to college staff. Each Tech Angel mentors two teachers, teaching topics ranging from general use of the computer through to scanning, movie editing and burning CDs.
This particular application of the peer-to-peer approach is likely to generate double benefit in terms of teachers’ higher skills and reduction of the school budget for qualification and training programmes. An other long-term benefit is the overall enhancement of the quality of the schooling due to the improved opportunities for teachers to share the unlimited resources of internet knowledge and information exchange.
Partners:Ministry of Education – New Zealand
Kerala - God's own Digital Country
Success strategy: One would have thought that bridging the digital divide is an impossible task. But Kerala, Amarthya Sens’s favourite development model, has shown how it is possible to attain complete literacy and long life expectancy and excellent social indicators despite having low per capita income. Kerala, in an endeavour to bridge the divide and propel Kerala as India's foremost knowledge society, embarked on 'Akshaya Project' on the 18th of November, 2002. It is expected that Akshaya will be a watershed in effacing the divide between "information haves" and "information have-nots" and in disseminating the benefits of IT to the common man.
The Akshaya project has three focus areas – facilitate access to technology to all region of the state, to felicitate development of skills and competencies to enable use of IT by all sections of society, to develop content in local language on topic of local relevance.
Akshaya will rank amongst the most ambitious ICT programs ever attempted in a developing society. The project is expected to generate a network of 6000 information centres in the state, generate about 50,000 employment opportunities and throw up investment opportunities to the tune of Rs.500 Crores, all within a time span of 3 years.
The Akshaya project was envisaged as a practical, commercially viable enabler essentially having to
- Impart basic IT literacy to at least one member of the lakh families in the state.
- Extend the training initiative into a service delivery mechanism for the local citizen.
The Service Delivery Mechanism is simple -once the people have been introduced to the immense possibilities of ICTs the next step would be to make facilities available to make their learning useful and reap the benefits.
The Akshaya project has already been successfully implemented in Malappurram district of Kerala. At least one person in over 75 0000lakh families has been made computer literate.
Furthermore, the focus of the programme will be to ensure a viable, sustainable service delivery mechanism for the citizens of the state. The Akshaya centre have been equipped with necessary equipment like computers, fax, printers, telephones, broad band internet connection etc., and software so as to cater to the information and communication requirements of the local citizens. A community portal, which will cater to the day-to-day requirements of the local community, is also envisaged.
eLiteracy Campaign
The eLiteracy campaign is the foundation on which the state seeks to bridge the digital divide in the state. The underlying objective of the campaign is to remove the "fear of the unknown" that common people have about technology in general and computers in particular.
The eLiteracy campaign proposes to impart basic/functional eLiteracy to one member of each of the 65 lakh families in the state. Selection of the member to be trained will be decided by the family members. The persons trained as part of this campaign are expected to act as a catalyst in ensuring the overall success of the project.
The course content is being designed keeping this in mind. The emphasis of the training program will be on the use of technology and not on technology itself. The program will aim at opening up the minds of the student to the immense possibilities and benefits of ICT.
The expected direct benefits from the programme are mainly
At least 1 computer literate person in every home in the state- Network of 6000 Community Information Centres across the state
- Convenient access for the common man to information services
- Local Community Empowerment
- Generate locally relevant content
- Generate over 50,000 direct employment opportunities in three years
- Generate direct investment of over Rs. 500 crores in 3 years
The expected indirect benefits are
- Cheaper communication through internet telephony, e-mail, chat etc
- Enhanced ICT demand in Tele-medicine, e-Commerce and e-Education
- Enlarged marketing opportunities for agricultural, traditional products and artefacts
- Improved delivery of public services
- Catalysing of all sectors in the IT Industry
The project has been designed to leverage Kerala's unique strenght, active community organisations, progressive social framework, advanced telecom infrastructure and wide- spread media penetration. The use of self-employment programmes and private enterprise within a government framework in development of training institutes and content generation will aim at ensuring commercial viability as well as sustainability of the project.
After initial successful implementation in Malappuram, the plan is to cover the entire state by end 2005. This would create direct investment of 3000000 INR and create 50000 job opportunities. The 6000 – 9000 Akshaya centers would network 30 million people across 600 thousand household giving them access to broadband connectivity. Akshaya centers would also provide service like data entry, desktop publishing, advanced computer training and internet telephony. More importantly; these centers would serve as a front end for government services such as disbursement of forms or payment collections.
In future Akshaya will also offer information tailor-made for Keralites. The content developed in local language would include education, health, law, career development, agriculture, gender studies, taxation, housing and other avenues to empower people to better help themselves. Akshaya would also include self development modules covering spoken English, vocational training, personality development, career planning and accounting.
Partners: Public Private Partnership (PPP) joining Kerala State IT Mission, STED Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board) and C-DIT (The Centre for Development of Imaging Technology), implemented through the Local Self Government (Panchayati Raj) Institutions (LSGIs)
Awards: Digital Communities Award of ARS Electronica 2005
Source: TakingITGlobal website and e-mail of Geert Lovink to the reader-list@sarai.net, May 23, 2005
For more information: see Akashya.net
DRC - Centre de Resources pour l'Apprentissage Communautaire (CRAC)
Success Strategy This project improved current basic educational methodologies and support the existing national curriculum in the Democratic Republic of Congo by fostering learning processes that are rooted in experience. The Centre uses local knowledge and technologies, interact effectively with local development problems, and makes appropriate use of information and communication technologies.
The project is a good example of using ICTs to address chronic information shortages and increase the capacity of a selected cadre of trainers, teachers, and community leaders. Thus they could create culturally appropriate and language-specific instructional materials for youth and adults based on sound, innovative pedagogy and using appropriate local and information technologies. The Centre has also been providing access and disseminating appropriate resources through increased media literacy, incorporate gender equity into these activities and materials.
Partners: Academy for Educational Development
Source: dot.com Alliance website
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict_stories/themes/education.html
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