Education For All Children Blog

1/28/10 Ishmael Beah

The resilience and ability of a human to heal and improve is amazing. Our missions as individuals of a greater human society should be, to help each other grow into an improved place through opportunities given.

The story of Ishmael Beah, a long way gone, is a tragic account of a young boy healing after being forced, by rebels to commit unthinkable acts of terror. The book captures the true story about young boys surviving, by living a life they loathed.

Through nurturing and assistance, Beah changed his mental state from that of a soldier, to that of a boy who learned to say, "What I have learned from my experiences is that revenge is not good." Instead of hiding from his terrifying past, he shares it to create awareness of the violence Sierra Leone endured during the early nineties. This story of forgiveness and acceptance of truth is symbolic of the African continent's ability to forgive the atrocities wreaked upon their people and move forward.

The Washington Post said, "Everyone in the world should read this book… We should read it to learn about the world and about what it means to be human."

World crime is highest in impoverished countries. By educating the next generation, we will invest in a more peaceful world.

Labels: Importance of Education, Making a difference

1/22/10 Reaching Dreams with Communication

Today's Boston Globe highlighted a local company named txteagle, a virtual research firm that provides information throughout the world, is now slated to be Kenya's largest employer. Essentially, it utilizes underemployed Kenyans to do research for the company at low "piecework" wages.

It made me think of Joshua, our sponsored student, and the wonderful letter we recently received from him. He is so appreciative and open in sharing his goals. His aspirations go well beyond the aforementioned company, and thanks to Education for all Children, his dreams are now-- incredibly-- reachable. In my brief tenure on the Board, I've learned that this organization has rippled well beyond the small number of Kenyan children for whom they have been able to provide education. (Although more than 90 young scholars are currently enrolled in Kenya's finest schools thanks to the effort) With this momentum, EFAC is moving beyond the incredible commitment and hard work the Van Scivers and few close friends as more people realize the world-changing effect we can have with The Education for all Children model. Unlike so many "outside" efforts to help the developing world, EFAC partners with some of the premier educational resources in the host country.

The Board's recent retreat helped many of us learn the brief, but dynamic growth of the organization during the past couple of years, and we strategized for the future. Our next meeting, Thursday, will undoubtedly help us define the path to reach them.

By Jay Dinkel, EFAC Board Member

Labels: EFAC Progress, Importance of Education

1/13/10 Giving Education

Kenya's President Kibaki's administration's goal is Education For All Children by 2015. EFAC's mission is to identify the poorest children with the most potential to succeed and give them the opportunity of a great education. The Kenyan goals are closely aligned with EFAC, but the Kenyan administration is having a hard time finding the resources necessary to provide good education for all. EFAC is able to assist Kenya toward their goal with scholarship funds.

Currently the country struggles to offer all children primary and secondary education with a 1:40 teacher to student ratio. The education program is also having difficulty reaching all areas in the country; in some places only private schools exist. According to the national exam results from the Kenyan Certification of Primary Education schools without some tuition based funding are unable to provide an adequate education.

Despite the challenges, millions of children are enrolled in public school. The Kenyan Daily National stated on 1/5/10, "The first beneficiaries of free primary education for all eight years of primary school entered Standard Eight on Monday as schools reopened for first term." Kenya is moving in the right direction and EFAC is offering assistance, giving children the opportunity to a great education.

Labels: Education in Kenya

1/5/10 Interdependency

In a recent interview with Bill Clinton, Jon Meacham of Newsweek Magazine asked the former president what he saw as the most important issue America should be thinking about. Clinton answered, the issues surrounding our global interdependence. With the internet, global travel, immigration and shared scientific knowledge, the world is more interdependent than ever before in history. He feels therefore that the mission of the 21st century is to build on the positive and reduce the negative forces of interdependency. His filter for any initiative is, will it increase positive interdependence or reduce negative interdependence? If the answer is yes, he supports the idea.

One of the negative forces impacting interdependency that Clinton identifies is inequality of education. How can we hope to achieve a peaceful, collaborative and sharing world, if all the world's children do not reach a common level of education? How can those without proper education contribute to and participate in the evolving global society? Can we ever truly achieve peace with a permanent underclass of global citizens? Can we ever achieve our potential as a global society without the input and creativity of all the world's children?

I doubt it.

By Rod Van Sciver

Labels: Clinton, Importance of Education, Technology

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Education For All Children Blog

1/28/10 Ishmael Beah

1/22/10 Reaching Dreams with Communication

1/13/10 Giving Education

1/5/10 Interdependency