Kenya: Samburu nomadic school initiative to pilot Montessori schools for the Namunyak Conservancy area, as a sustainable educational model to preserve the Samburu community’s cultural and natural heritage. A nurse monitors the health situation, and no COVID has appeared. The tent school was closed but teachers continue making educational materials in English, Maa and Swahili until the school reopens.
The Samburu nomadic school initiative started in 2018 with a community engagement programme to pilot transferable Montessori schools in the Namunyak Conservancy area, in Northern Kenya.
The objectives of the Samburu Nomadic School Initiative are to:
- Create a long-term sustainable model for educating children in the Samburu community, with the goal of preserving the magnificent cultural and natural heritage of the Samburu people and lands.
- Ensure that agency for change is in the hands of the on-site population. The project is founded on the principle of ‘help me to do it by myself’. Change will not be imposed but the ‘inspiration for change’, ‘guidance for change’ and ‘tools for change’ will be provided by participants and stakeholders with the project.
- Ensure that the children receive a quality Montessori education that supports individual development in the context of community.
Two experienced teachers from Corner of Hope moved to the remote region as mentor teachers, to support a team of newly trained Samburu teachers. Six members of the Samburu community have now undertaken the 3-6 National Certificate training and 2 more are currently in training. As part of continuous capacity enhancement, two teachers are also enrolled in the 3-6 in-service National Diploma training.
A team of six teachers (2 senior teachers from Corner of Hope and 4 Samburu teachers) is based in the Namunyak Conservancy, with tented classrooms in the Ntaparani and Tintil settlement areas, to work with the children and parents in moveable Montessori environments. All materials and the tents can be transported when the community decides to move to another settlement, or can be moved into a safe storage at the end of the term dates.
Plans are underway to establish a third school at Lengusaka, thus ensuring that more children will be able to attend school. Also, the new site will offer an opportunity for the new trainees (Hosea and Veronica) to join the team and undertake their field attachment. There will then be two teachers at each location with mentor teachers Judy and Terry rotating between locations. There are also plans to expand the school infrastructure through the construction of the Resource Centre in the nearby town of Sereolipi. The Samburu initiative is realized in partnership with the Sarara Foundation, where education is one of the core pillars to support the nomadic Samburu from birth to maturity.
School uniforms based on the traditional Samburu attire are under preparation and shelves are being made to accommodate more Montessori materials, thus offering the children a full range of Montessori materials. A food programme is also in place, thus allowing the children to have a healthy meal and more time in school.
Under the mentorship of Corner of Hope teachers Judy Mugambi and Terry Koskei, the Samburu Montessori school has continued to thrive and exhibit marked improvement in quality of teaching. The children within the settlement areas of Ntaparani and Tintil attend school on regular basis and there is huge community support towards the two schools.
Source:- https://montessori-esf.org/project/samburu
EsF Stories: Terry Koskei
“I have been able to interact with lots of different people from all backgrounds, all through my life."
MAKE MOTHER EARTH & EDO Group
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ATD Fourth World All Together in Dignity
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COVID-19: Taking Action in the Philippines so No One Is Left Behind
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Full News -
Above: Relief packs being distributed to families in North Cemetery.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Philippines, the government, like others around the world, imposed quarantines of varying strictness. In Metro Manila there were curfews and stay at home orders. Businesses had to close and transport networks became limited. A strong police and military presence in the streets assured that people followed these restrictions which have caused an abrupt and unprecedented disruption in the lives of all Filipinos. However, the impact on those surviving on daily wages and informal sources of income has been particularly severe.
No work means no food
As the quarantine progressed, the situation of those living in extreme poverty became very difficult. Through phone calls, the ATD Philippines team and friends managed to be in constant contact with the communities where they work. One team member summed up the situation:
“Informal workers, which comprise most of [the people] in our communities, including our cemetery community, have no work. No work means no pay or income, and that means no food.”
Almost immediately, ATD Philippines, along with friends and community facilitators (people living in poverty who organize within their communities), started planning a response to the intensifying COVID-19 situation. An official ATD Philippines statement urged government authorities “to act quickly in the implementation of measures to provide for basic needs of people living in extreme poverty and to protect their health and to assure their right to food.”
COVID-19 Solidarity Action
The ATD statement also called for the public’s participation in ATD’s COVID-19 Solidarity Action by donating money to provide food as well as health and other essentials to the most excluded families in the communities where ATD works. These include the Manila North Cemetery (where ATD Philippines runs the Ang Galing Literacy Program with homeless families who live there), Barangay 825 in Paco, and the relocation sites in Bulacan and Laguna.
In order to coordinate these efforts, ATD Philippines provided mobile load phone allowance to community facilitators to keep them connected with the team through online meetings and phone communications. Thanks to the generosity of numerous people, ATD was able to start providing support to families in the first week of April 2020. Facilitators identified the families most in need and prioritized them for provisions. The facilitators also provided input on the best delivery methods.
In partnership with Caritas Manila, ATD was able to purchase and deliver 341 food packs for the communities in Manila North Cemetery and Barangay 825 in Paco, Manila. Another 94 families in the Bulacan and Laguna relocation sites received financial assistance through cash transfer channels to help them buy food. These actions were organized by everyone working together in the context of the quarantines in place.
While fundraising was ongoing, other partner organizations and ATD friends provided additional support like food packs, materials to create masks, and hot meals.
The solidarity was impressive; ATD Philippines exceeded its initial fundraising target. But as the quarantines will last until the end of April 2020, ATD continues its call for solidarity, including donations.
Ongoing support for those most in need
ATD Philippines will keep up its dialogue with people in poverty to get their insight on how to improve support efforts. To ensure that donations effectively reach those in greatest need, facilitators lead mini forums in their communities to gather information and to learn from community members. As ATD plans the next wave of support for these communities, this input from residents will also assure that efforts are adapted to the needs of each community. However, the number of families needing help will certainly increase. Facilitators insist that the situation is difficult for everyone and the support people are getting from public institutions isn’t enough.
Source :- https://www.atd-fourthworld.org/covid-19-taking-action-in-the-philippines-so-that-no-one-is-left-behind/
Centre Catholique International de Cooperation avec l'UNESCO
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sss
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South Asia Foundation
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GUAN RAIN
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Producto del confinamiento hemos podido detenernos en nuestras vidas y mirar las riquezas que tenemos como cultura,
donde toman un rol fundamental los concepto como el “rekvlugun y quellugun” (apoyarse, ayudarse),
por otro lado han tomado un rol protagónico los espacios donde se da el “lawen” (remedios naturales), los bosques nativos, los “menokos” (humedales), “trayenco” (espacios donde brota el agua)
de igual forma, las machi son las que están guiando este proceso en su rol de autoridad medicinal y espiritual
NGO's links for UNESCO
https://montessori-esf.org/project/samburu
https://montessori-esf.org/blog/esf-stories-terry-koskei
http://edogroup.com.co/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wnYnpuO7zc&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=MakeMothersMatter
ATD : https://www.atd-fourthworld.org/
https://www.atd-fourthworld.org/covid-19-taking-action-in-the-philippines-so-that-no-one-is-left-behind/
SAF : https://www.southasiafoundation.org/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/252283172690991/permalink/256849012234407/
CCIC : https://ccic-unesco.org/ |