SHARING WEB RESOURCES

                                             Giving Hope To A World Of Need

                                                             Education:

The link and web resources program that Ilink to was CRS.
CRS and its partners promote and support access to quality basic education for all. The agency stands in solidarity with the most marginalized populations and works to effect individual, structural, and systematic changes. In so doing, CRS contributes to building peaceful and just societies.
CRS implements or supports education activities in three areas:

• Crisis areas
• Areas that are transitioning from a crisis to stability
• Relatively stable areas

In crisis areas, CRS often provides support directly to schools, whereas in poor but relatively stable areas, CRS supports local "grassroots" organizations or partners who, in turn, work closely with local schools.
CRS' education programming is based on continuous dialogue and reflection for improved performance. Special emphasis is given to working with the social agencies of the local Catholic Church and other faith-based organizations because of our shared commitment to promoting justice and our respect for human life and dignity.

CRS has three priorities for its education programming:

1. Access and Equity
2. Quality Education
3. Community Participation

CRS considers these priorities when implementing activities such as Food-Assisted Education (FAE), also known as school feeding programs. CRS has supported school feeding programs since 1958. School meals help meet short and long-term education, nutrition, and food security objectives.
In the mid-90s, CRS expanded its programs by combining school feeding with education activities that focus on improving the quality of education, girls' access to education, support for teachers, health/hygiene education and services for students, school infrastructure improvement, and increased parental and community involvement in schools. The participants in these expanded school feeding programs are mostly pre-school and primary school students in rural, food insecure regions. In most Africa and Asia programs, school feeding activities have a special emphasis on drawing girls to school.
In the short-term, school feeding encourages children to enroll in school and attend regularly because they receive a meal at school. Through the school meal, children receive essential nutrients, which improve their ability to learn. This meal is also an incentive for parents to send their children to school because they know their children will eat well at school, and that they will not have to use limited family funds and time to prepare a midday meal.
School feeding programs also help meet long-term education and food security objectives. Over time, investments in education, especially for girls, have been shown to improve family health and incomes and help ensure food security for future generations.
In addition to school feeding activities, CRS sometimes uses schools and the school system as a delivery mechanism for other types of services. An example of this would be a health or nutrition project that provides food (to address short-term food security) or micronutrients (to address specific micronutrient deficiency) to children in schools.

Who Do These Activities Reach?

CRS' education programs are implemented around the world in Africa , Asia , Latin America and the Caribbean , the Middle East and Eastern Europe . Education activities promote increased access to, quality of, and community involvement in education, and often combine several of these goals at the same time.
Beneficiaries and participants in CRS' education projects are school-age children, their parents and other members of the larger community, teachers and administrators, and local grassroots project partners. Schools participating in CRS' education programs are public, private, and parochial.
Education programs focus on primary or pre-primary grades and are implemented through both the formal education system and informal learning environments. Informal learning environments provide basic education to groups that have traditionally been excluded from schooling and strengthen parent and community organizations to become a positive force for improving education.

Background of CRS' Education Program:

CRS is constantly evaluating and improving its education programming and recently expanded its school feeding activities to focus more on primary education. CRS began implementing new types of education programming, as well as making a fundamental shift in its programming: instead of seeing school-based food assistance as the centerpiece of the agency's education programming, education was made the focus.
Now, food assistance is seen as one of several possible interventions and school feeding was renamed Food-Assisted Education. FAE is defined as a set of "interventions supporting long-term education objectives, which are being implemented with food (among other) resources and thus aim to have short-term food security impact in addition to long-term food security impact." Adoption of this model has inspired a new generation of progressive education initiatives within the agency. A wide variety of programming is now in progress and goals include:

• Promoting girls' education
• Strengthening parental/community involvement in education
• Improving access to education
• Improving the quality of education
• Improving infrastructure and school environments
• Promoting inclusive education
• Promoting adult education and literacy
• Promoting early childhood development
• Promoting health/hygiene/nutrition/sanitation through schools
• Promoting education for peacebuilding
• Promoting vocational training and life skills
• Promoting short-term food security in emergency situations

Specific activities that meet these programming goals include:

• Distributing micronutrient supplements to improve students' health
• Providing parents with hygiene and nutrition education
• Improving teachers' skills and directors' school management techniques
• Providing take-home rations to encourage the enrollment and attendance of girls and other marginalized groups
• Initiating information and education campaigns to raise awareness of the importance of issues such as girls' education
• Strengthening Parent Teacher Associations to increase community involvement in education

Reference:
http://crs.org/education/?gclid=CM639PrBkboCFZKk4AodRUEA3g

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 2

Being able to connect with another teacher from another country have been great experiences.Some times we don't realize how lucky we are. Many children in Egypt are not able to return to class today because of  their country political problem. They have to be privately tutor in order to finsih their education. Many of the schools condition are in poor condition because at this time there are no budget. The classes are at teh max and many children are sitting on the floor. Parents are advise to home school their childre or have them go to a American private school school in which it may cost a lot of money. Mai explains Teachers often write their own learner guides, which are not always better than state allocated books, but help students prepare for exams. They sell the books to students to make extra money.  However, as time goes on we all know that the children need a education. What are the parents suppose to do?The excessive use of private tutoring also suggests that the education clause of the social contract has long been broken. Other indicators, like the consistent under-education of Egypt’s poor also point to the same. In Egypt, many children receive private lessons from the very same teachers who are paid, albeit rather poorly, to teach them in school. But since correct work incentives and performance monitoring have basically been absent, and teachers are so underpaid, over time, the system of private tutoring became a regular feature in education. Rather than interfere, decades of education ministers turned a blind eye and, in effect, openly admitted to the disregard of this element of the social contract.
All together, the expense and pervasiveness of private tutoring in Egypt seems to be a vote of no confidence in the education system’s ability to adequately deliver quality education. More importantly, one could argue that the education system fulfils neither the need for nor the right to education. The system is broken. We hear this all the time.

Sharing Web Resources 2

EGYPT

Many of the articles and Web-site refer to the same problems in Egypt. I mainly find my resource through-out the news or CNN web site or friends from Egypt.

While Egypt struggles to wade through political problems, its education system suffers

Literacy rates are low and unemployment is high, especially among females

Many middle-class families are spending a large part of their income on private tutoring

A few start-up companies have emerged, however, to address the education deficit.

Two and a half years after the country's uprising began, Egypt's fledgling democracy is stillborn, stubbornly stuck between its past and future. And as the government struggles to wade through the country's protracted political problems, Egypt's festering education system is orphaned -- even though, with a growing youth population, it's key to the country's future.(CNN., 2013)
In the World Economic Forum's latest report on global competitiveness, Egypt ranked near the bottom -- 131st out of 144 countries -- for quality of primary education. Egypt's literacy rate is 66%, according to a 2011 United Nations report. Meanwhile, a report by London think tank Chatham House says just $129 a year is spent on each Egyptian student; the United States, for example, spends 40 times as much.(CNN., 2013)

Reference:
http//www.CNN.com/2013/frica/egypt-court-ruling

Poverty in Egypt

Poverty in Egypt:

Mia is my contact from Egypt. She teacher's in the city Alexandria. There are about 10 million poor families in the country. Mia teachers in American School in Egypt. Where she teachers' at many of the families are very rich but the school is located in a very poor area. Egypt, economy is not good and there is less student attending school this year.

This is a picture children in American school in Egypt.In the World Economic Forum's , Egypt ranked near the bottom -- 131st out of 144 countries -- for quality of primary education. Egypt's literacy rate is 66%.  Mia stated right now the schools are in limbo and they don't know what will happen in the next couple of months. Many of the children are live in very poor conditions even the children who are going to American schools life have been turn upside down with all the fighting in Egypt.

Sharing Web Resources

Sharing Web Resources:

The Global Fund for Children: they are a international organization that help children all over the world. At The Global Fund for Children, we transform the lives of children on the edges of society—trafficked children, refugees, child laborers—and help them regain their rights and pursue their dreams.In other words, we do all we can to let kids be kids—no matter what their circumstances. Since 1997, we’ve reached 8 million children worldwide.http://www.globalfundforchildren.org

I pick overseas program because millions of children are born into a harsh reality. The Global Fund for Children raise money to help children and their families.

Our Grantees

The Global Fund for Children partners with grassroots organizations that provide kids with what they need to thrive, even in the most challenging circumstances. Our grantees have the entrepreneurial vision and passion to transform their communities. We help them get there. Global Fund for Children grantees are:

(Newsletter: http://www.globalfundforchildren.org/index.php?option=com_civicrm&Itemid=340 )

 

Early Childhood Education Around the World

                                         Egypt

                          Professional Contact:
I choose to contact a very close friend from Egypt. His wife is a Pre-School Teacher in Alexander Egypt.
1. I e-mail  Ahmad elzoghby to ask him if his wife Mia would like to participate in a school project.
He e-mail me back and gave me his wife number.
2. The e-mail address  ahmad@elzoghby.com and the number is 910-3000.
3. Mia reach out to me today and was so happy to participate.


Global Fund for Children:

The reason why I pick global fund for Children because they reach out to all nations to help children of all ages. They not only raise money to education but they build character and confidence in these children. Children from all over the world are able participate in so many programs and events because of the Global Fund for Children.

Regions they support:

East and Southeast Asia

Europe and Eurasia

Latin America and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

North America

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

What they do?
 Millions of children around the world are born into a stark reality: will they work in markets and mines, or go to school? Will they be trafficked into slavery, or be free? Will they be child soldiers, or students? These are staggering choices no child should face. At The Global Fund for Children, we transform the lives of children on the edges of society—trafficked children, refugees, child laborers—and help them regain their rights and pursue their dreams.In other words, we do all we can to let kids be kids—no matter what their circumstances. Since 1997, we’ve reached 8 million children worldwide.
http://www.globalfundforchildren.org

 

My Support

Family, is my  most important part of my life. My mother always told me, that I  should support my brother and sister's through-out their life. I always remember to relay this message to my own children. My husband is my back bone just as if I am his back bone and our children and grandchildren is our life support. I give thanks to God every morning to be able to wake up and see my family again. Especially my parents who supports me and my own family. We are such a close knit family if someone get sick we all take turn to take care of that person. My brother and sister's children are my children just as if my children are my brother and sister's children.

Belief:                                                    

Our Mosque is part of my support, we pray there and it also part of our community. Without the support of my mosque I think my life and my family life would be different. The support from the families that go to the mosque helps our community in many different ways. The support they have given to me and my family I couldn't ask God for better group of people. I don't now what I would do without my religion or belief. I truly thank God for keeps my family together. We always take time aleast once a week to have family dinner and during that time we pray together because we believe that if a family pray together stays together.