NGOs provide global education resources

By Heather Turnbull

International Development Week (IDW) February 1–7, 2009 highlighted and illustrated the work of Canada’s development community. For teachers, the IDW offers a ready made opportunity to help students and the broader school community to focus on global issues and to get involved. IDW provides a great opportunity to:

• increase the awareness of the role Canadians play in international development.
• learn more about life in developing countries.
• be inspired and find out how to become global citizens, actively involved in international development.

The BC Council for International Co-operation is a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating locally and globally, to reduce global poverty and achieve sustainable human development. BCCIC highlights global education initiatives, including specific projects, workshops, and resources that NGOs have developed for BC schools and educators. Many NGOs are building partnerships with teachers and schools and implementing projects that deepen students’ understanding of what it means to be a global citizen.

VIDEA

Victoria International Development Education Association (VIDEA) has worked to inform and inspire youth, students, and teachers for close to 30 years. VIDEA is excited to announce a new series of free interactive workshops that take a participatory approach to bringing global issues into the classroom. All workshops are designed to inspire and empower students and teachers with the knowledge and resources to further explore the issues and get involved outside the classroom setting. Upcoming workshops are free and topics include Education for All, Migrant Labour, Ethical Consumption and the Chocolate Trade, and Colonialism, Power and the Global Economy. In addition, VIDEA’s website, www.videa.ca, provides learning resources on topics relating to community development, the environment, and free trade.

Global stewardship

The Global Stewardship Program at Capilano University is delivering a series of workshops at secondary schools designed to engage students with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. A final conference is scheduled for May 2009. All secondary school students in Grade 11 or 12 are invited to enter the You Too Video, Audio Podcast, or PowerPoint contest, in which there is a total of $1,000 in prizes. Winning entries will be highlighted at the conference. The deadline is February 20, and details can be found at www.capilanou.ca/globalstewardship.

Seva Canada

Seva Canada is an international eye-care charity with programs in Nepal, Tibet, India, Tanzania, Egypt, Cambodia, and Guatemala. As part of its public outreach, Seva offers a live, multimedia adaptation of Tolstoy’s The Three Questions, for Grades 3 to 6. A young prince discovers the importance of kindness and forgiveness through his quest for the answers to three questions. Information about blindness, its causes, and prevention is an optional part of the presentation, to connect the concept of kindness and social responsibility with Seva’s international development work. A resource manual, Active Citizenship, developed by Seva, is available and provides lesson plans for students to create and develop their own service projects. Contact Paula Ford at paula@seva.ca.

Partners for prosperity

Partners for Prosperity (PPP), a Shawnigan Lake NGO, has been building bridges of understanding and shared learning with students in the Cowichan Valley and surrounding districts. PPP is able to assist teachers and school districts in developing and locating programs and resources to meet their needs in the areas of youth leadership, cross-cultural understanding, food security, and community capacity building through their network of over 100 projects locally and internationally. Contact Barb Kruger at partners@mgvinc.com.

African community technical services

Over the last three years, African Community Technical Services (ACTS) has supported the development of global awareness, citizenship, and social responsibility with over 200 children at E.S. Richards Elementary School in Mission. ACTS has played a significant role in bringing fresh water to rural villages in Uganda for 20 years and ACTS staff and volunteers have used this knowledge to form a school club for students that is twinned with a village school in Uganda. Through slideshows, artifacts, and demonstration activities, ACTS has discussed issues in education, health, water, and sanitation. Hundreds of letters, valentines, and art work have passed back and forth between communities. Currently ACTS is distributing student-purchased malaria nets in Ugandan villages. ACTS looks forward to assisting other schools with global awareness initiatives. Contact Richard Roberts at roberts@acts.ca.

Trans Himalayan aid society

The Trans Himalayan Aid Society (TRAS) is a small Vancouver-based NGO, which supports health and education for children and youth in the Himalayan regions of India, Nepal, and Tibet. TRAS work has been supported both by schools and students interested in finding ways to help children in poorer parts of the world. Over the past five years, students at Argyle Secondary School, in North Vancouver, have raised funds to support a vocational training program in Nepal for the destitute and the street children. Inspired by student action, the student council at North Van’s Sutherland Secondary School took up the same challenge three years ago. Both student groups have raised substantial funds for projects. TRAS supports students’ efforts with talks, slideshows, displays, pamphlets, newsletters, and letters from the field. TRAS is amazed by the students’ enthusiasm and is looking for other schools to get involved. Contact tras@portal.ca.

Global studies program

The Global Studies Program at Vancouver Island University and Global Village Nanaimo, an independent non-profit society engaged in fair trade, currently sponsor a public speaker series. In this series, NGOs describe their involvement in finding solutions and giving renewed hope in various parts of the world. According to Dr. Catherine Schittecatte, chair of both Political Science and the Global Studies Program and also Global Studies internship co-ordinator, “Not only do these speakers contribute their direct and personal experiences in various parts of the world, but they provide students with a sentiment of empowerment when exposed to the feasibility of the very constructive and positive work that these speakers have undertaken with marked results.” Speakers not only complement classroom material with real life experiences but they open students’ eyes to the possibilities of their own involvement in post-graduate careers. For information on this series, contact Samantha Letourneau at gvnanaimo@gmail.com.

BCCIC is committed to international co-operation by supporting the work of our members and by promoting and mobilizing British Columbians as active global citizens. BCCIC’s work is undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Contact BCCIC for information on member organizations’ work both locally and globally at info@bccic.ca, or to learn about IDW activities across BC and Canada please visit CIDA’s website: www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/IDW.

Heather Turnbull is program officer for BC Council for International Co-operation.