This fall Rotary International awarded the Rotary Club of
Moshi a $53,000 Global Grant to develop a skills program under EdPowerment’s
supervision at the Kilimahewa Educational Centre. Today,
the program’s first stages are underway! Under the guidance of
EdPowerment Director, Kerri Elliott, a pairing of Internet and farming best
practice instruction in going to change lives in the villages of Kilimahewa.
 |
| Kerri joins community representatives attending the Rotary Club of Moshi meeting |
What does the
Global/Local Skills Program entail?
The Kiimahewa Centre’s talented staff will continue to teach
a core of academic subjects to local teens shut out of government schools. But
now, Internet access, powered by an upgraded and solar powered electrical grid,
will allow so much more. Students can attend
intensive English and math fundamentals classes – and then tap free learning
sites after learning how to use, communicate and seek opportunities on the
web.
Village adults can join their children in the learning process
through special adult education classes.
The world beyond Kilimahewa will be within their reach. These “peasants” can begin to overcome the
isolation that takes away their ambition and robs them of a belief that they
can improve the lives of their children.
There’s more…
The Global Grant is just not about bringing in
the outside world. It also expands Kilimahewa’s
existing chicken project in order to teach skills that will help area farmers
build real, sustainable businesses. Today, too many local mamas fend for their
families by tending to a few “local” chickens and carrying meager baskets of
vegetables to sell at corners. Teens
will learn how to move beyond this existence by raising healthy chickens and
crops, monitoring costs, seeking markets and sustaining production.
The Global/Local
Skills project is ambitious. It is an
innovative, practical way to serve this population – and it includes the
community in its planning. Every month a
community group made up of parents, teachers, and village
leaders meets to discuss the programs, their progress and the best way to move
forward and reach their own society.
 |
| EdPowerment Country Director and Kilimahewa Coordinator, Grace Lyimo, and community representatives share thoughts at the Rotary Club Meeting |
The ability to attend quality courses locally is invaluable
to villagers with only their feet for transport. As teens and adults join classes and use an
Internet facility within walking distance of their soil and cement homes, the
Centre strives to become more independently sustainable.
EdPowerment
is excited to share this news! We are energized
to guide this transition as we continue to fund the staff and operational costs
of an educational haven for those the world has left behind.
No comments:
Post a Comment