Eshbik Egypt
Eshbik Egypt: Building International Schools Consortium
• Who: The primary beneficiaries of this project are:
• Schoolchildren aged 6 – 12 in three continents: Africa (Alexandria, Egypt), North America (Atlanta, GA, USA) and Europe (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
The secondary beneficiaries of this project are:
• Families of the schoolchildren involved
• Teachers and caregivers dealing directly with the schoolchildren
• Staff from our various partners (See section: “Partners”)
• What: Filming, sound recording, editing and sharing video logs of daily lives of how the children of the respective countries mentioned above lead their daily lives. Schoolchildren will be using various One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) applications, specifically the Record Activity. This video sharing will extend to basic curriculum exchange as well; for example, geography class sharing, interfaith understanding, country/region history sharing…etc. Schoolchildren in Alexandria, Egypt will be using XO Laptops to compose these movies. Children in Atlanta, GA, USA will use technology available through their afterschool programming at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, one of the partners of The ArtReach Foundation, Inc®. Children in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina will be sponsored through donations raised in the United States to use Internet Cafés supervised by their teachers.
• When: The implementation of the proposed project will start one week after the completion of the 10-day orientation in Kigali, Rwanda. This will be on Sunday, June 28, 2009 for duration of 10 weeks.
• Where: The main implementation in Egypt will be based in Alexandria. This selection has been made because of the strategic location of our local partners; Bibliotheca Alexandria (BA) and International Education and Resource Network (iEARN). BA is based in Alexandria and iEARN has 32 School partners in the same city that we can take advantage of.
Working with Children:
The students will be on school break during that period in all three countries. The schoolchildren involved in the program will be those attending the various afterschool programming offered by the respective partners. In Alexandria, schoolchildren constantly pass through the BA to visit the various children related museums and activities it hosts. iEARN also have continuous programs offered for children. In the United States, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta hosts children year round. In Sarajevo, The ArtReach Foundation will be contacting its partners to investigate venues of existing afterschool programming that we can utilize. Our local and international partners will be of utmost importance to us in carrying these activities.
Partners:
• International Partners:
o The ArtReach Foundation, Inc® and its partners The Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta in Atlanta, GA, USA and various ArtReach trained teachers in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ArtReach Foundation’s mission is to influence and assist - through creative expressive arts therapies - the growth and development of children and adults who have experienced the traumatic effects of war, violence, and/or natural disaster. The contact is Ms. Susan Anderson, CEO & Founder. http://www.artreachfoundation.org/ The Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta is a partner of The ArtReach Foundation that we will be dealing with. The provide children with a positive place to go, results-oriented programming and a professional staff to guide them. http://www.bgcma.org/
• Domestic Partners:
o Bibliotheca Alexandria (BA), headquartered in Alexandria, Egypt. The Bibliotheca Alexandria has a mission of becoming a center of excellence for the production and dissemination of knowledge, a place of dialogue and understanding between cultures and peoples. The BA is currently in touch with MIT Media Lab, Mr. Frank Moss. The contact at the Library is Ms. Hoda S. Elmikaty, Director of the Planetarium Science Center at BA. http://www.bibalex.org/
o (iEARN), Egyptian Association for Educational Resources/ International Education and Resource Network based in Cairo, Egypt. iEARN is a non-profit global network that enables young people to use the Internet and other new technologies to engage in collaborative educational projects that both enhance learning and make a difference in the world. They have an exhaustive list of partners that who will help identifying schools in need of OLPC equipment and training. The contact at iEARN is Dr. Dalia Khalil, Director. www.iearnegypt.org/
Impact and Sustainability:
The strategy we will adopt is a Train the Trainers model. Upon our arrival, we will be teaching children from ages 11 – 12 first on how to use the XO laptops. Once we feel that they have mastered the use of this equipment, we will be training this group on how to train other schoolchildren. In turn, these “trainers” will be able to train their younger peers on how to use the laptops. Here, our role will transition to mentoring this older group of schoolchildren on how they train other schoolchildren, and intervene as needed. Further, we will be working with our local partners on ways to sustain this project beyond 10 weeks. This will be through expanding the existing network of partners, encouraging educated private sector philanthropy to ensure highest return in impact. Moreover, we will be discussing with the American University of Cairo ways to create this as a project that is run by undergraduate and graduate Egyptian students – this will be a model for community members to become socially responsible and give back, not just in money, but time and knowledge.