The GNRC AS Local Workshop for Children in Preparation for the GNRC 4th Forum was organized from 7- 9 February 2012. It was attended by 30 children and youth from various Schools and religious communities in Cairo. Participants were Muslims (Sunni), Christians (Coptic Orthodox, Arab Orthodox, Coptic Catholic, Roman Catholic, Anglicans, and Protestants). They aged 14-18 and the Workshop was held in the Church of Archangels for Arab Orthodox Community in Al-Daher Area, Cairo.
Members of GNRC Egypt Committee and representatives of GNRC Organizations were present throughout the workshop, as well as board members of the Church of Archangels for Arab Orthodox Community.
The three working days were facilitated by Miss Hind Farahat and Miss Rand Farahat
Continue reading Local Workshop for Children In Preparation for the GNRC 4th Forum, Egypt, February 2012
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An article presenting Arigatou International and its work, titled “How a Small Buddhist Movement is Teaching Children in the Interfaith World to Live Together” was published in The Interfaith Observer.
Continue reading Arigatou International featured in The Interfaith Observer
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The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequalities among children, and an aspect where this is more evident is the children’s right to good quality education.
If children don’t have the same access to the internet, education during the pandemic cannot be the same for all. This was one of the main conclusions that children from Colombia and Cuba shared on Friday, November 5, during their participation in one of our guided tours to the virtual exhibition Faith in Action for Children.
More than 20 children from different rural communities in Colombia joined this interactive activity thanks to the support of local faith leaders who provided the location and the devices to make this dialogue possible.
Despite all the efforts, the online session was marked by difficulties in accessing the internet. Several children in Cuba tried to join the dialogue, but only one of them could make it, which led to the conversation about how the pandemic has made education harder for many children around the world suffering disproportionately from the lack of digital gadgets and access to the internet.
Ana Isabela, 8 years old from Santiago de Cuba, shared how she and other children in her community have been supporting their peers with limited technological access by providing educational information that they collected online and printed to give to their peers together with some school supplies. This child-led project was awarded by Arigatou International in 2020 and received a seed grant to kickstart it. Learn more here.
Children in Colombia have been gradually returning to face-to-face schooling, but as Laura, 11 years old, said “it is not yet the same as before”. Laura belongs to a rural community where access to the internet is scarce and limited.
During the dialogue, Laura and her peers had the opportunity to review the drawings, articles, and videos of other children from around the world about the impacts of the pandemic on their lives, and they reflected on how other children in disadvantaged regions have even more difficulties catching up with their studies as they cannot have online lessons or watch lessons on TV. In this scenario, parents and adults in general “should support children more, stay closer to us, and be more patient with us” recommended Ana Isabela.
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In Commemoration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP), the End Child Poverty Knowledge Centre in collaboration with the Sarvodaya movement held a day-long event with over 110 pupils, teachers and parents at Unagaswela Primary School, Karandeniya, Galle in Sri Lanka. Realizing that the school was located in a rural area with limited educational materials and facilities and that most parents around there were low-income earners, the event aimed at meeting the educational needs of the pupils as well as motivating them to keep focusing on education.
Three computers, books and other learning materials were provided to the children in the school. It was revealed that most children in the school were unable to attend online learning due to lack of digital gadgets like computers as well as the lack of Internet.
“In this school, there are 40 students who need assistance for their education. Their parents can’t afford money for a Computer, Smart Phone or any other technical device for their children’s Education in Online. During the Pandemic time, few children were able to connect with the conducted classes and one smart phone have been shared with two or three children at the same time. Other children had to travel more than 6 to 10 kilometers to get connected for the classes with a device of a friend’s home.” recalled the school Principal, Mr. Anil Jayawardhana.
Children were also enlightened about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by Mr. Shehan Koshila Kannangara, a trainee from UNDP, Sri Lanka. He emphasized on the need for children to learn about the SDGs and Sustainable Development in general as that was a key pathway towards eradicating not only child poverty but poverty in general. Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne, President of the Sarvodaya Movement also added his voice to the significance of the SDGs, saying:
“Arigatou International and Sarvodaya are celebrating IDEP in Sri Lanka which we challenge us to think and act for a sustainable development and sustainable life pattern to make a better future for our children”
The event ended with guests, parents and teachers being treated to song and dance, performed by the children. The parents also appreciated the event for nurturing them and empowering them with new thoughts and values. With regards to education of their children.
At Arigatou International – End Child Poverty, we believe that giving children quality education is a vehicle that would drive them out of poverty. It is for this reason that our Right to Education program aims to increase children’s access to equitable, quality education especially for those children affected by poverty and other vulnerabilities such as the COVID-19 pandemic, violent conflicts, forced displacement.
“This is a remarkable day in my life. I’m sitting in front of a computer. Now I want to come to school everyday and learn something new” – Child.
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Isaiah, a boy from (Kiambu / Nairobi) spoke during a Children’s Online Safety awareness session organised by our partner in Kenya, Stepping Up Global. The event was held on 20th October 2021, as part of the “Together We Can End Child Poverty Worldwide” Campaign, and as a follow-up to the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP), 17th October 2021 commemorations.
“I have learnt that the internet can be a dangerous world. People can take advantage of you and therefore you should not post a picture of you or things happening in your family.” – Isaiah, 12 years.
Divided in two groups of ages between 6 to 9 and 10 to 13, the children were led in identifying and discussing about how they can avoid any form of violence and abuse in the digital spaces. They were guided through basic privacy practices in order to ensure their safety, including being advised to avoid sharing personal information like passwords, photos, their full name, their school name, home address and date of birth.
Recalling their experience in 2020, one child participants expressed, “I would wait until my parents come from work in the evening to use their phone to log into Google-classroom to attend my class. I was not (very) conversant with online spaces and one day I clicked on a link that advertised a prize of 1000 USD if you could join in and gamble. My parents intervened and advised me to shun such spaces online.” – Teddy, 12 years.
Mr. Samuel Ng’ang’a, the session tutor, advised the children participants to always seek their parent’s or caregiver’s permission and guidance whenever they are online. He cautioned them against visiting suspicious websites and webpages, including those that often lure visitors with cash prizes or presents. To curb this, children were advised to limit spending unnecessary time on the internet.
“Bad people are out there and are ready to take advantage of children online and harm them in various ways like kidnapping, sexual exploitation, cyber bullying. ” Mr Samuel Ng’ang’a.
Ms. Hannah Ngugi, founder of Stepping Up Global lauded the children for showing willingness to learn about online child safety. She emphasized that it is through such sessions that children would be empowered with information on online safety. She added that it was important for children to learn about policies and guidelines like the SDGs, so that they could remain safe online and be champions of sustainable development.
The session gathering 50 children, aimed to respond to increased online activity by children, in the wake of intensified digital learning during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis across the globe. This, coupled with ever-growing online exploitation and abuse of children, created a crux of concern that demanded immediate action. Furthermore, Stepping Up Global organised the awareness session to Goal 16.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aims to end all forms of abuse, exploitation, torture and violence against children.
At Arigatou International – End Child Poverty, we view the “Together We Can End Child Poverty Worldwide” Campaign as an opportunity to raise awareness and take action towards overcoming child poverty and promote the wellbeing of children, including their online safety.
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