The International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies described El Sistema as, “free classical music education that promotes human opportunity and development for impoverished children.”
El Sistema, also known as The National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestra and Choir, was established in Venezuela in 1975 by José Antonio Abreu, a Venezuelan educator, musician and activist. The music education program operates within the voluntary sector and is funded publicly. El Sistema’s motto, “Music for Social Change” along with their organization, focuses on providing opportunities to play music for students who otherwise would not have access, with a focus on public health and wellness.
Abreu explained that music has to be recognized as an agent of social development in the highest sense because it transmits the highest values – solidarity, harmony and mutual compassion, crediting it with the ability to unite an entire community. Beyond social change, music can be a powerful force for education and a valuable tool for combatting poverty.
El Sistema Organization Background
El Sistema started in 1975 when 11 young musicians assembled in an underground parking garage in Caracas, Venezuela to make music together. José Antonio Abreu was their guide, local teacher, organist, engineer and politician. At the moment, the organization is a global network of music centers, or “núcleos,” serving more than 400,000 children in almost every Latin American country and more than 70 countries across the globe.
El Sistema operates as a decentralized global entity. Instead of exerting control over numerous Sistema-based programs worldwide, El Sistema Venezuela has made the principles of the organization accessible to all who wish to adopt them. Consequently, the concept of El Sistema has evolved into a form of open-source ideology, accommodating diverse approaches and cultural frameworks that align with various local contexts. This approach fosters a genuinely glocal (global and local) movement.
Youth Orchestra and Choir in Brazil
Núcleo de Orquestras Jovens e Coros da Amazônia (NOJCA), founded in 2012, is an El Sistema-inspired program based in Manaus, Brazil. Situated in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, NOJCA provides music education and performance opportunities to children and youth from underserved communities in the region. Through its innovative curriculum, which integrates traditional Amazonian music with classical repertoire, NOJCA seeks to preserve cultural heritage while empowering young people to aspire to new heights.
NOJCA’s impact extends beyond musical proficiency, fostering environmental stewardship and cultural pride among its participants. By incorporating themes of sustainability and conservation into its programming, the organization inspires young musicians to become advocates for environmental justice and guardians of the Amazonian ecosystem. Through music, NOJCA is not only nurturing the next generation of artists but also cultivating a sense of responsibility and connection to their natural and cultural heritage.
Batuta Foundation in Colombia
One prominent El Sistema program in Latin America is the Fundación Batuta in Colombia. Founded in 1991 by renowned Colombian musician and conductor, Eduardo “Gordito” Rozo. The program operates under the belief that music has the power to transform lives and communities, particularly in regions affected by poverty, violence and social inequality.
Fundación Batuta provides free music education to more than 50,000 students annually, offering instruction in a wide range of instruments, including violin, cello, flute, guitar and percussion. Via its network of music schools and community centers, the program reaches underserved populations in both urban and rural areas, providing access to high-quality instruction and performance opportunities.
One of the distinguishing features of Fundación Batuta is its emphasis on social inclusion and youth development. Beyond teaching musical skills, the program seeks to instill values of discipline, teamwork and resilience in its students, empowering them to overcome adversity and pursue their dreams. Through ensemble playing and collaborative projects, participants learn the importance of cooperation and mutual respect, breaking down barriers and fostering a sense of belonging within their communities.
The Afghanistan National Institute of Music
Established in 2010 by Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, The Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) in Kabul, Afghanistan offers free music education to disadvantaged children, including orphans and street-working youth, to promote cultural revival and peacebuilding in a war-torn nation.
Through its comprehensive curriculum, which includes instruction in both Afghan and Western classical music, ANIM empowers students to become agents of change in their communities while preserving Afghanistan’s rich musical heritage. Despite facing numerous challenges, including security threats and limited resources, ANIM has made remarkable strides in transforming the lives of its students.
By way of its innovative approach to music education and community engagement, the program has not only nurtured musical talent but also provided a platform for dialogue, reconciliation and healing in a country ravaged by decades of conflict. ANIM serves as a testament to the power of music to transcend boundaries and inspire hope in the face of adversity.
El Sistema: Domestic Programs
El Sistema USA has played a pivotal role in bringing the transformative power of music education to underserved communities across the United States (U.S.). Through its partnerships with major orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, El Sistema USA has expanded access to quality music instruction and ensemble playing opportunities for thousands of children and youth.
These collaborations not only provide students with access to world-class musicians and resources but also serve as platforms for cultural exchange and artistic excellence.
“It’s great to work with the kids,” says Julia Johnson, an El Sistema teacher in the Denver, Colorado community. “Seeing them progress and get excited about music and get excited to learn makes an impact for their community,” she went on, “the program addresses how there is a disparity in access to classical music and how making it accessible can change lives.”
Looking Ahead
El Sistema has garnered international acclaim for its transformative impact on individuals and communities. By harnessing the power of music as a tool for social change, the program has helped to break the cycle of poverty and violence in marginalized areas while nurturing musical talent and instilling values of teamwork, discipline and perseverance.
Through its commitment to equity and excellence in music education, El Sistema continues to inspire similar initiatives around the world, demonstrating the universal potential of music to create positive social change. In the words of John Oates, “It’s the music that brings us together.”
– Ava Johnson
Photo: Unsplash
Water Crisis in Turkana, Kenya
As explained in “The Journal of African History,” published by Cambridge University, the Turkana people actively resisted and defied the occupation of their land by imperial forces of British-occupied East Africa during the 1920s and ‘30s. This resistance followed a series of conflicts with 19th century traders and explorers. During Britain’s colonization of Kenya, the Turkana region was largely left untouched. In addition to the people’s opposition to British rule, the arid climate was unfavorable to colonizers and deemed without value to anyone besides the Turkana people themselves.
Effects of a Long-Lasting Drought
Droughts have been well documented in the Turkana region of Kenya since the 1960s, projected to occur every five years. However, droughts have become an annual occurrence since the 1990s. The most recent drought began in 2020 and had killed an estimated 439,400 livestock by mid-2022. Considering the importance of livestock in this region, a crisis of hunger and water scarcity has catapulted conflicts over vital resources between pastoralists.
Vegetation cannot withstand the extreme temperatures of the desert and livestock is unavailable to slaughter or sell, positioning Turkana’s residents in a threatening situation. According to the Rockefeller Foundation, 60% of Turkana’s population is experiencing acute hunger and food insecurity, which places their lives in immediate danger if food cannot be accessed and consumed. It is not uncommon for people to subsist on local fruit trees and insects.
The Impacts of Corruption
Most of the Turkana people rely on boreholes constructed by the government or development organizations. According to the Water, Peace and Security report, water in Kenya is drilled by the government and handed down to elected water user officials who regulate the use of the water points. A combination of poor borehole management and limited rainfall has lowered the water table of wells, exacerbating the water crisis in Turkana. People often travel long distances to access these points of water, which are often high in salinity and low in water quantity. It is not uncommon for locals to climb into these wells to access water. These people are subject to extreme danger, risking falling or getting trapped below the Earth’s surface, as these wells may reach hundreds of feet deep.
In addition to these challenges, water cartels, known as Nakanas, are prevalent. Though water is ideally managed by regional committees, these cartels regularly redirect water to themselves for sale, preventing people from accessing water points. Influential businessmen and politicians also guard access to boreholes, illegally diverting water for their benefit.
Scare Resources Drive Conflict
The largest permanent desert lake in the world, Lake Turkana is at the fingertips of Northern Kenyans. The river stretches into Southwestern Ethiopia, feeding into the Omo River. The Omo River is subject to rising water levels due to deforestation and erratic rainfall in Ethiopia. Overflow from the Omo permeates Lake Turkana, altering the salinity of the water and thus changing breeding patterns among fish. Fishing communities have been forced to migrate to new areas to sustain their livelihoods, creating conflicts between the Turkana people and those residing along Ethiopia’s border. Intercommunal conflicts along the Turkana-West Pokot and Samburu-Baringo borders also exist as tribes compete over scarce resources.
Amid the water crisis in Turkana, multiple organizations are committed to improving the lives of those impacted by the drought. Several teams have been working on the ground to improve the food and water security of the population.
Keep IT Cool
A Google-backed startup based in Nairobi, known as Keep IT Cool, is transforming the food industry in Northern Kenya. The organization operates as a decentralized cold-chain company and food distributor. Keep IT Cool serves Turkana’s pastoralists by providing fisherfolk with reliable transportation and freezers to prevent spoilage during the transport to Nairobi. To help fisherfolk support themselves and their families, the company also pays 20-30 more Kenyan shillings per kilogram of fish than the local asking price.
WaterCredit Initiative
Water.org’s WaterCredit Initiative is helping people in 11 countries access affordable loans for clean water. The organization works with in-country financial companies and water service providers to add loans for water and varying sanitation solutions to their businesses. Water.org has been working to tackle the water crisis in Turkana and other regions throughout Kenya since 2005. The initiative has successfully provided 6.6 million people access to clean water and sanitation.
– Sophia Loizos
Photo: Flickr
Fiji Fisheries Contribute To Addressing Gender Inequality in Fiji
Poverty in Fiji
According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in 2019, around 24.1% of the population in Fiji was living below the poverty line and this greatly impacts women and highlights the importance of promoting gender equality within the fishing sector, not only to further gender equality in Fiji but to reduce the number of people living in poverty. According to the World Bank, in 2016, women spent 15.2% of their time doing unpaid work, compared to 5.2% for men, showing a clear employment disparity.
The Issue
Women play a key part in Fiji’s fishing industry, yet still face disadvantages in comparison to their male counterparts. Already women play a large part in small-scale fisheries within Fiji, but many often regard their work as an extension of their housework due to their involvement predominantly being post-harvest as well as being within the clerical realm. This continues their financial reliance on men due to these jobs being low paying, even sometimes non-paying, and suppresses women from taking roles in the management and decision-making area of fisheries.
According to the World Bank, in Fiji, women spend almost three times as much time on unpaid domestic and care work than men, showing the disproportionate impact on women and the barriers and challenges women face to escape poverty. This is where Women in Fisheries Network-Fiji steps in.
Women in Fisheries Network – Fiji (WiFN-Fiji)
Women in Fisheries Network-Fiji (WiFN- Fiji) was founded in 1993 and aims to inform women about all aspects of sustainable fisheries. To educate women on the gender inequality within the fishing sector, to educate women on the importance of financial independence, as well as to encourage women to participate in the decision-making and management side of the fisheries. Its dominant aim is to enable women to have the knowledge and tools to take part in and promote female employment within the fishing industry.
WiFN-Fiji has run two workshops in recent years that focused on gender inequality in local regions, emphasizing the importance of recognizing this inequality within Fijian society and educating participants on this inequality. It has also worked collaboratively with Westpac Bank to create programs that help women deal with their finances independently of men.
WiFN-Fiji receives funding from governments, NGOs as well as charities, all to further their cause. By providing training and education at a local level, WiFN-Fiji aims to improve women’s opportunities and more than 80% of participants in these workshops in Tailevu and Ba rated them as effective, showing the impact these workshops are having.
The WiFN-Fiji demonstrates how the fishing industry in Fiji can reduce gender inequality, lead to societal re-education and change and enable women to escape poverty.
– Cordelia Moore
Photo: Flickr
A Seattle Band’s Mission To Help Alleviate Poverty in India
Who Are They?
AllGoRhythms consists of about 13 talented musicians, all from India. They have seven lead singers, two guitarists, one pianist and three percussionists. Most came to the U.S. for employment opportunities and settled down in Seattle. Band manager and singer Sangeeta Nair spoke with The Borgen Project, saying, “It [AllGoRhythms] is our home away from home. Leaving behind our culture, way of life and traditions was so unimaginably hard for all of us. But this band gave us a space to celebrate our roots even being across the world from home.” The band was founded in 1999 by Amol Kelkar and Sumedh Barde. The founders met at their place of employment and started discussing their shared love for music. This sparked their idea to start a band. The band has been growing its audience and performing for over 20 years.
What Cause Are They Helping?
AllGoRhythms aims to help alleviate poverty in India. India grapples with the persistent issue of poverty, which impacts a significant portion of its population. Rural areas need help with agricultural issues such as land availability and climate problems. On the other hand, urban areas struggle with issues accompanying many migrants, such as job availability and low wages. India uses 10 indicators to measure multidimensional poverty, including nutrition, youth mortality, drinking water, electricity, housing, sanitation, access to cooking fuels, school attendance, years of schooling and ownership of assets. According to the National Multidimensional Poverty Index, 14.96% of India’s population is multidimensionally poor. Considering India accounts for almost a fifth of the global population, this is a significant number.
Several factors contribute to this issue. However, the major factor is overpopulation. The country’s rapidly growing population puts pressure on resources and the job market. With its current population estimated to be around 1.4 billion, unemployment and low job security have deeply contributed to the nation’s poverty level. Another contributing factor is the inadequate education system. As of 2022, there were more than 281 million illiterate people in India. This lack of sufficient education leaves many without the skills to find jobs and be able to provide for themselves. A third factor is income inequality. Primarily due to caste-based discrimination, a majority of India’s wealth is held by a tiny percentage of the population. Oxfam, an international organization dedicated to alleviating poverty, published a report in 2017 with findings showing that the top 10% of India’s population controls nearly 80% of its wealth.
What Are They Doing?
To help alleviate poverty in India, AllGoRhythms performs at various venues across Washington several times a year. During these shows, the band covers popular Bollywood songs. In addition to this, they have a separate team of writers and actors who perform a skit. While the skit is being performed, the band plays music, making themselves the center of focus. The fusion of theatre and music captivates large audiences.
Profit is made from tickets to these shows, food bought at the shows and extra donations. During each show, the band plays an educational video about poverty in India and how they plan to help, encouraging the audience to pledge additional contributions. In addition to their shows, AllGoRhythms also plays at private events such as birthday parties, weddings, etc., to increase their revenue. The initiative collaborates with two charities, Asha and CRY (Child Rights and You) and donates their proceeds to both charities.
Final Remark
AllGoRhythms is an admirable example of seemingly ordinary individuals utilizing their talent to make a positive difference. Individuals play a pivotal role in addressing the multifaceted challenges faced by impoverished communities. By actively making efforts that promote the improvement of education, health care and economic opportunities, AllGoRhythms is contributing to breaking the cycle of poverty.
– Trisha Borde
Photo: Flickr
3 Charities Fighting Poverty in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province
The Halo Trust
It is estimated that 1.6 million landmines were left in the ground throughout the civil war in Sri Lanka, causing a threat to life and mass displacement of people. Since 2002, The Halo Trust has been working to safely destroy these landmines and educate affected communities on how to avoid harm.
Halo claims to have cleared more than 270,000 landmines in their time in Sri Lanka. These numbers suggest that for every mine cleared, a displaced person has been able to return to their home. The broader impact of such work has been its contribution to rebuilding livelihoods in some areas worst affected by the civil war. More than 1,300 local Sri Lankans have worked for the trust, gaining employment, learning vital skills and ultimately reclaiming their birthland.
Save a Life
The Jaffna-based charity Save a Life has a simple approach to alleviating poverty; “we believe in actions over words.” This is evident in their vast work for communities since 2014. Starting as a charity to raise awareness about the importance of blood donation, they have since branched out into educating young people about plastic pollution, conducting data collections on differently-abled people and leading a mangrove restoration campaign.
While their core mission is centered around youth development, health and the environment, what distinguishes their organization is an ambition to have a positive social impact in any way possible. For example, their team is made mainly of young and passionate female university graduates, reflecting their promotion of gender equality. Save a Life has run 150 campaigns over the last 10 years involving hundreds of volunteers.
Vallavan Sports Academy
Vallavan Sports Academy aims to provide sporting facilities and coaching to disadvantaged young people in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province Jaffna district. Run by a local Sri Lanka philanthropist, the charity currently provides a swimming pool and a center for indoor games such as Pool and Carrom, a popular Asian board game. On visiting the academy, you will find many budding young athletes enjoying their evenings after school at the pool. The sports center has a collection of trophies won by the youngsters trained by Mr Vallavan himself.
In a town where many young people are tempted out of school before 16 to earn for their families, sports and leisure are hardly commonplace and certainly not accessible to all. Vallavan not only provides facilities and training accessible to young people not otherwise able to afford them but also provides a safe place to experience fulfillment and belonging.
– Alex Finch
Photo: Unsplash
El Sistema: How One Music Program is Fighting Poverty Globally
El Sistema, also known as The National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestra and Choir, was established in Venezuela in 1975 by José Antonio Abreu, a Venezuelan educator, musician and activist. The music education program operates within the voluntary sector and is funded publicly. El Sistema’s motto, “Music for Social Change” along with their organization, focuses on providing opportunities to play music for students who otherwise would not have access, with a focus on public health and wellness.
Abreu explained that music has to be recognized as an agent of social development in the highest sense because it transmits the highest values – solidarity, harmony and mutual compassion, crediting it with the ability to unite an entire community. Beyond social change, music can be a powerful force for education and a valuable tool for combatting poverty.
El Sistema Organization Background
El Sistema started in 1975 when 11 young musicians assembled in an underground parking garage in Caracas, Venezuela to make music together. José Antonio Abreu was their guide, local teacher, organist, engineer and politician. At the moment, the organization is a global network of music centers, or “núcleos,” serving more than 400,000 children in almost every Latin American country and more than 70 countries across the globe.
El Sistema operates as a decentralized global entity. Instead of exerting control over numerous Sistema-based programs worldwide, El Sistema Venezuela has made the principles of the organization accessible to all who wish to adopt them. Consequently, the concept of El Sistema has evolved into a form of open-source ideology, accommodating diverse approaches and cultural frameworks that align with various local contexts. This approach fosters a genuinely glocal (global and local) movement.
Youth Orchestra and Choir in Brazil
Núcleo de Orquestras Jovens e Coros da Amazônia (NOJCA), founded in 2012, is an El Sistema-inspired program based in Manaus, Brazil. Situated in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, NOJCA provides music education and performance opportunities to children and youth from underserved communities in the region. Through its innovative curriculum, which integrates traditional Amazonian music with classical repertoire, NOJCA seeks to preserve cultural heritage while empowering young people to aspire to new heights.
NOJCA’s impact extends beyond musical proficiency, fostering environmental stewardship and cultural pride among its participants. By incorporating themes of sustainability and conservation into its programming, the organization inspires young musicians to become advocates for environmental justice and guardians of the Amazonian ecosystem. Through music, NOJCA is not only nurturing the next generation of artists but also cultivating a sense of responsibility and connection to their natural and cultural heritage.
Batuta Foundation in Colombia
One prominent El Sistema program in Latin America is the Fundación Batuta in Colombia. Founded in 1991 by renowned Colombian musician and conductor, Eduardo “Gordito” Rozo. The program operates under the belief that music has the power to transform lives and communities, particularly in regions affected by poverty, violence and social inequality.
Fundación Batuta provides free music education to more than 50,000 students annually, offering instruction in a wide range of instruments, including violin, cello, flute, guitar and percussion. Via its network of music schools and community centers, the program reaches underserved populations in both urban and rural areas, providing access to high-quality instruction and performance opportunities.
One of the distinguishing features of Fundación Batuta is its emphasis on social inclusion and youth development. Beyond teaching musical skills, the program seeks to instill values of discipline, teamwork and resilience in its students, empowering them to overcome adversity and pursue their dreams. Through ensemble playing and collaborative projects, participants learn the importance of cooperation and mutual respect, breaking down barriers and fostering a sense of belonging within their communities.
The Afghanistan National Institute of Music
Established in 2010 by Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, The Afghanistan National Institute of Music (ANIM) in Kabul, Afghanistan offers free music education to disadvantaged children, including orphans and street-working youth, to promote cultural revival and peacebuilding in a war-torn nation.
Through its comprehensive curriculum, which includes instruction in both Afghan and Western classical music, ANIM empowers students to become agents of change in their communities while preserving Afghanistan’s rich musical heritage. Despite facing numerous challenges, including security threats and limited resources, ANIM has made remarkable strides in transforming the lives of its students.
By way of its innovative approach to music education and community engagement, the program has not only nurtured musical talent but also provided a platform for dialogue, reconciliation and healing in a country ravaged by decades of conflict. ANIM serves as a testament to the power of music to transcend boundaries and inspire hope in the face of adversity.
El Sistema: Domestic Programs
El Sistema USA has played a pivotal role in bringing the transformative power of music education to underserved communities across the United States (U.S.). Through its partnerships with major orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, El Sistema USA has expanded access to quality music instruction and ensemble playing opportunities for thousands of children and youth.
These collaborations not only provide students with access to world-class musicians and resources but also serve as platforms for cultural exchange and artistic excellence.
“It’s great to work with the kids,” says Julia Johnson, an El Sistema teacher in the Denver, Colorado community. “Seeing them progress and get excited about music and get excited to learn makes an impact for their community,” she went on, “the program addresses how there is a disparity in access to classical music and how making it accessible can change lives.”
Looking Ahead
El Sistema has garnered international acclaim for its transformative impact on individuals and communities. By harnessing the power of music as a tool for social change, the program has helped to break the cycle of poverty and violence in marginalized areas while nurturing musical talent and instilling values of teamwork, discipline and perseverance.
Through its commitment to equity and excellence in music education, El Sistema continues to inspire similar initiatives around the world, demonstrating the universal potential of music to create positive social change. In the words of John Oates, “It’s the music that brings us together.”
– Ava Johnson
Photo: Unsplash
Improving Rural Sanitation Access in Senegal
The Initiative
To address this public health challenge, UNICEF began to implement its highly successful Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) programs in rural Senegal starting in 2009. As opposed to other, less effective rural sanitation programs, the CLTS approach emphasizes inclusive local participation to change community attitudes and behaviors regarding sanitation practices. To maximize sustainability and keep project overhead low, CLTS programs rely on UNICEF-trained local committees to manage community sanitation education and make decisions on sanitation infrastructure, such as the location of handwashing stations. Women have an equal representation in these committees, giving them a voice in their traditionally male-led communities on an issue that disproportionately affects them. Children, who perhaps open defecation and poor sanitation affect the most, take part in youth councils that can lobby UNICEF to meet their specific needs.
Educating and Making Improvements
CLTS programs combine sanitation education and basic latrines and handwashing station construction to not only create lasting sanitation improvements but also to set the stage for a smooth transition to improved sanitation in the future, according to UNICEF. While the end goal of all rural sanitation projects is to provide people with proper sanitation facilities, the poverty and established behaviors prevalent in rural areas often make this a longer-term objective. Thus, CLTS programs focus on improving rural health using cost-effective measures, such as constructing latrines and handwashing stations using locally available materials. In one example, the rural village of Bloc Chantier used old plastic peanut oil bottles that were readily available in the community to construct hand-washing stations, UNICEF reports. Such solutions provide cheap and easy ways to end the practice of open defecation, while also getting the community invested in their health and sanitation practices.
The Future
Since UNICEF began its CLTS programs in Senegal in 2009, more than 1.8 million people from 4,300 rural villages have abandoned open defecation, as of 2022, UNICEF reports. Furthermore, as of 2022, more than 6,100 of the 11,000 target villages have initiated CLTS approaches. UNICEF’s CLTS programs are not confined to Senegal and have been successfully implemented in countries from Cambodia to Timor-Leste.
Despite these successes, however, work must continue to make these gains sustainable through regular monitoring of open defecation-free communities and the provision of improved sanitation infrastructure, such as formal latrines. CLTS programs offer an excellent starting point for improving rural sanitation that can end open defecation and deliver tangible health benefits to the communities who need it most, while also engaging all members of a community to come together for a common good.
– Sebastian Hoffman
Photo: Unsplash
Photography Program Helps Improve Colombian Education
Overview of Colombian Education
In June 2023, the World Bank Group reported a 64% learning deprivation in public schools in Medellín, where Veanvé launched. Medellín also had a learning poverty index of 61 in a 195,126 population. The Learning Poverty Index gauges the percentage of children unable to read proficiently by a certain age, revealing educational challenges and areas for improvement. In 2023, more than 2.5 million Venezuelan migrants fleeing a poverty-stricken country faced multiple obstacles in obtaining education and social services.
These challenges included the absence of necessary legal prerequisites, insufficient understanding of the Colombian education system and inadequate documentation. Since then, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has supported a program called Evaluar para Avanzar that sought to find learning gaps in schools and help teachers identify plans to bridge those gaps. It was successful in reaching more than 150,000 students.
Juntos Aprendemos
Juntos Aprendemos (Together We Learn) program, which began in February 2021 and runs till December 2026, aims to help migrant students ages 3 to 17 get better access to quality education. Since its focus is immigrant children, the program targets migrant areas like Medellin and Bogota.
The initiative partners with organizations such as the Ministry of Education, Secretaries of Education, the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (CFWI) and Civil Society Organizations (CSO) to achieve three main goals: improve educational quality, increase access to education and strengthen community engagement.
Additionally, the program is partnering with education authorities to develop policies that foster migrant and returnee children’s access to the Colombian educational system, among other initiatives. Veanvé is one of many initiatives Juntos Aprendemos undertook to help it reach its main goals and increase migrant student enrollment.
What Is Veanve
Camilo “Rulos” Perez and Juan Diego “Skinny” Laura spearheaded Veanvé in public school Joaquin Vallejo Arbeláez Educational Institution. Their target audience was migrant students escaping difficult circumstances in host countries. Colombia reported the dropout rate for migrant students was twice as high compared to other students.
Laura and Perez believed photography would help integrate migrant students and decrease dropout rates. In the workshop, Rulos and Skinny merge lessons on film photography where students share their thoughts, emotions and experiences through collaborative art. Participants are guided in creating basic cameras and kaleidoscopes using everyday items like cardboard boxes, cans and oranges, eliminating the need for expensive equipment students cannot afford.
USAID’s Juntos Aprendemos provided Veanvé with the necessary funding, training and assistance for the workshops. The migrant students in Medellín looked at this program as an opportunity, proven when 20 people enrolled in Veanvé right when it launched in 2022. According to USAID, students were committing hours after school to participate in this initiative and sometimes walked home because of the lack of buses. Also, students looked to Perez and Laura as guides, sometimes opening up to them on issues in their lives.
Other Programs Improving the Colombian Education System
To increase migrant access to education through curricular flexibility, UNICEF launched Aprendamos Todos a Leer, which translates to Let’s All Learn to Read, in 14 settlements housing migrants such as Arauca and La Guajira. This program expanded the “educational capacity of 51 female community leaders” and benefitted more than “800 children and adolescents.”
– Lucciana Choueiry
Photo: Flickr
Child Labor in India’s Mica Mines
However, the glittering mineral hides a dark secret: the pervasive use of child labor in its mining. Child labor remains a prevalent and concerning issue within the mica mining industry. Despite its association with unethical labor practices, mica’s popularity in cosmetic products will not decline shortly. Moreover, the recent European Union ban on microplastics, effectively outlawing synthetic glitter, is poised to amplify the demand for mica even further in the foreseeable future.
Child Labor in Mica Mines
India produces 60% of all the sheet mica in the world. This mineral is exclusively found in four states within the country: Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Rajasthan. Bihar and Jharkhand stand out as the two most economically disadvantaged states in India, holding the dubious distinctions of being the poorest and second poorest, respectively, with staggering poverty rates of 51.91% and 42.16%. This combination of resource richness and economic poverty is one of the main reasons for the prevalence of child labor in India’s mica mines.
In many families residing in these regions, the harsh reality is that financial constraints prevent them from sending their children to school. Consequently, these families rely on the labor of their children to generate income and survive. Children engaged in mica mining earn a meager average daily wage of fifteen rupees, equivalent to $0.06. Children are so heavily used in mica mining because of their ability to navigate the narrow caves and tunnels where mica extraction occurs.
Tackling India’s Child Labor Problem in Mica Mines
The Indian government announced in 2017 that it would legalize mica mining to regulate its production better, take child labor out of the supply chain and crush the so-called mica mafia. Despite this announcement, as of 2020, illegal mica mining had not only not been eradicated but was thriving. The Child Labor Free Mica initiative is the most hopeful development in the fight against child labor in mica mining in India. This initiative works with children, civil society, the local community, as well as the provincial government to eliminate all forms of child labor in mica mining in Jharkhand and Bihar.
This project aims for the complete eradication of child labor in mica production in these states by next year, 2025. This goal is aligned with the national Indian government’s goal of ending child labor in 2025. One of the biggest successes of this initiative has been the creation of child-friendly villages. Child-friendly villages are a grassroots solution that centers and empowers children to defend and protect their rights and creates a community of parents and other actors that build on and support children’s rights.
– Sara del Carmen Navarro Galvan
Photo: Pexels
Avani’s Pine Needle Power Plants
Avani, a nonprofit organization, simultaneously focuses on creating jobs and reliable energy. It promotes “community-centric rural development” in the Kumaon region to enable residents to become self-sufficient, given the limited government employment opportunities in the area. Additionally, Avani introduces sustainable practices for energy and resource creation.
The earliest inception of the pine needle power plant project was in 2006 to provide power for Avanis Campus in Tripuradevi but it became its own established energy company, Avani Bio Energy, in 2012. Since then the project has expanded its reach to 9 surrounding communities with each plant supporting around 3,000 people.
The Nonprofits History
Avani began in 1997 as a branch of the Barefoot College in Tilonia. Still, she established itself as a nonprofit in 1999 when founders Bharti and Rajnish Jain moved from Delhi to the Himalayas and saw how the locals in rural areas lacked adequate access to electricity. Since then, Alvani has worked with 60 communities in the Kumaon region on various initiatives that create jobs and reliable energy sources in rural areas, often through “reviving traditional crafts”.
The first of its many initiatives included bringing 3000 solar-powered lights to 25 communities in the region in 1999. A community-run weaving program was also created as part of this plan, to employ villagers and provide them with enough income to pay for the solar panels. The pine needle power plants are another example of Avani’s work to bring sustainable electricity to rural communities and help combat the environmental and financial issues pine needles cause.
Pine Needle Power Plants
In the Kumaon forests, a thick layer of pine needles prevents water from seeping into the soil below, creating dry conditions conducive to wildfires. These fires, fueled by flammable pine needles, devastate biodiversity and farmland. Locals collect these pine needles to fuel gasification plants that generate sustainable electricity for approximately 3,000 people per facility. Additionally, the gasification process produces charcoal, which the community uses as a cleaner alternative to firewood, helping to reduce deforestation and pollution. Overall, this initiative tackles poverty by preventing forest fires that endanger the natural resources and livelihoods of 7,500 farmers, generating jobs and reliable, clean, accessible affordable energy, offering a natural and economical alternative to kerosene and curbing deforestation.
Throughout this project, as well as all of the other ones, maintaining a connection to local cultures is important for Avani. Alvani’s three principles are working for the people, the planet and prosperity. Job initiatives always tie to skills that locals have traditionally practiced, such as weaving, spinning and dyeing fabrics, this way, Avani can develop these communities while incorporating their way of life and their traditional knowledge and keeping both intact.
Recent Accomplishments
Avani Bio Energy actively pursues its mission and recently participated in the United Nations (U.N.) SDG Impact Challenge at the University of Waterloo. This event saw students competing to develop sustainable initiatives, with Waterloo students working together on sustainable solutions. Additionally, Avani Bio Energy earned runner-up status for the St. Andrews Prize for the Environment in 2022, underscoring its commitment to enhancing financial health in communities through ongoing sustainable projects.
– Emily Shapiro
Photo: Unsplash
Advancing Women’s Rights in Georgia
Legislative Reforms
There have been numerous legislative reforms the government implemented to help protect women’s rights in Georgia. For example, in September 2022, the Government approved the second National Strategy for the Protect of Human Rights in Georgia for 2022-2030, which includes a whole chapter that focuses on gender equality. One major legal reform is the Istanbul Convention, which the Council of Europe adopted in 2011, stating that violence against women is a human rights violation and a form of discrimination. This was an incredibly important reform due to the high rates of physical and sexual violence against women in Georgia. According to the EU4GenderEquality: Reform Helpdesk, 6% of women in Georgia are victims of physical and/or sexual violence and there is a 14% rate of child marriage, compared to 1% of boys married before the age of 18.
In 2017, the Georgian government ratified the Istanbul Convention, confirming its commitment to combatting violence against women. Legislation reforms are important for protecting women’s rights in Georgia, as certain laws treat violence against women as a punishable offense, therefore encouraging women to report any instances of violence and rape.
Education and Awareness Programs
Another issue affecting women’s rights in Georgia Is the lack of comprehensive education for girls and women. Many girls drop out of school early due to child marriage. According to Girls Not Brides, in 2018, 48% of women between the ages of 20-49 were married before the age of 18 and only 29% completed upper secondary education, 14% completed vocational education and 8% completed higher education.
The ongoing education system reform aims to make education more flexible and modern and it focuses on quality education outcomes. The government developed a funding system to support inclusive education for children of all genders and special education needs. In 2018, the government also developed informational databases to collect data on persons with disabilities, including girls with disabilities in education, to help improve the quality of their education.
Furthermore, in 2019, “GITA launched a program for 3,000 advanced IT specialists in highly demanded professions.” The number of women and girls’ enrollment in the courses “has increased significantly” where “at least 45% of the beneficiaries of the Agency’s ICT courses are women,” according to U.N. Women.
U.N. Women reports that “GITA is also running STEAM boot camps where participants are chosen following strict gender balance, to ensure there are equal amounts of male and female participants enrolled.” Ensuring that women and girls have equal access to education is incredibly important, as it helps them to gain independence to the ability to seek employment later in life.
Women’s Participation in Politics
Efforts to increase women’s representation in political and decision-making processes could help to empower women and encourage more women to participate in leadership roles, leading to equality. Only 11% of women in Georgia are parliamentarians in national and local governments, meaning that there’s still a lot of work necessary. However, electoral reforms in Georgia established compulsory gender quotas to create gender balance in the party list in the elections. Although women’s participation in politics remains low, this is still a huge step towards gender equality.
Economic Empowerment
Economic empowerment is crucial for reducing gender disparities and financial independence. In 2020, the government introduced the Law of Georgia on Labour Assistance, which aims to support Georgians find employment. Furthermore, it added a provision on equal pay for work of equal value to the Labour Code, meaning that employers must ensure equal pay for men and women for the equal work they perform, according to the EU4GenderEquality: Reform Helpdesk.
In addition to this, the government’s SME Development Strategy of Georgia 2021-2025 aims to promote the development of women’s entrepreneurship in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The government aims to achieve this through “popularising the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), improving gender statistics in state programs, promoting women’s participation in state programs, strengthening women’s digital skills and the capacity building of state agencies to enable them to mainstream gender in their programs,” according to the EU4GenderEquality: Reform Helpdesk.
Overall, while there is still a lot of work necessary to help advance women’s rights in Georgia, the country has come a long way in its commitment to providing gender equality.
– Bethany O’Connell
Photo: Flickr