While working in Bangladesh I have found small niche opportunities to support local NGO’s. A spotlight NGO was the, “It’s Humanity Foundation”. They work in the urban areas of Dhaka as well as rural areas. Their aim is to improve educational opportunities for children.
What’s the point? Well each child assisted promotes another contributing member to society, enhances their welfare but more importantly because it’s the right thing to do.
I have attempted to find linkages between my personal project of Nino Abstract and Helen Keller International.
A few areas I thought were interesting were their special projects related to climate change/global warming. The topic is of course interesting but I enjoyed the methodology and approaches they took to examining some of these important issues at an early age.
I felt that depending upon the cultures we were reared in we carry many of those societal beliefs, expectations and attitudes. I think that if I were to support those areas where kids were exposed to challenges where they were not only expected to think critically but were required to in order to confront a variety of mainstream beliefs then they would have accessed specific experiences they could later leverage in life should they need to question erroneous beliefs. We don’t want to lead unexamined lives and I think that any child who is encouraged to ask questions will find the answers they are looking for if they bother to look.
Some interesting statistics at a glance show nearly 50 children participated in the science fairs.
These took place in December of 2017 and January of 2018. They did a fantastic job. I was unable to attend personally but I saw a lot of good media and the right attention and focus was on the kids. They were beaming with pride and told “It’s Humanity Foundation” they didn’t think the “city people” would accept them or like them. It’s disheartening to hear that children arrive with preconceived notions about their place in a society.
Nevertheless the children carried on and participated. There was a wonderful little drama, art show they did at the end where they participated. It was an inventive method of storytelling. Making the children a part of the story being told rather than telling the story directly to them. As a child this would better inform me of what challenges lay in this area but also because of what role I played in the show I would also see some of the linkages. I applaud the group for considering this method of relaying important messaging to a child rather than a boring class or lecture.
Carlo Nino On-Line 