pickledseal
cowboy
Dear All...
As some of you already know, This July, I will be traveling to the Tigray region of Ethiopia with CAFOD, to work with disadvantaged children.
The duration of my assignment will be for six weeks, during which time I shall be working within a local community at a school in Mekelle, north Ethiopia. During my stay, I will be working with street children, mainly boys; teaching them English and helping them to gain access to local government schools. I will also be working with young women, to develop their confidence in English in order to help them avoid dangerous occupations which regularly leave them vulnerable. The school also provides food, medical care and provides for all other essential needs that the children have; many of them made orphans by AIDS.
My responsibilities will also involve the development of creative and sporting activities with the children (when we are not studying), and additionally I will be visiting some of the rural development programmes in nearby areas.
The purpose of this note is to seek your assistance. With this kind of project any help and advice are appreciated; there are many ways in which you can get involved. In the hope some of you will be able to help in some way, I have put this note into a few sections so you can scroll to the most relevant area:
1) Stationary
2) Books
3) Clothing
4) Teaching Resource / EAL or TEFL
5) Music
6) Other Items
7) Local Businesses
8) Money
1) Stationary
I’m sure it comes as no surprise that the school in Mekelle is in need of basic teaching resources and equipment, such as pens, pencils, fabric pens, whiteboard pens and exercise books. The children are apparently big fans of the fabric pens so they can customize the clothing given to them! I guess when you don’t have the large selection of colours, styles and designs available on the High Street, a bit of personalization goes a long way!
2) Books
I am looking to take with me a selection of books and magazines for the children. I have spoken to a previous project worker, who has given me some suggestions for both girls and boys. For the girls, magazines and books featuring people, hairstyles, girls in sport and animals would be ideal. For the boys, anything to do with sports and football, particularly the Premiership would be perfect. Picture books of any variety are a useful teaching tool and helpful in building vocabulary, as are English pocket dictionaries.
3) Clothing etc
Boys: football shirts (they are football crazy!) Also modern shirts that would fit tall slim boys/teenagers – need smart shirts for job interviews – and obviously ties!
Girls: long sleeved blouses for age 10-16 (very slim fitting), hair bobbles, ribbons, combs (rake style for very curly thick hair), soap
Sizing - please do consider sizing! The build of the Ethiopian children is very different to British children for many reasons. As I have said, I would rather take clothes which fitted better than a load of ‘tents’ (my size tshirts!) for the children.
4) Teaching Resources – TEFL/EAL etc
As much as I am a qualified teacher, my experience of teaching English to those who have partial or only basic knowledge of the language is limited. Anyone who can offer any kind of resources books, worksheets or electronic documents would be really useful. Other general advice, experience, stories – anything you can share really would be appreciated!
5) Music
For all you musician types out there… A great activity for working with the students is through music. If anyone has any simple songs that would help with English skills and also be a bit of fun would be much help. They have one guitar and a few other instruments so I can use my guitar playing skills too if you could provide music/words.
6) Other Items
Other items that have been suggested by a previous project worker include: small balls, soft balls, skipping ropes, snakes and ladders and tidily winks, compendium of games, snap, playing cards. A few USB memory sticks to save work and to take to the print shops would also be useful. One student is particularly interested in photography so if anyone has an old 35mm camera that is no longer needed or some 200asa film I could take that with me.
7) Local Businesses
If you work for a company, or know someone who works in a business, that would be willing to help out with this project, please let me know! I have been in touch with several businesses around Chelmsford, but personal contact often works better.
8) Money
If you would like to make a donation to the project, please visit JustGiving.com/Ethiopia07. This money will be used towards all the costs involved as well as paying for shipping of items if necessary and the purchasing of additional resources and items for the children involved in the project.
What to do with items for me to take…
Either message me to arrange a time/place to meet up or items can be posted to school:
Mr Andrew Lewis
St John Payne RC Comprehensive School
Patching Hall Lane
Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 4BS
Telephone: 01245 256 030
Fax: 01245 352 337
ALE@SJP.ESSEX.SCH.UK
During my visit and on my return…
Whilst I am there I am hoping to get some internet access so I can report back on how your donations are being used. I will be well equipped to document my time in Ethiopia and will be doing a series of talks and presentations for CAFOD around Essex and further afield (taking bookings soon….). This is once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help children who are so desperately in need of it, and would not be possible without the kindness and generosity of others. Please do help out where you can.
About CAFOD
CAFOD is member of the Caritas International Federation and works to end poverty and create a just world. They operate in over 60 countries and work alongside the poor, regardless of race or religion. They build global partnerships for change and campaign for fairer world, putting faith into action.
More Information
As some of you already know, This July, I will be traveling to the Tigray region of Ethiopia with CAFOD, to work with disadvantaged children.
The duration of my assignment will be for six weeks, during which time I shall be working within a local community at a school in Mekelle, north Ethiopia. During my stay, I will be working with street children, mainly boys; teaching them English and helping them to gain access to local government schools. I will also be working with young women, to develop their confidence in English in order to help them avoid dangerous occupations which regularly leave them vulnerable. The school also provides food, medical care and provides for all other essential needs that the children have; many of them made orphans by AIDS.
My responsibilities will also involve the development of creative and sporting activities with the children (when we are not studying), and additionally I will be visiting some of the rural development programmes in nearby areas.
The purpose of this note is to seek your assistance. With this kind of project any help and advice are appreciated; there are many ways in which you can get involved. In the hope some of you will be able to help in some way, I have put this note into a few sections so you can scroll to the most relevant area:
1) Stationary
2) Books
3) Clothing
4) Teaching Resource / EAL or TEFL
5) Music
6) Other Items
7) Local Businesses
8) Money
1) Stationary
I’m sure it comes as no surprise that the school in Mekelle is in need of basic teaching resources and equipment, such as pens, pencils, fabric pens, whiteboard pens and exercise books. The children are apparently big fans of the fabric pens so they can customize the clothing given to them! I guess when you don’t have the large selection of colours, styles and designs available on the High Street, a bit of personalization goes a long way!
2) Books
I am looking to take with me a selection of books and magazines for the children. I have spoken to a previous project worker, who has given me some suggestions for both girls and boys. For the girls, magazines and books featuring people, hairstyles, girls in sport and animals would be ideal. For the boys, anything to do with sports and football, particularly the Premiership would be perfect. Picture books of any variety are a useful teaching tool and helpful in building vocabulary, as are English pocket dictionaries.
3) Clothing etc
Boys: football shirts (they are football crazy!) Also modern shirts that would fit tall slim boys/teenagers – need smart shirts for job interviews – and obviously ties!
Girls: long sleeved blouses for age 10-16 (very slim fitting), hair bobbles, ribbons, combs (rake style for very curly thick hair), soap
Sizing - please do consider sizing! The build of the Ethiopian children is very different to British children for many reasons. As I have said, I would rather take clothes which fitted better than a load of ‘tents’ (my size tshirts!) for the children.
4) Teaching Resources – TEFL/EAL etc
As much as I am a qualified teacher, my experience of teaching English to those who have partial or only basic knowledge of the language is limited. Anyone who can offer any kind of resources books, worksheets or electronic documents would be really useful. Other general advice, experience, stories – anything you can share really would be appreciated!
5) Music
For all you musician types out there… A great activity for working with the students is through music. If anyone has any simple songs that would help with English skills and also be a bit of fun would be much help. They have one guitar and a few other instruments so I can use my guitar playing skills too if you could provide music/words.
6) Other Items
Other items that have been suggested by a previous project worker include: small balls, soft balls, skipping ropes, snakes and ladders and tidily winks, compendium of games, snap, playing cards. A few USB memory sticks to save work and to take to the print shops would also be useful. One student is particularly interested in photography so if anyone has an old 35mm camera that is no longer needed or some 200asa film I could take that with me.
7) Local Businesses
If you work for a company, or know someone who works in a business, that would be willing to help out with this project, please let me know! I have been in touch with several businesses around Chelmsford, but personal contact often works better.
8) Money
If you would like to make a donation to the project, please visit JustGiving.com/Ethiopia07. This money will be used towards all the costs involved as well as paying for shipping of items if necessary and the purchasing of additional resources and items for the children involved in the project.
What to do with items for me to take…
Either message me to arrange a time/place to meet up or items can be posted to school:
Mr Andrew Lewis
St John Payne RC Comprehensive School
Patching Hall Lane
Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 4BS
Telephone: 01245 256 030
Fax: 01245 352 337
ALE@SJP.ESSEX.SCH.UK
During my visit and on my return…
Whilst I am there I am hoping to get some internet access so I can report back on how your donations are being used. I will be well equipped to document my time in Ethiopia and will be doing a series of talks and presentations for CAFOD around Essex and further afield (taking bookings soon….). This is once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help children who are so desperately in need of it, and would not be possible without the kindness and generosity of others. Please do help out where you can.
About CAFOD
CAFOD is member of the Caritas International Federation and works to end poverty and create a just world. They operate in over 60 countries and work alongside the poor, regardless of race or religion. They build global partnerships for change and campaign for fairer world, putting faith into action.
More Information
