Tick tok, in September blows

The last 12 months has been a memorable one for the Guardian Network Africa (GNAfrica). As we have grown as an organisation, seeing the impact of our charity and on the lives of the children we support has been phenomenal. Through the network children like Sabina, George and Limunga have been able to go back to school, learn, make friends, develop their knowledge and social skills and live their lives like young kids should.

The impact of our support not only helps these kids to go back to school, but drives their performance as well. Knowing they have a benefactor who cares enough to support them, who cares about their future, wants to see their report cards and see them progress, is a strong incentive for them to do well. This bond between benefactor and beneficiary is poignant, long-term and vital to the longevity of the Guardian Network Africa.

As 2012 approaches more remains to be done. Cameroon has an adult literacy rate of 67.9% with children, particularly young girls in challenging financial circumstances slipping through the cracks. Cameroon can only grow when young people are given the tools to make a difference, and being part of GNAfrica has given us the opportunity to drive this change.

If you share our vision for a Cameroon that is economically, culturally and socially vibrant help GNAfrica make a difference. There are many ways you can help. We are looking for looking for partners in Cameroon, who can help identify children who need our support, and help drive our processes on the ground.  Alternatively you can play a crucial role by sponsoring a child or a specific project; for example a camcorder which can be used to develop videos for our social media campaigns. Get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

Once again September brings with it the promise of a new school year… Which kid could YOU help today?

Did someone say progress?

Education in Africa is moving in the right direction. In July 7^th delegates from seven African countries including Ethiopia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal and Tanzania, met in Kigali, Rwanda to discuss implementing the UNESCO-sponsored Basic Education for Africa program.

One of the topics on the agenda was the progress made in Rwanda with the Nine Year Basic education programme  (9YBE) , launched in 2009.  9YBE was established to provide nine years of education to all Rwandan children, free of charge. Since its launch, school enrolment has increased by 30% to 80%, while the country’s illiteracy rate has decreased. Narcisse Musabeyezu, Inspector of General Education believes the programme will help Rwandans become ‘competent, skilled and knowledgeable’ and hopes the programme will be extended to twelve years.

The Nine Year Basic Education Programme is part of the Basic Education for Africa programme (BEAP), which aims to support a holistic and comprehensive reform of basic education in Africa. In a world evolving faster than ever before, the need for education has never been more urgent. Progress is being made, but there is a lot of work to be done . Africa has the lowest rate of literacy in the world; in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger for example, less than 30% of the population are literate and many African countries have literacy rates below 50%.

The Guardian Network Africa is committed to making education more than an entitlement for the privileged. Every child needs a solid foundation; and family, core values and good education form the very cornerstone of this foundation. We aspire to give more children access to basic and secondary education and need your support to make this a reality. If you would like to help, please get in touch via the Guardian Network Website.

Sources:

50 things you didn’t know about Africa http://bit.ly/cluq0t

UNESCO: Adult and Youth literacy, September 2010 http://bit.ly/r4dY2W

The Basic Education Africa programme: http://bit.ly/otMeFN

Countries meet to discuss Education reforms: http://bit.ly/nW2z01

Isn’t it time we start planning ahead…. ?

Africa is the only continent to have become poorer in the past 25 years.  

With each economic year, Africa grows more dependent on international support for food, investment and education; a risky position that would eventually prove to be our detriment. Our delicate position is clearly reflected in a recent report by the United Nations, which stated that the orgnisations global drive to get every child into primary education is being knocked off course by the global financial crisis.

In the annual report on its ‘Education For All initiative’  UNESCO warned that much of the progress of the past decade could be undone as education budgets everywhere – particularly in sub-­Saharan Africa – get cut back as the flow of aid from rich countries dwindles. There are currently 72 million children in the world with no access to education, whilst in sub Saharan African countries 50% of  young adults have fewer than four years of education.

Looking to external sources for funding and charity is not sustainable in the long term. The recent global economic crisis is a reflection of this; once more developed countries got hit by financial hardship, support for developing countries plunged. Do we really want to continue to place the future of our countries and the lives of our brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews, in someone else hands?

It is up to us to develop the resources we have in order to safe guard the future of our home countries. One of these resources – indeed one of the most important – are its people and we can capitalize on this by providing them the opportunity to access the knowledge and the tools required to instigate change.

For Africa’s children, education is perhaps their strongest barrier against poverty. Educated children are likely to be more productive when they grow up, get better paid in the workplace, become able to lead and inspire others. Girls are likely to marry later, in more favorable terms and have healthier children.

Help a child receive education today, and help shape Africa ’s economic future. Visit the Guardian network website today to find out how.

Sources:

http://www.unicef.org/mdg/poverty.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/jan/20/education-for-all-unesco-warning

Can we count on you this 2011?

2010 has been a year of extraordinary tales; from the unpredictable drama of the U.K elections, the passing the U.S. bill, ashes from Finland, the chaotic Wiki leaks, to the phenomenal rescue of the miners in Chile, the first World Cup in South Africa and another round of the X factor!

As we look back at the phenomenal events of the year 2010, now’s a time to contemplate on the past year, it’s impact on our personal lives, and create that ‘to do list’ for 2010 – the so called ‘New Year Resolutions’. Each year as many of us craft insightful resolutions the decision to help others often crops up, with many deciding to donate, volunteer or promote the charity of their choices before the years end.

However as reality creeps up alongside our daily duties – getting to work on time, paying those quarterly bills, getting dinner on the table – this well conjured list gets stored away with private promises to ‘take action in our spare time’ – spare time which never seems to surface. Before we know it, we’ll making a similar list in January 2012, with the very same resolutions.

This 2011, if one of your resolutions is to do something for the benefit of others, this is your call to action. There will never be a convinient time to sit and plan, and whilst we wait, the lives of those who need our help comes to a halt as they lack the support they need to drive change. Habit can be tough cookie, but please remember that whilst the impact of ‘doing nothing’ seems insignificant to you,the truth is your action or inaction has real life consequences for those you do – or do not – help.

This year, break the cycle by committing to do good and taking the steps TO do good, free time or not. Guardian Network Africa has the infrastructure in place to make your support hassle free, and with your help one very lucky child would get the opportunity to learn, play and enjoy the many benefits of longterm education.

Please visit the Guardian Network Africa website to find out more and support a child today. It only takes a few minutes … and one, resolute, click.

The Guardian Network becomes the Guardian Network Africa!

The name of our organisation has been changed to the Guardian Network Africa, to give more emphasis to the geographical region our charity impacts. We even have a new domain name for this: www.guardiannetworkafrica.org!

We are constantly finding ways to improve our charity so that we can reach out to more compassionate people who can join us in our mission to sponsor education for poor children in Africa. These children are excluded from school just because they are born into poor families that just cannot afford to pay their school fees.

We have also been listening to your comments and our communications team has made numerous changes to our website to incorporate all your suggestions! Check out the new pictures we have added of our team members who work so hard to power our mission, and their profiles. Now you can see who you are actually talking to! Meet Nguh Akum, our new Field Operations Co-ordinator who swiftly stepped in to help us manage our growing sponsorship activities in Cameroon, Africa.

Nguh Akum - our new Fields Operations Coordinator in Cameroon

You can also read Judith Tamasang’s fascinating story of how the Guardian Network Africa was started.

A few months ago when we just built our website, we solicited help from PR Partners, Harrogate-based journalists that help small businesses raise their public profile through social media and networking, and Rebecca Parsley was delighted to give us an intensive, one-to-one social media session for charity! We have used these online tools and can now update our sponsors and supporters on all the important events and activities as they happen through our new Facebook and Twitter pages. Our sponsors can now publicly share their experience with their sponsored child; our supporters can share their thoughts and suggestions; and our team members in Africa, Europe and America can share their experience on the field across continents!

Thank you Rebecca – you have contributed massively to our progress!

We take your feedback very seriously. Tell us what  could be improved on our media sites. Become our fan on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

The Guardian Network Africa: who we are

About Us

We are a non-profit organisation, consisting of a network of individuals all over the world that share the common interest in helping to sponsor education for underprivileged children in Africa. We reach out and help some of the poorest and most vulnerable children achieve something great in their lives. We firmly believe both in the power of education to change lives and also in the compassion and willingness of those more fortunate, to reach out to fellow humans who need help.

Our Mission

We believe that education is a sure route out of poverty.  We want to give poor children a chance an equal chance to dream and express their minds; a chance to acquire knowledge and skills; a chance to become somebody who can give back to their community. We want to empower them with education – the tool that can foster the much needed development in Africa.

Helping children one at a time through education

Our operational model

We identify children that are precluded from school due to poverty and sponsor their education by paying for their tuition fees and exam registration fees. We also provide them with basic school stationery, text books and a school uniform.

We are unique in that we link each of our sponsors with the child/children they are sponsoring and provide periodic feedback on the children’s progress at school. Our sponsors can therefore enjoy a much closer and satisfying relationship with the children they sponsor than other bigger and similar organisations can provide.

100% of sponsorship money goes to the sponsored child. Our everyday running cost is covered through private donations and contributions.

The following are our ground policies and values expected of each member:

• Passion in our mission
• Transparency in our activities.
• Commitment in our duties and roles.
• Mutual respect for one another.

We may not make all the difference, but we can start, one child at a time. Join us today or support our cause.

Are great skills natural or derived through an education?

Yesterday, I happened on a documentary on ITV entitled: “Superhuman: Genius”  which revealed some people with stunning talents including child prodigies.  Among the case studies, was a man who could memorise a pack of cards in just a few seconds and recall the correct order of the cards in the whole pack in less than 26 seconds. This thirty-something-year-old started training himself to do this in his mid-twenties and has been pushing himself further ever since to beat his own previous records.

Another character was a ten-year old boy who was made to listen to classical music tapes for most hours of the day, right from the day he was born by his non-musical parents. They actually bought him a piano because they had read some research paper which mentioned that children had a high ability to learn just about anything especially if they were taught from a very early age. So by the age of ten, their son, was not just a pianist but also composer, was so good that he was playing alongside famous artists and jazz orchestras.

On the other hand, there was child who was too clever for primary school. From the age of six, he randomly picked up chemistry textbook and could understand the processes. Encouraged by his dad in the field, by the age of eight, he was attending practical laboratory lessons with third year university students. He seemed to have a natural flair in the practical and clearly understood the science behind the experiments.

Furthermore, there was the story of a girl who started painting amazing pictures from the age of four, and by thirteen, she had became the sole bread winner in her family through the sales of her arts.

I can only think of two reasons why these characters are so impossibly skilled:  education (the fellow with an unusually strong memory and the child musician) or natural talent (the child chemist and painter).  While the third and last cases, to me, were the true super humans i.e. obviously had God-given or mysterious talents, the first two cases confirm my thoughts that anyone can be trained to a skill and will become very efficient even if they did not have the natural talent. A good example is football players trained from young and for long. Another example is you – the skill you learn from your job to become a professional. In most cases, you don’t have them naturally. I call this skills derived from an education.

The child musician is a strong illustration of how child education can yield great skills and achievements, especially when encouraged or sponsored. His musical talent was forced to develop and nurtured right from birth and the result was a remarkable skill and an unquestionable path to success.

Of course, we may possess both types of skills in different aspects. But whether the skills we have are natural or derived, in my mind one thing is sure: they can be lost if they are not nurtured, encouraged or sponsored.

How do you think education can be translated into a useful set of skills that can be used for both personal and community development? The Guardian Network Africa would like to hear you opinions.

24^th May 2010