GETTING TO KNOW MY INTERNATIONAL CONTACTS

Despite many attempts to contact both UNICEF organizations in Peru and Cuba, to learn more about those countries and their education systems, I have failed to make contact.  Emails have been returned as undeliverable and the ones that have gone through, have not replied.  So, I am doing to alternative assignment with the podcasts.

I have chosen to learn more about Indonesia, specifically the orphans left behind after the devastating Tsunami of 2004.  So many years have passed that people have forgotten all the horrible devastation that occured there and how over 500,000 people were left homeless. 

Through the World Forum Foundation Radio podcasts, I was able to hear from Meridas Eka Yora who is the founder and chairperson of the Fajar Hidayah Group.  His organization started boarding schools for the 400 orphans of the Tsunami in 2004.  They employ teachers who not only teach these children but act as their mothers and father.  He said in the podcast that "this is a big home, a big family for us", as they are trying to provide as normal a life as possible for these children.  Today Fajar Hidayah Group runs four schools in Aceh, Indonesia housing over 2000 students ages 2-17.

I also researched poverty levels in Indonesia and found that as of 2010, their total population was 239,870,937 and of that number 18,436,000 live below the poverty line.  Here are some statistics from http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/topic:

Statistics

Poverty, hunger and malnutrition

• More than one billion people in the world live on less than US$1 a day
• 2.7 billion struggle to survive on less than US$2 per day
• More than 800 million people go to bed hungry every day, including 300 million children
• Every 3.6 seconds a person dies of starvation, and most of those who die are children under age of 5
• Every year 6 million children die from malnutrition before their fifth birthday

When you read these things it really opens your eyes to the poverty that exists around the world.  I look forward to getting more information and to see if there's anything we can do to advocate and possible make a difference.  So much devastation for so many children, it's just awful!!

References:

Website: World Forum Foundation Radio. Includes links to podcasts of conversations with early childhood professionals.
http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/radio.php

Website for Dimensions of Indonesia:  http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/topic

Sharing Web Resources

I am going to be following NAEYC as an organization that is focused on accrediting programs of the highest quality in early childhood education as well as providing endless research, professional development and resources to educators and families in the early childhood field.  You can sign up for NAEYC's free newsletter at http://www.naeyc.org/. 

Their current newsletter included an Online Training on Creating Classroom Portfolios that you could sign up for.  A Classroom Portfolio is a great way for teachers to document and display children's learning experiences for families.  I thought this idea was great because you can learn to put together a portfolio that can be put into a Power Point and can be shown at different times of the year.  It can also be translated into different languages which is one of the topics we have been learning about, culture, diversity and languages.

Parents like to see what's going on in the classroom and this is a great way to display that for them.  I'm definitely signing up!

If you would like to sign up too, please click on this link:
http://www.naeyc.org/ecp/online/portfolios

Establishing Professional Contacts & Expanding Resources

Okay, so I have sent emails out to try to reach UNICEF in both Cuba, my country of origin and Peru, my husbands country of origin.  I have also reached out to the Global Alliance of NAEYC in Cuba and I am very hopeful that they get back to me.  Right now, I haven't received a response from any of them, but I will keep on trying!!

I have also decided to expand my resources and learn all there is to learn about NAEYC in the United States, and particularly in my home State of New Jersey.  I have some experience with them as I have attended their convention in Atlantic City the past couple of years but attending workshops is just a piece of what they offer as an organization.  I have subscribed to their newsletter and am looking forward to learning a lot more to better assist my students, co-workers, families and community.

I'll keep you all posted!