Due to our funding crisis, we have postponed all teacher training conferences and seminars as well as Haiti outreach. However, we continue to fund the orphanage in Sierra Leone. Thank you for all of your continued support.
Like so many nonprofits, World Children’s Relief has suffered a funding crisis and we have cut many operations as well as grant writing programs. However, the girls home in Sierra Leone continues and stronger than ever. We continue to fund that effort. I just spoke with Hawa, the oldest member child of the home and she assured me they are well, alive and working towards a better life every day.
Please watch this wonderful video from Burkina Faso. Country rep, Emmanuel Sam, articulates this vision.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giOsK4aoiIc
CONTACT:
Monsieur Faly MANE
Représentant Résident N° / WCR/SN
Bureau de l’Enseignement Moyen Fatick, le 12/01/10
Secondaire, General et Technique
A l’Inspection d’Académie de Fatick
BP 38, FATICK/SENEGAL
TEL: +221 77 550 60 72
+221 76 341 95 00
E.mail: nfalymane2005@yahoo.fr
TTC 2009 IN SENEGAL
From December 15 to17 WCR 2009 TTC was held in Fatick, in Diakhao District. The focus in this report will be on the following elements:
I/ The organization of the TTC
II/ The Improvable points
III/ The strong points
IV/ Proposed solutions to improve and perspectives
Conclusion
I/ The organization of the TTC
The 2009 TTC was not organized in the usual area of Diaoulé. The rational behind such a decision is to spread more the activities of WCR and give the opportunity to other needy children and their teachers to take the most from the trainings. Since the start of its activities, WCR has targeted the same area where almost all the teachers were trained .We believe now that time has come to go somewhere else where the need for training was expressed some years back. That was also a way for WCR to spread its network in Fatick.
As to the organization as such, one of its special feature was the presence of not only education officials, but, also that of local administrative and political ones. That is an important testimony of everyone’s gratefulness and consideration to WCR.
To turn to the participation of teachers, the number was not as important as in the past (25 teachers were invited but 3 of them missed) because I was afraid the means could not cover the expenses for a larger number. Mr Mamour SECK was the only trainer to conduct the ttc because the others were busy with another seminar at the regional level. However Mr SECK proved once more his commitment and his mastery of WCR’s teaching programme by handling successfully all the pedagogical activities of the seminar with the precious help of Emmanuel and Sue. Marshall’s artistic intervention was of a paramount importance in the participants’ view.
II/ Improvable points
One of our difficulties is related to the period of the ttc. More often than not, December is a busy period in the field of education. It is the month when many seminars are organized. However I do understand that it was not possible for us to schedule our 2009 ttc before, for various reasons, but, certainly next time we will organize it in November. The next drawbacks have to do with the funds we received very late and our difficulties related to the low exchange rate US $ in CFA. In addition there was a decrease in the ttc budget. As a result, less than a week before the start of the seminar, I couldn’t do any thing that requires money to prepare it; while that money was even necessary to confirm the organization ttc. Last but not least my passive participation to the pedagogical animation has to do with the fact that the organization demands my unending presence since I had to have a watchful eye on everything. Last year, during the ttc’s impact evaluation, Mr Seck, the other directors and I focused only on ECD teachers for, we I believed that would do to measure the extend of the ttc’s implementation. That is another negative point we think about correcting this year.
III/ Strong points
From early 2008 up to now, WCR gained in interest, respect, consideration and understanding from the officials, the schools staff and the communities. As a matter of fact, I receive very often invitations from officials for approximately any education event they organize in the area of Fatick. Many directors also express their wish to join the network. That is encouraging and motivation or even challenging. That situation stem from WCR’s new way of communicating that aims at making every one know that ,though ,we are ambitious, we don’t have means as much as necessary for big projects .I tried my best to make them understand and accept the new orientations and potentials of our Organisation. That was so important for the reason that the former management made people believe in too ambitious things that were far out of WCR’s reach.
IV/ Propositions to improve and perspectives
The difficulties we faced or that we are facing are not so serious. That is why I believe that the trend can be reversed in each situation. For illustration we can fixe the ttc each year in November. I would suggest to the staff in the USA to learn from the difficulties of this year and send the funds as early as possible next time. It is also important to think of how we can always get a fixed amount of money – to avoid the negative effects of the us $ fluctuation on our budget-so that we can have a clear idea of what exactly we can do or cannot do. I have already discussed with Director Seck and we’ve decided to meet soon to schedule an evaluation plan for April and May. This time elementary schools will be included.
To stick to WCR’s philosophy that consists in intervening where really needy children are; I am thinking of the possibilities to spread our actions in another department (one of the tree biggest territorial divisions of the district of Fatick). Reports let me know that many efforts are being done in the rural areas as far as ECD is concerned in Foundiougne Department, for example. To improve the quality of our trainings, I intend to ask the head inspector of Fatick Department (Inspector GUEYE) if we can have an inspector at our disposal during the forthcoming seminars. The last thing I would like to mention is my discussion with a journalist working at the Senegalese national TV. We are thinking of how we can make our activities and actions visible at the national level by inviting a TV report crew in our next ttc our any other important activity.
Conclusion
To put all in a nutshell, WCR’s good reputation is growing in Senegal. This situation urges many directors to get in touch with me and ask to join the Network. That explains that the need is still here and if possible the number of ttc need to be increased up to two ttc per year. As to what I referred to as improvable points, I will never say die and I invite everybody to do their best to reverse the tendency. To me the focus should be on communication; that is the key to full success.
We just invested in another series of teacher training seminars in the field. They are difficult to organize and effect. WCR has always struggled to communicate our “value added” because transforming the qualitative face of education in rural African community schools is much more difficult to measure than the number of mouths fed or vaccines distributed. That doesn’t mean that it still isn’t the wisest way to effect change. Dr. Sue Wortham just debriefed me on the stunning positive movement in environments that we have been hammering away at improvement for years. Things are getting better! The qualitative experience in the classrooms are changing and children are letter better and more. Once stagnant rote style classroom environments are becoming dynamic child centered classrooms.
TEACHER TRAINIG CONFERENCE IN BURKINA FASO
World Children’s Relief organized in Burkina Faso the 4th teacher training conference that gathered 31 teachers from 29 schools located in 2 school districts that are, Fara and Poura.
The training started on Dec 7 and ended on Dec 9. During 3 days the 5 sessions (chapters) were covered alternating theories, methods, curriculum, practice to reach the goal that will lead teachers to move children from rote learning to child centered teaching.
The training was conducted by the trainers’ team: Mr. Ouedraogo, Mr. Kamuba, Mr Bougma, including the new inspector Mr. Sidibe and new deputy technical advisor Mr. Sangare. They managed the training very well with some punctual intervention from Sue and Emmanuel. The art activity (drawing to learn) was conducted by Marshall.
The daily schedule was as follow: we start the training at 8 am and we have tea break at 10” 30; we resume at 11 am and we break for lunch at 12”30. We resume at 1”pm and end the day session at 3” pm.
It is important to underline that the tea, coffee, lunch and drinks are paid by WCR. Training books, copybooks and pens are also paid by WCR. In addition to that, WCR pays for the teachers’ transport fees because many of them come from far away to attend the training.
After the training, WCR visited the former Inspector of Fara on Dec 10, 2009, Inpector Lassane who is posted now in the school district of Tcheriba. Inspector Lassane gathered all the headmasters of his district to meet with us. There is a huge potential of starting a successful program there as far as Teacher Training Conference is concerned.
After the district of Tcheriba, the staff continued to Nouna an on Dec 11th, 2009 Sue and Marshall Worthams received the Academic Decoration for Services to Education in Burkina Faso. This recognition is due to outstanding performance that WCR has been to the Nation of Burkina Faso since 2005.
As a conclusion, we can say that this mission in Burkina Faso was very successful. The trainers were able to demonstrate how well the master the training material, the theories, the concepts… of the manual. We had a very busy week because we covered more than 1,300 km for the training, for the visit to Inspector Lassane at Tcheriba and for the decoration that took place at Nouna.
Emmanuel SAM
Director of Operations
One of the many teacher training events in Burkina Faso
Dr. Sue Wortham and Marshal Wortham are in Burkina Faso as we speak effecting a large teacher training seminar. Emmanuel Sam organized the event and they will all travel to Senegal in two weeks to do the same in Fatick, Senegal with the collaboration of Mane Faly. Congratulations to all involved!
I also ran accross another interesting book on development aid. Here is the review in the Economist.
http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15124966
www.worldchildrensrelief.org
discussed many times with the officials(Inspecteur d’Acadamie, my boss and Inspecteur Departemental, Made Faye’s boss) and directors (SECK, DIOP,NIANG and DIAGNE) about the training and we came to the conclusion that , the best period to organize it is the first fortnight of December, more precisely between 10th and 20th . Early November seems to too short for us to get ready and in the second fortnight of November will be organized a religious festival called “Tabaski”; the sacrifice of A braham. Tabaski takes too much time to people in terns of preparations. So it is not wise to plan any thing near it. I meet every now and the officials as WCR’s facilitator and they almost involve me in any education activity. For instance I need the Inspector Departemental on September 19th and on October 3rd. We discussed about partnership in general and WCR’s 2009/2010 TTC, in particular.
I don’t think we need to change the number of participants in the TTC. A maximum of 35 will do. The last years’ trainings were organized in Diaoule but this time we will move either to Mbellacadio or Diakhao or even Ndiob. We have other targets there and they are eager to benefit from WCR’s trainings.
As to the trainers, there are four directors and myself. We are supposed to conduct the training with most likely the participation of an Inspector.
I will send photos of the trainers and officials
www.worldchildrensrelief.org
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on Benjamin Reid Lodmell, “Teacher Training is the answer to changing the qualitative face of education in rural African schools.”
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