The disaster in Indonesia has claimed 2,100 fatalities and 680 are still missing. Moreover, 68,451 houses were damaged or destroyed displacing 222,986 people. AMURT Indonesia supports the disaster recovery by training kindergarten teachers in trauma reduction, self-care and creative activities for the children once they come back to school.
The heart of this child-centered approach lies in the child’s right to choose from among various options, what activity he/she would like to do, with the stipulation that the child must complete the activity chosen before moving on to pick another activity.
AMURT has been active in Lebanon since 2012 supporting Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese host communities. Since 2015 the focus has been creating a pathway to education, providing psycho-social support and giving youth a chance for self-expression and supporting their struggle for livelihoods. Read more
The Wasichana Wote Wasome (WWW) project has the goal to improve school enrolment, retention, attendance and learning outcomes of girls in school throughout Kenya. The project, funded by the UK government, consists of a consortium of five organizations, with AMURT being the lead implementing partner in Samburu and Mombasa Counties. Read more
AMURT has been instrumental in normalizing school life for over a thousand students after the traumatizing 2015 earthquake. The initial focus was to make the schools useable again, so AMURT retrofitted 25 damaged classrooms, and rebuilt four new classrooms, in 13 schools. Read more
AMURT is establishing a number of regional hubs in Kenya that will serve as engines of development into the foreseeable future. These development centers reflect AMURT’s commitment to long-term dialogue and action with local communities to support their efforts to improve life. Read more
The Kindergarten in Albania accommodates children from poor refugees that came to the country after the Balkan war. Here follow some update info:
Christmas and New Year’s Day celebrated at our new building kindergarten. There were nearly 90 kids and their siblings (mothers, grannies, elders brothers and sisters) attending the event. We were able to get kids packages from ADRA Germany through ADRA Albania, a foundation which is involved in supporting marginalized groups in Albania. After the celebration with games, exercises, songs and dance we distributed these packages to the enrolled kids. It was a lovely and joyful atmosphere.
Previous information:
Since 2000 the Albanian Sunrise kindergarten has been providing hundreds of Albanian children with top-quality education.
On a budget that would be ridiculous in any developed country (55 cents per child per day), children, hailing from Albania’s northern provinces adjoining the Kosovo border, have been receiving a world class education that includes ecological awareness, introduction to English, music and creativity as well as physical and health education.
“Graduates” from this program go on to do very well when they enter the nearby government primary school. In fact, much of the normal first grade primary school curriculum is already covered in the Albanian Sunrise’s rich neo-humanist kindergarten program.
The Sunrise school exceeds the normal standard of kindergarten education and we are already having an impact on the local community.
The school emphasizes:
The method of education used at our school is Neohumanist Education developed by P.R. Sarkar. The emphasis of this system is to develop the physical, mental and spiritual qualities of the children and to prepare them for a world where all people will live together harmoniously.
Summer 2014 we bought our own building where the kindergarten has moved, and the project is in need of regular support.
More than 1 million Syrians fleeing the war have poured into Lebanon so far: more than to any other country. AMURT Lebanon extends emergency relief to Syrian refugees and helps them to get their children back to school. Read more
School and Children´s Home
Wasswa village, Mukona District, Uganda
The AMURT-sponsored school is located in a picturesque setting in Wasswa village in the rolling hills of Mukona District, about 60 miles from Kampala. The school draws from a population of 30,000 people living in seven villages within a ten mile radius.
The school was first started in 1988 on twenty acres of land donated to AMURT. It was a simple project in the beginning, with twenty village children being taught under a tree! The first building was constructed in 1991, and now the school has 333 children from Nursery to Primary 7. Twenty-one children are boarders and eight children are orphans in our care.
|
|
|
The school is popular as it achieves a high academic standard. In 2003 the school stood second in academic performance out of thirty-eight primary schools in Nagajji County. This was a surprisingly good result for a rural school. The reason for the school´s success is discipline (the teachers come to work every day!) and the extra classes that are taught in the afternoon.
The school follows the government syllabus, teaching Luganda, English, Math, Science, Geography and Agriculture. In addition we offer classes in Story-telling, Art and Physical Exercise.
We are caring for eight orphans, who were screened for eligibility by the local council before we received them. Five live with us, and three are accommodated in the nearby village.
|
|
|
The Ananda Marga school in Congo is now entering into its third year. Republic of Congo is a small country in Central Africa; it has the size of Germany but only three million inhabitants, neighbouring Democratic
Republic of Congo (former Zaire ). Like its neighbour it is a country rich in oil and gold and diamonds, but unfortunately all its wealth does not benefit the citizens, rather it is the oil and the diamonds that is the cause for so many wars and destruction in that area.
Even 20 years ago, Congo had a high literacy rate and a good public schooling system. Then in the end of the nineties the country suffered two wars, which the media call civil wars, but actually these were imported wars fighting for the control of oil and gold resources. Now the country is in ruins, roads and houses are broken, the whole infrastructure is damaged and very little reconstruction work is happening. The country seems forgotten by the world and abandoned by its own government. Even the agriculture is down, because there are almost no roads to transport the products to the cities. There are almost no industries. Just now the Chinese are repairing the local cement factory. How can you rebuild the houses when each sack of cement has to be imported, not to talk about other industries? And even though the country relies completely on imports, the road from the main harbour town of Pointe Noire to the capital of Brazzaville is not repaired and everything has to be brought by local plane or sometimes on a train which is getting assaulted so many times by rebels, who actually supported or constituted the former elected government.
When visiting the public schools we saw with our own eyes what you would not believe: 200 children in one class with one teacher, no tables, no chairs, the roof is leaking and the toilets are broken. But still when we would ask the director what help would you like to receive for your children they would request us to do a feeding programme, because many children are undernourished. This is the situation of about 20 public primary schools with about 2000 children in each school in the capital of Brazzaville .
School Feeding Program
The teachers are working with much idealism and sincerity, but they are overwhelmed by the situation and have nobody to turn to. It is a whole generation of the country which is getting neglected and pushed into a chaotic future. But still how much hope and joy of life was pouring on us, when we entered the overfilled and dark class rooms, which have the beauty of a prison camp. It is very touching and gives us hope and the responsibility to do something for these forgotten children in a forgotten country. (In 2004 the USDA was feeding around 160,000 children in the whole country regularly, but due to the election in the USA the shipments in 2004 were delayed, on top the transport problems inside the country which I mentioned above, so as a result this year they started their programme six months late and could feed only less than half.)
Our Ananda Marga school started in September 2003 with 65 children the first year. In the last moment before opening we had to change our sign board from School of Rising Sun to New Dawn School , because the rising sun is the symbol of the political opposition and it could get us into real trouble…
The parents were hesitant in the beginning because in the same building a year before a school had opened and closed in the middle of the term, but finally we gained their confidence and we hope that this year the attendance will increase. It is very hard for the parents to pay the school fee of $5 per month (which is much cheaper than any other school with comparable quality would charge), but we are living in the city and we cannot do the school for free; then we will have 300 children in one class. We are not very strict in collecting the school fee, which means we are not throwing the children out if their parents are not paying and we are suffering for that. But the parents are very much appreciative of our service and they understand that the spirit is very different in our school. In the parents’ meeting they do express their thankfulness.
We have a long way to go for improving the quality of education. All our teachers are practising yoga and meditation, so at least we can be sure they have a loving mind and a balanced behaviour. You know that singing and dancing is very popular in Congo and our children love kiirtan and learn also many songs in school and you can be sure that the spirit of neohumanism is vibrating in the classrooms.
It may seem only like a drop in the ocean, but we are giving our best and hope to improve and increase our service work, as you know one drop may be the beginning of a big rain and flooding the whole earth with love.
School Children with Dada Dayashiilananda and Dada Sarvajitananda
For more information please contact Dada Sarvajiitananda at <>
