My
World's
project grew out of our collective experiences in Peace Corps, Tanzania,
which exposed us to the great need for alternative strategies of education
to supplement the standard methods, as well as the great promise that
existing local resources had in filling that need. By supplementing
traditional classroom education with experiential learning, we can very
effectively make abstract concepts concrete, while offering disadvantaged
students a once in a lifetime opportunity.
As teachers, we took our students across the country to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.
The ten students, some of whom had never before traveled more than 15
km from their homes, saw, among other things, their first elephants
and giraffes, their first city, and even their first snow, high on the
slopes of Kilimanjaro.
All of these new experiences not only provide great lessons in biology,
chemistry, physics, and geography, but also open up the world to the
students and instill in them an understanding of the potential it offers,
give them benefits in increased self esteem and impart social and leadership
skills that will help them to negotiate the precarious educational environment
in Tanzania. From training for the trip, fund raising, and spending
arduous, but spectacular days slowly ascending the tallest mountain
in Africa, to sharing their experiences with their families and friends
back home, the students took part in a life changing experience. In
a place where educational opportunities are scarce, the students saw
that hard work and perseverance can sometimes pay wonderful dividends.
Three years after we led our first trip as volunteers, we returned to
visit our students, and as they clamored around us to share their news
and hear ours, memories about the trip dominated the conversation and
made it clear how much it had impacted their lives. We realized that
it would be worthwhile to give more students the opportunity to participate
in such trips, and to improve the trips so the educational component
would be stronger.
So we began My World to
secure funding for sending more students on such educational trips,
not just because these places will provide a dramatic laboratory for
learning, but also because these resources are significantly underutilized
by the disadvantaged among the local population. The students deserve
an opportunity to experience the splendor in their country that wealthy
foreign tourists every day access.
We began in Tanzania both because that is where our experience lies
and because the government already supports such trips through park
fee waivers for student groups and in its national curriculum, but realizing
the diversity of experiences the world has to offer, we will, as our
organization grows, reproduce our model so that students from around
the world can explore the natural and cultural wonders in their own
countries.
Our model will focus on building local capacity to run the program.
Local educators will build the appropriate curriculum while My
World becomes a resource
for consolidating and distributing educational materials and funding.
Funds for the trips will be obtained through My
World fundraising and local contributions as appropriate
to help students participate in the fruition of the project.
In Tanzania, students will have access to more than 14 national parks
and conservation areas all over the country, from the heights of Mts.
Kilimanjaro and Meru to the endless plains of the Serengeti and the
unique majesty of Ngorongoro crater.
To afford further educational opportunity, and with the understanding
that many students experience difficulties in finding money to pay for
school fees, My World will
also provide scholarships for certain students who have demonstrated
financial need and academic merit and who have also completed a trip
sponsored by the organization. The scholarships will continue to foster
the educational foundations established by the initial trip, by allowing
the students to complete secondary school.
These
plans represent our beginnings and we will develop other programs to
strengthen educational opportunities for students in developing countries
as the organization grows.
