The following is a synopsis of Anne’s experience. Read more about her compelling story by following this link.

For three months, I taught multimedia journalism — photography, audio and video — to Communications students studying at the Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo (UCBC) in the city of Beni in North Kivu province as part of an entrepreneurial education project called “Congo in Focus.” Many of my students had never used audio recorders or video cameras before; few knew about journalism. Yet after several months of hands-on training, they produced great multimedia stories about their community.

So often, foreign journalists in DRC report solely on war, violence against women, poverty and disease. By giving students at UCBC the tools and skills to tell the stories THEY wanted to tell about their communities, I felt like I was helping to empower them not only to expose corruption in their country but also to shed light on the positives.

To feature the students’ work, I created a website (www.congoinfocus.com) where their photo/audio slideshows, videos and blog posts could be viewed. All equipment that I took with me to Congo was donated to the university’s Communications department to enable students to continue telling their own multimedia stories long after my departure.

I initially connected with Congo Initiative (CI) through a friend whose brother worked at the Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo (UCBC) in North Kivu province.  I funded my trip through personal savings and donations from family and friends.

My goal is to use my skills in photojournalism and multimedia journalism to aid organizations doing “good” in underrepresented parts of the world. I also want to continue implementing projects like “Congo in Focus” in post-conflict zones around the world.

Anne Medley with Congolese students.

Nine year old Yeshi studying math at boarding school for nomadic children near Dawu in Qinghai Province on the Tibetan Plateau.

In 2007 China made an unprecedented commitment to education by mandating that all children attend school through grade 9. Rural children can now have their compulsory school fees subsidized by the government. A Tibetan family can actually be fined if their children don’t attend school. The Tibetan community has met this historic investment in education with trepidation. In October 2010 thousands of Tibetan students took to the streets in non-violent protest over the recent decision of the Chinese government to have all textbooks written in Mandarin. For the Tibetan people it was seen as just another step, along with massive Chinese immigration, in the steady marginalization of their people and culture.

TsoTso, 25 yrs, gets up at 5 am to milk the yaks then does it again at 9 pm. Her full time job is taking care of the families 50 Yaks. She, like most nomads her age, has never gone to school.

For most Tibetans it is important that their children receive education in their Tibetan language and culture. They fear, and rightly so, when their language dies, their culture will die. In this case it is a culture with a spiritual tradition and practice that has developed over centuries and has potential value for us all.

Math class at nomad boarding school. The students typically go home once or twice a month depending on the distance they have to travel.

Bilingual education could be the answer for Tibet, but there are important issues that need to be taken into consideration. For instance, if Tibetan students want to be able to compete academically with Chinese students for post-graduate education slots, they have to be fluent in Mandarin in their selected majors. After the recent student demonstrations there was some indication that the Chinese government would be willing to sit down and discuss the concerns voiced by the student protesters. Recently, the government responded to the student protests by announcing a new policy that will provide 2 years of free bilingual education for rural Tibetan children in preschool. It is a least a start in dealing with this important but complex issue.

Nima Pinto (16yrs.) is a barley farmer living near Shigatse, Tibet. Like so many rural girls her age she has never been to school.

Tsering, age 10, studying math at boarding school for nomadic children

To be fair the Chinese government is not alone in wanting to standardize the language of its citizens.  We have our own debates about bilingual education and we have a history of brutally forcing Native Americans not to speak their native languages.   Then there is the issue of postgraduate education. If Tibetan students do not speak fluent Mandarin it will be virtually impossible for them to pursue an advanced degree.

According to Ken Hale, a professor of linguistics at MIT, there are 6,000 languages spoken on earth today and 3,000 are not spoken by the children.  Every two weeks another elder goes to the grave carrying the last spoken word of an entire culture.  When the language dies the culture dies.  This is a silent extinction in that we scarcely hear about it in the media.  It is our cultural diversity that gives our species its resiliency, creativity and strength.

Nomad children at boarding school

If you spend anytime with the Tibetans you will most likely realize, like I have,
what a special culture they have.  I have never been with a people that return a smile and laugh as readily as they do–having a cultural tradition and devotion grounded in compassion shows.   If there was ever a good argument for a solid bilingual educational curriculum this is it.

By 2000, UNICEF reported that only 4 to 5% of Afghan children were being educated at the primary school level. Fewer still had access to secondary and university-level education.

According to the World Bank, “Since 2002, more than 6 million students and teachers have returned to school.” 

The organization, Ayni Education International, has certainly had a hand in the increasing education, especially for girls, in Afghanistan.  Featured this week in the Seattle Times, Ayni was founded by Seattle based Julia Bolz.

From Ayni’s website, “Our main project, called “Journey with an Afghan School,” began just months after 9-11 and the Taliban were removed from power in Afghanistan. It is a grassroots project to build and supply schools for Afghan children. 

With funds raised by communities across the country, we have defied all odds by building and supplying 19 new schools and repairing over a dozen others, serving about 25,000 Afghan students. We also have provided wells; distributed text-books, school supplies and athletic equipment; provided teacher trainings; and set up libraries, computer centers and PTAs. Most recently, we set up two teacher training centers, training several hundred teachers.”

As I continue to add to the “Call to Action” portion of a new website to be launched soon (www.stirringthefire.org) I am continually amazed by the extraordinary people like Julia Bolz that are making a difference.  Thanks Julia for your wonderful work!

1. Community based Issues–Are the issues (i.e. girls education; trafficking etc.) that you are interested in addressed in the program?
2.  Field based or classroom based–Ideally you want to be living and interacting as much as possible in the community you are studying or volunteering in.
3.  Study or Research—how much support is in place locally to facilitate your study or research project
4. Local Language immersion and instruction should be a strong component of the program
5. Accreditation—Of course it’s ideal to receive college credits for your time and work while abroad.

As we build out the Call to Action section of our website we will categorize various study abroad programs with these attributes in mind.  Again, please give us feed back or let us know about any firsthand experience you have had in study abroad programs so we can grow our support for those who want to take this path.

In 2005 I met Fahima, a teacher since 1985.  She was one of the thousands of professional women who lost their jobs when the Taliban came to power in 1996.  In defiance of the Taliban and at great risk to herself, Fahima opened a clandestine school for young girls.  At one point 130 girls were coming to her home each week to study math, science, and the local language, Pushto.  When the girls were asked why they were going to Fahima’s house they said she was their aunt.  Although harassed by the religious police and threatened with beatings and worse, Fahima continued operating her school for girls until the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Fahima now helps girls catch up with the education that they missed out on during the reign of the Taliban. 

Unfortunately, it is not news, that even with the fall of the Taliban Afghans still face severe challenges.  Most children work to help their family survive and few are able to attend school.  

Humaria sells eggs as a street vendor to help her family survive. As with many families in Afghanistan, years of war have left them very poor. Only half of all Afghan children ages 7 to 13 attend school and typically boys are chosen over girls. 

“From acid attacks, murder, torching of schools and sexual assault, violence against female students is dashing the dreams of thousands of Afghan girls and women who are thirsty for an education that may help rejuvenate the fractured economy and society of their war-torn country.”  From Reuters, Jan. 2009. 

Dexter Filkins, a reporter for The New York Times, took a stand to help improve conditions for education in Afghanistan.  I highly recommend you read his wonderful story.  

Nafisa was thrilled when she learned she was chosen to attend Salman-e-Fars, a new school recently opened for young girls in Kabul.  Girls now make up thirty-four percent of the student population in Afghanistan- a dramatic increase since the Taliban rule, when it was essentially zero.