Nelson Mandela “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” BACKGROUND Malawi is a small country in south-east Africa, slightly bigger than Scotland but with three times its population. It became independent in 1964 but has struggled to develop. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a low life expectancy and high infant mortality rates. HIV/AIDS is widespread. It suffered severe famine in 2003 but has in recent years increased its food production rapidly. It is known as “the warm heart of Africa” Scotland and Malawi There have been strong links between the two countries for more than 150 years. This began with David Livingstone's journey to Malawi in 1859 and has continued to grow ever since with an ever increasing movement of people and ideas between the two countries which has continued to benefit both nations. A formal partnership now exists between the two countries (www.scotland-malawipartnership.org) Malawi’s second biggest city, Blantyre, is named after the town in south Lanarkshire where David Livingstone was born. Millennium Goal 2 By the year 2015 every child will have completed a full course of primary education.
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Transcript
Nelson Mandela “Education is the most powerful weapon
which you can use to change the world.”
BACKGROUND
Malawi is a small country in south-east Africa,
slightly bigger than Scotland but with three times its
population. It became independent in 1964 but has
struggled to develop.
It is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a low life expectancy and
high infant mortality rates. HIV/AIDS is widespread. It suffered severe famine in
2003 but has in recent years increased its food production rapidly. It is
known as “the warm heart of Africa”
Scotland and Malawi
There have been strong links between
the two countries for more than 150 years.
This began with David Livingstone's journey to
Malawi in 1859 and has continued to grow
ever since with an ever increasing movement
of people and ideas between the two countries
which has continued to benefit both nations.
A formal partnership now exists between the two countries
(www.scotland-malawipartnership.org)
Malawi’s second biggest city, Blantyre, is named after the town in south
Lanarkshire where David Livingstone was born.
Millennium Goal 2
By the year 2015 every child will have completed a full course of primary education.
school. Alternatively your money could be used to build the kitchens they need at the
schools.
Many people are too poor to keep their children in
school. If families had more money, more children would
go to school.
If you sponsor a Malawian child with ActionAid, the money goes to the whole community there, not the child.
Instead of giving money, you could give the local people a hand up not a hand out. You can lend money to people in Malawi wanting to set up businesses, using micro-financing organizations such as www.kiva.org or www.microplace.com . The latter company pays interest on your loans.
The more we buy, the more they sell, the better-
off the workers should be. Their companies should make more money and the government can collect more taxes from them.
It would be particularly good to buy ethically-produced Malawian goods, such as Fairtrade goods.
It’s beautiful. It’s exotic. It’s different. And a holiday in Malawi gives lots of jobs to Malawian people – in hotels, restaurants and shops, in construction and in transport. And these people and the hotels, restaurants and shops will all pay taxes, so the government will have more money.
Lake Malawi, the lake of stars –
the big blue
Explore the endless turquoise blue
waters of tropical fish, golden beaches
and breathtaking sunsets
Mulanje – the magical mountain
Tea estates, rock pools, crystal clear
streams and abundant wildlife on an
island in the sky.
Luangwa Game Reserve – the jungle
out there
Watch the creatures of the night, live
the untouched wilderness as the
elephants cross you for a cooling drink.
Zomba Plateau – the idyll lost in time
Break away from the savannah, discover
an Africa of abundand rain, waterfalls
and an unusual ecosystem
You might prefer to support wider campaigns which help Malawi as well as other
developing countries.
Poverty/the MDGs www.endpoverty2015.org
Health www.gatesfoundation.org
Mothers www.whiteribbonalliance.org
AIDS www.worldaidscampaign.org
Unfair trade www.maketradefair.com
Debt repayments www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk
Gender www.girleffect.org
Toms Shoes www.toms.co.uk Elephant juice www.elephanjuicefood.com
A few words from Eilidh Naismith and Billy Davidson, Young Ambassadors for the Global Campaign For Education
Hutchie supports the Global Campaign for Education. Research has shown
that, in every Developing country, when more children attend school:
the prospects for the child improves,
the prospects for the local community improves and
the prospects for the whole country improve
The GCE is a global organisation working to ensure quality education for all; they fully believe this aim is achievable. The organisation was set up by teachers’ unions, child rights campaigners and charities. There are now more than 100 countries involved who all want to ensure education for all.
They want to put pressure on all world leaders to make sure they keep their promise that by 2015 every child receives a quality primary education. There are still 67 million children not getting an education.
The GCE run various campaigns and competitions, our school takes part in the
Send My Friend to School Campaign of which the aim is to raise awareness of
global education in schools across the UK. We want schools across the UK to get
involved and help us to reach the target by 2015!
We currently have the honour of being the Young
Ambassadors for the Global Campaign for Education
for 2012.
As ambassadors we took on a year of engagements
such as writing articles for newspapers and
magazines, writing blog posts, speaking to politicians,
making speeches and presentations as well as
spreading the word and trying to get schools involved in the Olympic – themed
2012 campaign. Our first task was to find out more about the barriers to education
and travel to Malawi where less than half of Malawian children finish even a
basic primary education. We only have space to mention four children we met, but
our visit can be seen on video at: http://youtu.be/ivsVfT5qlcs