Here it is the very First Issue of the Magazine edited by RESPECT REFUGEES International that includes the most important articles from the E-zines published in 2009 and the beginning of 2010.
Hope you will enjoy reading the magazine and you will share this with your friends.
All proceedings from book sales will be donated to RESPECT International. RESPECT (Refugee Education Sponsorship Program) is an apolitical, international, not-for-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) headquartered in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Worldwide networks of like-minded people who help each other, educate each other, and grow together.
The organization stands for:
1. Raise awareness on refugee issues among youth by providing educational communities worldwide with information, training and resources.
2. Build bridges between youth from refugee schools and non-refugee schools through letter exchange and beyond.
3. Take actions in helping refugees by organizing awareness-raising events to educate others on refugee issues and to raise funds for partner refugee school.
Available from now at RESPECT TV the new TV channel as support to all refugees people around the world.
The goal of the project is to let people understand deeper and deeper life of refugees people and see with their own eyes what is going on apart from their lives.
The following letter was submitted to RESPECT International from the principal of the Calvary Baptist Church School in Monrovia, Liberia, seeking help to rebuild its system.
To Whom It May Concern
The Calvary Baptist Church School System was established in 1964 by a group of Mid-Baptist Missionaries from the United States of America, who two years earlier established the Calvary Baptist Church.
The purpose of establishing the school was threefold:
To provide kids with a strong foundation in reading, writing, and speaking.
To impact sound Biblical training as a basis upon which spiritual and moral foundation of kids can be built.
To cater to the educational needs of the Children of church members.
RESPECT International continues to dedicate all the resources possible to improve the education of refugee students. In order to help more people there is a need for more resources. To find out ways in which you can help please visit our website. http://www.respectrefugees.org/
RESPECT (Refugee Education Sponsorship Program – Enhancing Communities Together) is hosting an international poster contest! Students from all parts of the world, Azerbaijan to Canada, Japan to Zimbabwe, will be using their creativity and artistic talent to further RESPECT’s mission of promoting awareness of refugee issues among non-refugee students.
Contest Theme
We begin the poster contest by having students worldwide brainstorm the theme. Once the theme is decided, students create drawings or paintings based on the theme. Send your suggestions to: postercontest@respectrefugees.org.
Winning Entries
Winners will be selected in several age categories among refugee and non-refugee students, as well has categories for computer generated posters. Last year’s contest had thirty participants, from China, Thailand and USA. We selected a winners in the following categories.
Non-refugee 6-9 years-old
Non-refugee 10-11 years-old
Non-refugee 12-13 years-old
Non-refugee 14-18 years-old
As in years past, this year we are looking forward to selecting winners from among entries sent in by refugee students.
The Afghan Women’s Educational Centre (AWEC) is a non-political, non-profit and non-governmental organization established in 1991. Educated Afghan women started this organization in order to provide facilities for Afghan refugees in Islamabad Pakistan.
Their vision is “Establishing an environment where women and children can have their human rights without any violence and discrimination, apply a strengthened civil society based on democracy, justice and gender equality.”
RESPECT is collaborating with AWEC to provide post-secondary education to promising students in Afghanistan. This provides AWEC with access to RESPECTs knowledge and resources in order to enhance their knowledge. Therefore, the students gain an edge when competing for places in educational institutions or jobs. This collaboration is especially aimed at helping improve the living condition of the marginalised group of women and street-working children.
The Brownstones to Red Dirt website is the result of RESPECT International’s letter exchange program as experienced by non-refugee students in Brooklyn writing to refugee students in Sierra Leone. The website showcases the lives of students living in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, United States of America, with refugee students living in Freetown, Sierra Leone, aged between 10 and 12 years old. The website contains:
A variety of photographs with subtle expressions.
Inspiring videos of students from both countries talking about their lives and hopes for the future.
Salone Diary: a daily report of the Brownstone Crew during their visit to Sierra Leone.
Links to discover more about the places mentioned in the website.
A mailing list to invite people to become part of the Brownstones to Red Dirt Community
NtawangwanaboseCélestinBuyore (or Célestin for short) is a teacher and a RESPECT International volunteer originally from the Republic of Rwanda, now living in Nairobi, Kenya and working at Saint Kizito-Kabiria. In Rwanda, 1994, between 800,000 and one million people were killed and it is estimated that some 500,000 people were tortured and murdered in a period of only 100 days.
“All of my relations died in the war,” Célestin said. “My mother and brothers were most likely killed in 1996 by the soldiers of the Front Patriotic of Rwanda (FPRInkotanyi) who are leading there now.”
Having survived the war Célestin now teaches at a school without funds. The school relies on small donations from the parents and the teacher work for free. The students there are proud to be getting an education and be part of RESPECTs letter exchange program. Many of the students are refugees who have lived in abject poverty. The letter exchange program provides them with an escape for a while as they learn about the lives of students from the United States and Canada.
“Due to poverty, the students are physically weak and many have experienced famine in their homes. They don’t have lunches. They get to school on foot and some are unaccompanied and orphans,” Célestin said. Taking part in the letter exchange program helps the students recover from the events of their past and look forward to a brighter future.
Founder and president of RESPECT, Marc Schaeffer, and two of his colleagues at Stevenson Britannia Adult Learning Centre were given the opportunity to attend a workshop for educators and administrators called Tools for Tolerance. This two day workshop at the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) in Los Angeles, USA was as Marc said “a life-changing experience.”
The workshop included exhibitions on the Holocaust, evolution of racism in the United States, bullying and researching genealogy. Presenters included one of the Little Rock Nine and a Holocaust survivor.
Learning and education acts as a starting point for people to be able to help themselves out of poverty, in turn leading to a more peaceful society through increased prosperity. Jenkins Macedo held a book drive to supply educational materials, books and used computers to give people access to the education they want.
Mutual Inspiration
Linda St. Germain, a student at Worcester State College, United States, involved the student council in the book drive, taking the opportunity to benefit not only the African students but the students of her own college.
Another school to get involved was the Fanning Learning Center in Worcester: an alternative to mainstream school for students with difficult home lives. Theresa Venuti, a teacher at Fanning, encouraged her students to each bring books from home. The feeling of helping other people helped the students at Fanning to believe they can get over their fears and have hope in their own futures. The hope is that the students at Fanning will choose careers human service as a result of the first step taken here.
Further Information
For more information on the book drive click here.
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