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To donate to this Family Care Foundation Project, please note Project NAME and then click here. Addressing Early Education Teacher Training in East Africa You may not have heard much of the town of Arusha in northern Tanzania, "the Geneva of Africa", as Bill Clinton dubbed it during a Presidential visit. Arusha is the symbolic capital of the Eastern Africa Coalition, and the location of the UN Tribunal for the Rwandan Genocide, plus home to many diplomats and UN workers. Additionally, it is the base for many safari tours to renowned national parks like Serengeti and Kilimanjaro.
"It was here", share Mario and Sandra Bellaviti, FCF Project Managers of Miles for Smiles, "that we were offered a newly built school facility, and so established a multi-cultural kindergarten for children from various countries, which evolved into a teacher training center for local teachers, steeping them in early childhood education methods."
"Together with a close friend, the former administrator of a prestigious Arusha school, we organized seminars for teachers from cities and villages across the country.”
Their curriculum is based on the Steps program, a Christian character-building program designed especially for African schools, and their approach one of practicality. "In the mornings we major on classes that provide practical advice and tips, and in the afternoons we host workshops, with question-and-answer sessions", adds Sandra.
Collaborating with an elementary school administrator, we organize 5-day seminars for elementary school teachers, attended by an average of 80 teachers from cities and villages across the country.
Our course is based on the “Steps” program (a Christian character-building program designed especially for African schools). In the mornings we major on classes that provide practical advice and tips, and in the afternoons we host workshops, with question-and-answer sessions.
In the hands of these dedicated teachers, we believe this program will go a long way in helping to develop the students’ characters and academic skills.
The Swahili version of the Steps program, as sponsored by Family Care Foundation, will help us to better focus on the needs of children in the areas of education, spiritual growth, and physical care. Love Unites It's well-known that my husband and I are Christians, and that the school curriculum that we run is based on Christian morals. To ease any potential strain in this Muslim area, we organize parent meetings, which allows us to get to know the parents of our young students. Here's but a few examples of the support that we enjoy:
Besy, the mother of one of our young Muslim students, said that her family has seen the good effects that our audio-visual aids, storybooks and educational materials have had on her daughter. She wrote “My family is 100% behind you. Your school has changed our daughter and our whole family! My daughter is such a sample of kindness in our home. Whenever any of her siblings fight, she stops them and prays with them. In the past our daughter has been a slow learner but has made so much progress in her two years at your school. She loves her classes and teachers. It is such a change from the public school that she used to attend, where she was often physically abused by her teachers because she was slow in school."
The families of our Indian students likewise appreciate our quality educational materials and methods, and have told us time and gain that they are happy that their children are so excited to learn and to be with us.
A Touch of Love in a Leper Colony Following are photos of visits to a leper colony where we give aid and a touch of His Love: Our Miles for Smiles team makes regular visits to this colony.
Basketball Court for Street Kids In addition to running the kindergarten five days a week, Miles for Smiles pays regular visits to a center for street children ages 9 through 13, and works with the center's personnel to motivate the children to want to stay there. Facing an almost certain future of roaming the streets, begging, being exploited for sex or falling prey to drug dealers, these children will learn life-saving information and skills that will help them become self-supportive assets to society.
On Miles for Smiles' first visit to the brick shelter these kids call 'home,' they couldn't help but notice a mural painted on the wall-of children playing basketball with a real net, hoop and basketball. Realizing the power in fulfilling this small dream, the staff quickly solicited and received donations for professional basketball hoops, backboards and basketballs. Playing with the youngsters-especially during sports activities-has proved to be a wonderful way for Miles for Smiles to establish friendship and trust, opening a door to more effective counseling.
At the shelter for homeless teens, one of the Miles for Smiles volunteers said, "Setting the nets up next to the mural was like witnessing a dream come true; then seeing their happy faces while they played their first game was so touching and fulfilling that we wished our supporters and friends could have seen this scene firsthand. God's loving touch in these boys' lives is changing them from the inside out." To donate to this Family Care Foundation Project, please note Project NAME and then click here.
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