International Literacy Day
September 8, 2014

  "Literacy is a key lever of change and a practical tool of empowerment on each of the three main pillars of sustainable development: economic development, social development and environmental protection."

Former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan

- See more at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/literacy-day/#sthash.xl208HWW.Hay7bl2e.dpufhttp://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/literacy-day/#sthash.xl208HWW.Hay7bl2e.dpuf

Today is International Literacy Day, a day to celebrate and encourage literacy. All over the world tremendous strides are being made in literacy and education, but there are many notable exceptions. There are even places, such as Gaza, where literacy is moving the wrong way. Children are being hampered in their learning by external forces.

According to the New York Times, there are 648 schools in Gaza with 421 of the buildings being shared in double shifts. Since the recent violence, 34 buildings have been damaged beyond repair and dozens more need major repairs. Add the addition of 60,000 people whose homes were destroyed that are being sheltered in school buildings, and you have an insurmountable problem. (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/06/world/middleeast/broken-buildings-and-bruised-psyches-complicate-start-of-gaza-school-year.html?_r=0)

Schools are already three weeks late, and an opening day is not in sight. Even if schools were to open tomorrow, how many children would be able to study and learn? Democracy Now! Gives August 21 numbers as: 500 kids dead, 3,000 injured (over 1,000 of whom will suffer from lifelong disability), and 373,000 traumatized. Pernille Ironside, chief of UNICEF’s Gaza field office said, “There isn’t a single family in Gaza who hasn’t experienced personally death, injury, the loss of their home, extensive damage, displacement, The psychological toll that has on a people, it just cannot be overestimated, and especially on children."

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/8/21/a_war_on_gazas_future_israeli

Sadly, many of these children may never reach their full potential, yet there are ways we can help.

You can help UNRWA rebuild schools in Gaza

Click here to donate
***DONATE TO THE GAZA EMERGENCY APPEAL TODAY***

UNRWA must repair, rebuild, equip schools and they also provide food and counseling when they can.

Music: an irrelevance or a necessity?

But man’s greatest strength lies in his capacity for irrelevance.  In the midst of pestilences, wars and famines, he builds cathedrals; and a slave, he can think the irrelevant and unsuitable thoughts of a free man.

Aldous Huxley Antic Hay p. 127

 The Gaza Music School may be an irrelevance in the poverty stricken war zone of the Gaza Strip, but that makes it all the more necessary.  The children of Gaza have very few opportunities to sample the joys of life.  They have very few opportunities to help them recover from trauma of the constant threat of violence and the periodic bouts of full-fledged war.  The Gaza Music School is one avenue they may take toward healing.  http://www.indiegogo.com/TheGazaMusicSchool/x/703244

In Gaza Strip , closures, isolation and fragmentation imposed by Israel, are negatively affecting all forms of Palestinians’ daily life. This project contributes to activating cultural life...  Such activities have a great influence to elevate people’s hope, resilience, perseverance and steadfastness amid all daily encounters of despair and frustration.

The Gaza Music School was launched in July 2008, in response to growing demand for music education in the Gaza Strip, offering the first-ever structured and long-term music education program in Gaza. In January 2009, GMS was destroyed during the Israeli war on Gaza. Almost miraculously, with the help of international donors, the School re-opened three months later in a new expanded space, and adding to the team to accommodate the growing number of students.

THEY NEED YOUR HELP TO CONTINUE TO SERVE THE CHILDREN OF GAZA

http://www.indiegogo.com/TheGazaMusicSchool/x/703244

 

 

An Exciting New Adventure

         On Wednesday, February 29, 2012 I will be talking with John Byk on his radio blog 2012writersALIVE.  I have never done anything like this before, and I am very excited about it.

John’s radio blog features interviews with authors whose books deal with social problems, and I was fortunate enough to interest him in my books about Palestinian refugees (Born a Refugee and Refugee Without Refuge).  We will be discussing the humanitarian aspects of living in the refugee camps and the problems the refugees encounter as a result of living under occupation, with a particular emphasis of education.  John Byk is an educator and has traveled widely, giving him a unique perspective on the problems.

The blog is an audio broadcast (hence the name radio blog) and can be heard live by anyone who goes to his website http://2012writersalive.blogspot.com/.  I expect him to call me at 1:30 PM Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, and I assume the interview will go live shortly thereafter.  If you miss it, he archives his blog posts and you can listen to them anytime.

Social injustices are pack animals--they seldom exist in isolation, and they have no respect for international borders.  Poverty, overcrowding, lack of preventive health care, and limited access to education are all examples of injustices that exist in the refugee camps and in other areas throughout the world.

Some of his previous blogs have focused on topics such as domestic violence, victims’ rights, bullying, civil rights, and post traumatic stress disorder.  Our discussion will probably cover some of these same topics since unfortunately, these problems exist throughout the world.

In addition to having an interesting blog, John is also a talented writer.  He writes under the pen name Conrad Jonson.  I am currently reading his book Till the Moon Falls.  It is a thriller that will keep you turning pages and keep your light on far past your bedtime.  I am thoroughly enjoying it.  The hero, John Oxman, is very likeable, and I hope there are more of his adventures.

 

    To my delight, Till the Moon Falls is part of a series.  The second book is Xenophobia, and the third one is Detroit Daze.  I can't wait to read them all.