Today is World Teacher Day. The day we honor those who encouraged us to be better individuals, community members, and global citizens by showing us how to explore the world around us. How to ask questions and problem solve. How to take risks when needed and be safe when it was dangerous. Teachers do not just teach route curriculum, they are caring, innovative people who know that by connecting with and teaching our youngest members of society, we can change towards a more peaceful future.
Our teachers at Little Ripples are just those type of women. They are at the school each day to teach a curriculum grounded in the pillars of peace, helping, and sharing. Through play and positive student engagement, they are forging a new path for their community — one with the opportunity to recover from trauma and towards a stronger Darfur.
Little Ripples teachers all graduated from or are attending the small secondary school in refugee camp Goz Amer. They want to learn and grow. They are all women, many of whom have already started families of their own. They all laugh and giggle just as much as the children do when they get the opportunity to play. All of our teachers have co-created the Little Ripples curriculum with iACT’s team of volunteer Expert Teacher Advisors.
Along with every member of their camp community, they are struggling to make ends meet as services addressing basic needs are continually being cut and monthly food rations have dropped from the suggested 2,100 calories per person, per day to below 800. They are among what the World Food Programme considers Food Insecure. Still, they show up each day the school is open because they know this is a path forward, one that they can shape to be their own.
The Little Ripples teachers are not just educators, but also innovators seeking a better future by fostering peace in the most vulnerable population in their camp. The Little Ripples participatory teacher training builds the capacity of female teachers to implement early childhood education, and also provides a space for them to express themselves.
Meet Darelnaim
“Learning games to teach the children is my favorite. Before Little Ripples, I never got to play or learn these games.” – Darelnaim, Little Ripples teacher
In honor of Darelnaim, please make a donation to Little Ripples.
$20 provides 1 month at Little Ripples for 1 student
$45 helps us pay local neighbors to cook our daily meal (which might be the children’s only meal that day)
$90 is a monthly teacher salary
$200 feeds the entire school for a day
$1500 refurbishes a home to make it safe for a Little Ripples Pond for 45 children
$5000 funds a new Little Ripples Pond in camp Goz Amer for a year
Send a Message:
Teachers often express that feeling connected to people like you, in communities across the U.S., is vital and something that gives them hope. Do you want to send a message to a Little Ripples teacher? Please leave a comment below or mail your note to iACT at 1732 Aviation Blvd, #138 Redondo Beach, CA 90278. They will be delivered on iACT’s next trip to camp Goz Amer in late October.