EDUCATION AS A RIGHT AND NOT A PRIVILEGE

Education forms the cornerstone of any developed society. In London, where I was born and where I work every day, education is a basic right to every child. A child becomes of compulsory school age when they reach the age of five and by law every parent has a legal responsibility to make sure children go to school. There are systems in place to cater for the educational needs of every child and to ensure that no child is left without one. This makes education a statutory right for every child and not a privilege.

Unfortunately, these opportunities are a far cry from those of children of the same age bracket in other parts of the world. In some of the rural areas of Africa, there are a lot of children who don’t have any opportunity of attending a school. The bleak reality in these areas is that the concept of education doesn’t match with reality in which these people live. The reasons why children do not go to school are endless. In most cases, forced to contend with more pressing basics such as feeding their families, many parents forego educating their children since they can’t afford to pay for a proper education.

This then becomes a vicious cycle in that children like their parents before them, end up tilling the ground and the cycle goes on. For some children, the only other option is joining gangs where they would be assured of some chance to earn a good income and respect within their communities while others are forced to scavenge for food. Young children mature at an early age,-Not out of biological transformation but out necessity. The situation gets worse for females in that young girls become vulnerable at a very young age. Young girls get exposed to the scourge of sexual favours in return for basic necessities with severe consequences such as STDs and HIV.

According to Statistics by the United Nations, nearly half the school-age population in Sub-Saharan Africa have never set foot in a classroom. It is heart-breaking to witness first-hand the plight of children in these areas; - to know that millions of kids will never have the privilege of receiving an education. The consequences of a poorly educated population are dire because education is a key part in bringing real and lasting change in the transformation of any society.

My belief is that education should be viewed as a fundamental human right for all irrespective of race, gender or geographical setting. Education is important in helping to improve people’s lives. Poverty eradication, employment creation and economic growth all depend on the availability of skills and good skills are borne out of a proper education. It is for this reason that the Eden Foundation has partnered with Globle Limited of Hong Kong to provide scholastic material for elementary students in rural provinces Western Sierra Leone.

By providing access to education, The Eden Dervan Foundation hopes to empower young minds and encourage them into partaking in the benefits of the opportunities of education. At the Eden Foundation, we believe that there lies a king in every kid and we strive to bring out that king. We know that children will flourish if they are able to go school, stay there until they finish and learn the basic skills of literacy, life skills and critical thinking in a supportive setting. The Eden Dervan Foundation has over the years has invested heavily in elementary education by supporting skill building initiatives and by providing scholastic material and scholarships to local communities.

Although our ambition and goal is to change the dire circumstances faced by the needy, the myriad of existing needs can confound even the most heartfelt intentions. For this reason, we appeal to your support in achieving this goal. Your support to our education programs will help in providing entire communities with the infrastructure, training, tools, services and support they need for improving quality and access to education. With your support we can make this dream a reality. There is a saying in Africa that it takes a village to raise a child. I added a twist on this to say that we in the world have a responsibility to help each other because truthfully speaking, WE ALL ARE ONE. For more information about how you can help, contact www.edendervan.org.

 

THE ART PORTAL

The continent of Africa can be defined, compared or equated to many things but nothing adequately describes the beauty and richness of Africa more than African Art. This is a conclusion to which I came after my recent visit to Sierra Leone.

During that visit, my team and I were living in a village with no running water, no electricity and the conditions were less luxurious than most can imagine. Our interaction was with people whose lives have been defined and held captive by extreme poverty and disease. Their children were malnourished and the people lived on less than what we call average in the western world. The differences were evident and obvious around us. The mud-walled hut that served as our place of abode was drastically different from a furnished, air-conditioned house in London. Its walls were adorned with wooden masks which were either human or animal or of mythical creatures, a far cry from the expensive Picassos found in Western homes. The hole dug in the ground with a stick fence surrounding did not look or feel anything like the porcelain, flushing toilet in the western world and the language, landscape, food and traditions were evidently different from that with which we are accustomed.

And yet, no one in our team was talking about these differences. Everyone was amazed at the beauty of the carvings, sculptures and paintings that surrounded us. We were awed by the talent and creativity through which this art was created. One particular piece that struck me was a painting of a hunting party crossing the desert. The setting sun in the background of the painting comprised of a rich blend of colours that not only gave life to the painting but also left unanswered questions and imaginations in the mind of the viewer.

Perhaps what astonished me most was the revelation that most of the art around the hut was the creation of the 12 year old son of our host. I wondered if all of his art was for home decoration of some of it was for sale. My host informed us that as living conditions had become harder, his son had dropped out of school to concentrate on helping in the garden to harvest produce for sale and he was subsidising the income by selling some of his art. Disappointingly though, the African artist does not necessarily have the equivalent of the western fine artist who relies on patronage or the marketplace to regulate his or her production.

At the end of our visit, a thought came into my mind; I thought about how a better platform on which to promote this creativity could not only empower and sustain these people but it could also enrich and improve their livelihoods. As one of its key objectives, the Eden Dervan Foundations aims to empower people and improve their communities in lasting ways. By investing in humanitarian and cultural aid through various associations, companies and partnerships with NGOs, help has been able to reach a broad section of the local population but poverty cannot be eradicated by aid alone. It is also necessary to provide conduits and streams through which people can enhance their creativity to better their lives. It is a matter of presence and motivation.

For this reason, the Eden Dervan foundation has resolved to also focus on promoting contemporary African arts and products for sale to the retail and wholesale markets. Through partnership with various companies, associations and NGO’s, the Eden Dervan foundation will establish development  projects with a view to helping African artists gain recognition and easier access to markets. The long term goal is to let African creativity promote its culture, beauty and heritage.

Our friends may live in a world very different to our own, but when we look at and interact with one another, we begin to see a reflection of ourselves and of God in one another. Each of us has the power to give life meaning, to make our time and our bodies and our words into instruments of love and hope and to give each other a helping hand.