After a year of lockdown, our community library projects have been re-ignited. Last week, three communities in the municipality of Trinidad, Honduras recommenced their community meetings, working towards three new school-based community libraries that will open this year. Project Coordinator Walter Dubon attended the community meetings, guiding communities in the first steps of the process: … Continue reading Community library projects re-starting after a year of lockdown
August 14 marked the 1-year anniversary of the La Florida school library in Olancho, Honduras! The students from the school decided to organise an anniversary celebration, and invited educate. to join them via Zoom. It was the first time the students had attempted a Zoom call, and a phone top-up had been bought especially for … Continue reading La Florida Library Anniversary Celebration
Even if you haven’t yet heard the term ‘voluntourism,’ you almost certainly are familiar with the phenomenon it refers to. Its imagery and advertising are everywhere – resume-building, perspective-changing opportunities to build a well/teach English/help at an orphanage somewhere in the global South, for a price. Such a combination of volunteering and tourism appeals to … Continue reading The dark side of voluntourism: why development work needs to prioritize local leadership
Happy holiday season to our community around the world! This December, we are collecting books for our 6th library project in Honduras, this time at the El Tigre primary school. Our relationship with this school is a special one. Lisa, one of educate.‘s directors, taught English classes here for a year back in 2014, and … Continue reading Christmas Book Tokens: Buy a book for the El Tigre primary school!
This past summer, two new educate.-funded libraries were inaugurated in Honduras. Both were located at small, rural public primary schools, where one teacher has all students from first through sixth grade in a single classroom - no small feat, especially with the limited resources both of these schools struggle with. Both projects were also led … Continue reading Two new libraries once again show the power of community leadership
“When children see their lives reflected in the books they read, they feel they and their lives are not invisible.” - Malorie Blackman. At the very first educate. library inauguration, in July 2018 at the Adrian Mejia School in El Progreso, children were clambering on their friends’ shoulders to peek through the window into their … Continue reading Latin American Children’s Books: Why Representation Matters (+ Book Recommendations!)
By Antonia McGrath A group of International Development Masters students at the University of Amsterdam recently organized a film screening and panel discussion event featuring the film ‘Schooling the World: The White Man’s Last Burden.’ This was part of a course on Education, Development and Social Justice, and as one of educate.’s directors, I was … Continue reading Schooling the World: Should we be Exporting “Western Education”?
We believe community-created libraries can fundamentally transform learning environments at schools. Books broaden horizons, open minds and inspire creativity. This Christmas, we’re reaching out to everyone in the educate. community to ask for your support in helping us start libraries at two rural primary schools in Honduras that will do just that. We recently launched … Continue reading Buy a Book for an educate. Library this Christmas!
We've been working on making 'Team Spotlight' videos to give you an insight into some of the core members of the educate. team. In this post, we'd like you to meet Lisa van Holsteijn, one of educate.'s co-founders, and now our head of fundraising. Lisa lived and worked in Honduras for a year and a … Continue reading Team Spotlight: Lisa van Holsteijn, Head of Fundraising
“Often women aren’t given the opportunity to study, because people think their only job should be doing housework.” These are the words of Stephanie Marie Chevez, a young woman studying medicine at university in San Pedro Sula, Honduras on an educate. scholarship. Her parents are farmers in a small village on the north coast, so … Continue reading “As a woman studying to become a doctor, I am helping break down stereotypes”
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