11/01/06 - 12:21:09 pm
Categories:
Zambia
It is not often that somebody from Zambia gets to study internationally, let alone at a prestigious university in London. But the founder of the Back to School Project did just that. She has taken 27 street children in and is getting them excited about education.
This article discusses it here. I'll mention my favorite parts below.
I liked the philosophy of appealing to the boys' dreams. She said many of them want to be rappers, so she tells them they need to get an education to improve their vocabulary so they don't bore their audience with the same 10 words. Very sarcastic for an aid worker, but frankly it seems to work and can reach the kids in a way that they respect.
The article tells of a story of all the boys getting tested for HIV/AIDS. After a stressful couple of hours, NONE of the boys came up positive. The article calls it a small miracle. Small may not cut it. Since 1 in 5 sexually active people in Zambia have AIDS. You can be sure that all these boys are sexually active and have been so for some time.
This is an encouraging article. Give it a read.