Welcome Deacon Matthew Pfleger - Our Lady of Good Counsel

8 | The Good Counsel Courier Vol. 4 | Issue 2 | April 26, 2012
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Education is a Human Right
By Dr. Linda M. Dix
“To reach peace, we must teach peace,” proclaimed Cora Weiss,
President of the Hague Appeal for Peace, amid a thundering applause at
the annual CTAUN Conference at the United Nations on Friday, February
3, 2012. Three hundred eighty-eight educators attended, including two
parishioners: Roxanne Adinolifi and Dr. Linda M. Dix. The 2012 theme
“Education is Human Right” brought forth a myriad of educational issues
from the speakers and panel of assembled presenters. Foday Soko Sackar,
a Graduate Student from Columbia University and a Liberian refugee
survivor spoke to the issues of schools in Africa, particularly Zimbabwe
stating that in crisis, “schools can lose their souls.” His passionate
address touches the core of the UNICEF endeavor. He cited several ways
which can improve schools in the African countries. These include:
“Education is a tool to
human development, social
and economic growth.”
outcome based approaches
and curriculum development,
training and re-training of
teachers, knowledge based
systems which would include
libraries and the internet access
and adequate teaching materials and textbooks. Meg Gardinier as the
chair of the United States Campaign to ratify the Convention on the
Rights of the Child asked participants to see themselves “as human rights
defenders who have the right to persuade the United Sates Senate to ratify
The Convention on the Rights of the Child with all deliberate speed.”
Dr. Ashiro-Rose Migir, the first woman to be Deputy-Secretary-
General, recognized that education is integral to the pace and the
development of democracy. “Education is a tool,” she said, “to human
development, social and economic growth. It brings a sense of normalcy
during crisis and the UN emergency operations now include educational
tools to enable children to fell a sense of belonging, safety, and structure
in crisis situations. Education enables children to relate to each other
and grow into responsible citizens.” UNICEF circulated information
on “child-friendly” schools of which Schools for Africa was citied. CFS
fosters “equality, respect for human rights and participation of all children
along with instructional programs that promote relevant life skills such as
HIV/AIDS prevention, community involvement and participation and a
child-centered style of teaching and learning.”
Parishioners Roxanne and Linda are involved in the Schools for Africa
incentive through DKG, a teachers’ honor society, as President and UN
Liaison, respectively. Schools for Africa is a joint campaign funded by
UNICEF, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, and the Hamburg Society to
promote education for children in Africa. The campaign increases access
to quality basic education for children with a special focus on girls,
orphans, and vulnerable children. Presently, the endeavor is building
and rehabilitating nearly 1000 schools, training almost 100,000 teachers,
providing school supplies, and ensuring that schools have safe drinking
water as well as separate bathrooms for boys and girls. It benefits five
million children by increasing access to education in 11 of Africa’s
neediest countries which include: Angola, Burkina, Faso, Ethiopia,
Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, South Africa,
and Zimbabwe. Ninety million dollars thus far has been raised totally for
this project.
Sister Joan Chittister has written that “Life is not an endurance test; it
is a journey to goodness through a world full of the poor who wait for
the word that they are loved through the love they seen in us.” Through
personal experience in promoting literacy efforts in the developing world,
I have seen this goodness exuded by those who truly take to heart the
responsibility of improving education wherever possible. I once worked
with a government representative in Jamaica, Elaine Foster Allen, who
encouraged teachers with these words: “The profession of teaching
carries the burdens of a nation on its shoulder. Education is a major
antidote to fight the social toxin of poverty.”
As a UN Liaison, I certainly feel the responsibility to return to the
vineyard of my influence, to work harder in the field of international
literacy, and to share what I learn each year from UNICEF. Each person
has a role in establishing education as a human right for all. We are
ambassadors, promoting critical, collaborative, and creative thinking not
only in the classroom but beyond those walls into the world focusing not
only on access of education to 69 million children not in school but also
on the quality of education which is presently provided to improve the
educational experience for all global learners.