After Haiti

It was an intense experience. As far as my research went, it didn't go according to plan- the hurricane and the cholera outbreak, meant that I did not get to do as many interviews as I had hoped. But I had a very positive response from so many people from the education cluster in Haiti, who were very generous with their time and ideas, and some of whom I managed to interview from back in Ireland.
But I was busy. I made some visits as a representative of the Andrew Grene Foundation, and saw a potential site for a school. And I got to visit a number of schools, and talk to some education professionals there.

I found volunteering with EDV to be an amazingly positive experience. I thought their projects were thoughtful, community-based and sustainable- I have rarely been so impressed by a volunteer organisation, which can tend towards good intentions that are badly informed. I got to teach a little bit, and to write up a bit of a guide which volunteers can use in future for tips on teaching. I had the privilege of working with some really amazing people.
I had many of my assumptions turned on their heads- as assumptions should be. I wish very much that I could have stayed longer, but I am very certain that I will be back at some point. The graciousness, generosity, courage and strength of Haitian people that I encountered was phenomenal. It was so much beyond what I expected to find, and I was so humbled by it.

Education at the MDG Summit

Monday to Wednesday of this week was the Millenniumm Development Goals Summit in New York. Country representatives gathered at the UN Headquarters to discuss the progress of the MDGs ten years after they were conceived  and with five years to go before they should be realised. For me, I'm not sure what I'll do now the Smmit is over- just about everything I've been doing so far in my internship has been in preparation for the Summt, research for an advocacy brief, selecting photos for a presentation, ringing all the printing companies in New York to find out who could print us 75 lovely copies of our advocacy brief, like, NOW. I very much enjoyed most of what I've been doing, though have not yet had any account of how the education event actually went.
According to who you talk to, MDG 2, achieving universal primary education, has either;

a) fallen off the radar and no-one cares about it any more even though it's so important,
or,
b) been central to the debate of all the MDGs because it's so important.

Education did not get as much coverage as health, it seems to me, but I can't agree that it has fallen off the radar.
Kevin Watkins , who edits the Education for All Global Monitoring Report, published a piece in the Guardian demanding that we keep the promise made to the world's children, and international dignitaries such as Queen Rania of Jordan, and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown have continued to champion the cause of education.
For next week, I'm not sure what I'll be doing- beginning preparations for the MDG Summit in 2015, perhaps?