This fortnight's thi>eSimply Sharing Week (June 17-24) Issue 163
 
 

Simply Sharing Week
Guest writer - Kaylea Fearn from Simply Sharing Week

Did you know that The United Nations estimates that there are over 115 million young people in the world who do not have the opportunity to go to school? Simply Sharing Week has taken its annual education program online to help send more young people to school in what promises to be the best interactive campaign the churches have ever launched!

Simply Sharing Week is a program of Caritas Australia and Christian World Service/National Council of Churches in Australia. Together these two agencies are committed to breaking down the structures that create poverty by "living simply, so others may simply live".

This year's theme, "Send My Friend To School" aims to educate Australian students and church members on why education is crucial to reducing poverty and building peace. In response, people are encouraged to go online to www.simplysharingweek.org.au to make a virtual "friend" to present to the Australian Government later in the year.

Our goal is to present tens of thousands of these "friends" to the Government, so that it will invest $200 million in global education in 2007-08 and to increase that to $300 million by 2010. We are committed to seeing that Australia stays on track with education funding commitments.

The "Send My Friend To School" campaign really works! In 2005, 1,000, 000 "friends" were made in schools all over the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom government responded by contributing $15 billion over the next 10 years to build schools, remove school fees and boost girls' school participation in the developing world.

People who go to school are less likely to die of hunger. Women who go to school are more likely to have stronger rights in their communities. People who go to school are more likely to have healthy families and less likely to contract HIV and AIDS. Education impacts on every area of our lives!

School students and teachers are more aware of the benefits of education than ever before. They are keen to see that the benefits they receive from education are shared with young people all over the world. "Send My Friend To School" gives everyone the opportunity to have their voices heard on this important issue.

Simply Sharing Week is a time when we reflect on the good things in our own lives and act in a way that can make basic things we enjoy a reality for others. Through doing activities, prayer and having meaningful discussion in our schools and communities, we can develop a greater awareness of God's creation and how we can become agents of positive change in situations of inequity and injustice.

Simply Sharing Week will be celebrated June 17-24 this year - or you and your friends can get involved at any time of the year which is more convenient!

Most of the following activities have been taken from the Simply Sharing Week kit which can be downloaded at: www.simplysharingweek.org.au


    

Teaching and Learning Activities

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

  1. Jesus lived his life with radical simplicity, taking only what he needed for the journey. Check out these Bible verses and discuss how they demonstrate the radical simplicity of Jesus.
  • Matthew 19:29-30
  • Mark 8:14-21
  • Mark 10:42-45
  • Luke 9:57-62
  • John 10:14-18

Form into small groups (3-5 people) and discuss the following questions:

  1. What was so radical about what Jesus did in these verses?
  2. If you were to live your life with radical simplicity, how would you do it?
  3. What impact could this have on the world?

SOSE/HSIE/RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

  1. Examine the box about gender imbalance in education above and answer the following:
  1. Why do you think there is still less access to education for girls than there is for boys? List some reasons.
  2. In what ways can we combat these access issues?
  3. Is education for girls an issue only for women to take up, or should the whole community get involved? Discuss.
  4. How do you think education can help to improve health? Give examples.
  5. MDG 3 is about promoting gender equality and empowering women. How does this goal relate to MDG 2 about primary education for all?
  6. Do you believe that primary education for all is important? Discuss.

    The following may also help with this activity. 
    Go to:
    www.cafod.org.uk
    www.unicef.org
  1. For an interactive game about the MDGs go to: www.takingitglobal.organd click on "MDG game" in menu on the left.

ENGLISH

  1. 1.  It is often said that the face of poverty is one of a woman. This is partly because 70% of the world's poor are women. The burden of poverty largely falls on women who need to find enough food for their children to eat, who often walk kilometres to collect water and who often would prefer to give necessary medication to their children before taking it themselves. Caritas Australia has produced two short web-movies about promoting gender equality.
    Go to: www.caritas.org.au and scroll down to "Promoting MDG 3: Gender Equality - Who am I?"

    What film techniques have been used to convey the message of the importance of promoting gender equality? (Hint: consider use of images and the way in which the images are presented on the screen, use of statistics, use of language, use of music etc.

  2. Go to: www.caritas.org.au/ and scroll down to
    "Promoting MDG 3: Gender Equality - Mary Annel".

    1. A midwife is treated differently according to whether she delivers a boy or a girl. Describe the difference in treatment.
    2. The meaning of boy and girl in Spanish is very different. Describe the different meanings. List two ways that girls are treated differently.
    3. What role does socialisation play in constructing our understanding of gender?
    4. Caritas Australia through their partners in El Salvador is working with young mothers as one way of addressing gender inequality. How are young mothers helping to transform their society?

  3. In the words of Ms Prak Sokhany, one of the 1000 women nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, 2005 "The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) cannot be seen as individual goals. They are all interconnected. Gender equality and empowering women are a requirement of every goal. We cannot achieve the goals in isolation." After watching the web-movies about MDG 3: Promoting Gender Equality, discuss what Ms Prak means. Do you agree? Why?/Why not?

  4. Hold a class debate: "That gender inequality lies at the heart of poverty."

CROSS CURRICULUM

For past OzSpirit issues highlighting the importance of education visit:

For past OzSpirit issues relating to Make Poverty History visit: www.caritas.org.au and scroll down to the end of the page.

SCHOOL ACTION IDEAS

  • Go to www.sendmyfriendtoschool.org.au to create your virtual "friend" to send to school. Make sure you also send the link to as many of your friends as possible so that they can create a "friend" too!

  • Go to www.simplysharingweek.org.au to order pencils that can be sold in your school for $1.00 each. The pencils are a great reminder of how important basic literacy is in our lives. The pencils are made out of recycled Chinese newspaper, which is good news for the environment, and if you look closely, you'll be able to read the Mandarin characters from the original newsprint!

 

  
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