“I hear, I know. I see, I remember. I do, I understand.” – Confucius, Chinese philosopher and political theorist, 551-479 BC Immersion programmes are growing in popularity, with many Irish schools engaging and as the word spreads of successful trips many more are expressing interest. There are many questions surrounding
“Without forest we would have no access to clean water as the source of life …Forest is like the skin covering our body.” Chut Wutty 1964-2012 When the issue of ‘Blood Wood’ in Cambodia recently came to my attention, I was brought back to the time in 2008 at the
Photo: World Fairtrade Day by John Sargent. Flickr/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Anyone who buys, sells or stocks goods that have achieved Fairtrade certification are not engaging in a ‘simple’ or ‘neutral’ act. Quite to the contrary, it is ENTIRELY political. Fairtrade Ireland, founded as the Irish Fair Trade Network (IFTN), in
The experiences of people seeking refuge are near impossible to understand for those of us whose lives have never been disrupted by conflict. Who do we turn to then, to make sense of such suffering? Salman Rushdie suggests that it is, “A poet’s work … to name the unnameable,” and
Ellen Brennan’s blog was a runner up in the 2015 Trinity College Dublin and developmenteducation.ie Development Issues blog series. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. When I was 5 years old I made my first trip abroad to Nogales, Mexico, only one hour from my home in the US. Up until that point I had
Picture tour of the Garden Compound: Lusaka, Zambia
Zingalume compound is one of the biggest ‘compounds’ (shanty town) located in the western part of Zambia’s capital Lusaka. Zingalume is home to a cross-section of Lusaka society including, civil servants, industry-labourers, marketeers, public bus drivers, retirees among others. An ordinary household in Zingalume compound can consist of between 4 and 10 family members
As ever, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the MDG Goal to increase the population with access to safe drinking water was met in 2012. But, the bad news is that the focus on ‘safe’ water hides a major issue. People (here read predominantly women)
Divided into 3 school textbooks that are 30-50 pages in length and free to download, they are packed with facts, figures and activities on distinctive themes on Africa and how these relate to young people in Ireland. The three meta themes explored – are 1) water 2) food, land and
“If you want to take action from Ireland on the issues that cause poverty and injustice around the world, then this is the booklet for you! Maybe you’ve spent some time in a developing country, and it changed the way you see the world and inspired you to do more
The Global Citizen Award is a personal development award that enables returned volunteers to share their overseas experiences and continue to make a difference to global justice issues at home
During the month of August I volunteered with an organisation based on the island of Lesbos which gives legal advice to people seeking refugee status. Many refugees find their way to the island due to its proximity to mainland Turkey which you can see from the beach, about 8km from
Is the status of a country’s democratic health a fair measure of human development gains? What about when we test this idea against the case of homelessness? A final-five finalist in the 2018 Trinity College Dublin and developmenteducation.ie development issues series, Ghalya Farahat argues it’s time to de-link the idea that
Below are responses to the HIV and AIDS pandemic from: Civil Society The Zambian Government A traditional leader, Chieftainess Mwenda Irish Aid Civil Society in Zambia: A Response The view of Women for Change on the pandemic The fight against HIV and AIDS can only be undertaken successfully when there
Data and debate. An initial reflection from Indian writer and activist Arundhati Roy: ‘Whatever it is, coronavirus has made the mighty kneel and brought the world to a halt like nothing else could. Our minds are still racing back and forth, longing for a return to “normality”, trying to stitch
Dora-Olivia Vicol explores the findings from recent research about health misinformation and Covid-19 by fact-checkers Africa Check, Full Fact and Chequeado
developmenteducation.ie’s Gina Dorso and Aoife Mc Donald share 8 takeaways from a major civil society event exploring ideas for a Just Recovery from COVID-19 based on the Sustainable Development Goals
This article explores a study conducted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), focusing on whether allowing students to take textbooks home can improve learning outcomes in highly resource-constrained environments. The research, carried out in 90 primary schools in South Kivu, a region affected by local conflict, tested a
This module explores the basic shape of our world today: it highlights a range of key issues and challenges, how we see them and how others see them; it also explores key debates
Here’s a short article I wrote on ‘food dumping’ that is cross-posted from Eco-Age, an online UK magazine which covers a wide range of areas including ecological analysis, socially responsible shopping and sustainable fashion. It looks at how food aid doesn’t always do what it is supposed to, with often
Another brilliant infographic has gone online from GOOD Magazine, this time in partnership with Oxfam Australia and directed at the global food system. Consumption is a reoccurring theme for us (and on this blog!) as it relates to what we consume, how it is produced, who produces it and the
When writing about Africa we are told: Among your characters you must always include The Starving African, who wanders the refugee camp nearly naked, and waits for the benevolence of the West. Her children have flies on their eyelids and pot bellies, and her breasts are flat and empty. She
Source: South Sudan: Independence Celebration by babasteve, Flickr On the 9th of July 2011, after decades of civil war which resulted in the deaths of up to 2 million people and a referendum passed by 98% of voters, South Sudan became an independent country. Presented below is a brief progress
Using multimedia can be a great method for raising debate and discussion around a particular set of issues. Whether you are running a workshop, teaching a class, or just looking to brighten up a dreary Friday morning in mid-January, it is always useful to have a few in your back
On September 18, Scottish voters between 16 and 18 will be eligible for the first time ever to vote in the referendum on whether Scotland will remain part of the UK or not. One aspect of the debate so far that has been overlooked by most of the interested groups
The National Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development for Ireland 2014-2020, published over the summer of 2014, includes a range of opportunities and recommendations for development educators which are well worth exploring. But what about education and the “business” of sustainable development? ______________________ Developing a strategy that aims to crisscross
This learning unit supports teachers who want to explore the global development issues that affect our world with their students. It will help students develop the skills necessary to affect positive change in their own lives and also to see their actions as part of a wider change for a more just world.
80:20 Development in an Unequal World (and its accompanying CD-ROM introduces and explores some of the major development, human rights and (in)justice issues around the world. It includes some of the major arguments, analysis and viewpoints from around the world aimed at stimulating thought, debate and analysis of the issues
This resource provides a support for tutors and students in adult basic education to think and learn about various development issues. The book explores a wide range of development topics and also includes some activities which focus on particular aspects of language and spelling. Tutors can pick and choose whatever
This is a diverse resource linked to the Primary Curriculum that is case study driven through the lives of people studying, living and working in Rwanda. Prepared as part of the Lenten campaign, the concepts of poverty and hunger are explored through the lives of children, people going to the