PROJECT FOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF TRAINING SCHOOL FOR
KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS TO BE CARRIED OUT IN GABORONE
The first thought about
The Santina Gusmini Onlus Association was founded August 2, 2012 and is dedicated to Santina Gusmini, died March 21, 2012 . During the forty years spent together, with her husband has made numerous trips, visiting over one hundred and thirty countries on six continents. To push them to countries always different, it was, not the desire to bask in the sunshine on a beautiful beach fringed with palm trees, but the curiosity to discover worlds and cultures. Who loves travelling and therefore calls himself traveler and not tourist, has as his first goal the knowledge of the countless diversity that our planet offers us: the wonders of nature , the extraordinary variety of the animal world and the humankind.
Visiting countries and poor areas, Mrs. Gusmini paying particular attention for the plight of children: maybe because , in addition to her own sensitivity , she was a kindergarten teacher in youth.
The plight of children in pre-school age in the villages further away towns, with little or no basic services , it is remarkably similar , even in different countries, continents or cultures. With mothers from sunrise to sunset busy in an infinite number of indispensable activities and fathers often absent or very little interested, these babies roam uncontrolled through the village with their peers and dogs, cats and poultry, exposing themselves to obvious (and less obvious ) dangers.
Who has even the slightest knowledge of the countries in developing world and of international organizations operating there, knows very well that humanitarian initiatives aimed at improving the living conditions of these people , they pursue two main objectives: health and hunger. Basically this point is correct: these are primary needs. But improving the living conditions of the most vulnerable, women and children and bring children to the school as soon as possible, is it believed to be secondary? This asked herself Mrs. Gusmini observing these disadvantaged people.
Who we are
Why in Botswana
Define the guidelines of the project , it was necessary to think about where it could find a first application. We evaluated several criteria to select the first country that will host us. The choice fell on Botswana for the following reasons :
- the country is very large, 582,000 square kilometers (twice Italy ) and sparsely populated (2,000,000 inhabitant) with villages far away from the main centers and roads complicated by the rains in some months of the year.
- independent since 1966 , since then, universally considered the safest African country,
- have never been reported tribal or religious conflicts and has always enjoyed an effective social peace,
- has always paid great interest in the culture: it is probably one of country in the world , even today, that allocates a good share of its GDP to education,
- is the African country with the lowest level of corruption. According to the ” Corruption Perception Index 2012” compiled by Transparency International, Botswana is the most virtuous among African countries, finishing in 30th place out of 176 countries. Italy occupies the 72nd place of the ranking …..
Mission e vision
How we shall work: the project in dectail
- the school for the training of the kindergarten teachers,
- a boarding house for students during the course of studies,
- a kindergarten for children aged three to six years,
- a house capable of accommodating: the teachers of the school, the resident staff, members visiting.
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The students. The Association is committed to form ten teachers per year for all the years in which it will operate on the territory. It hopes and expects that this will happen for tens of years. Aspiring teachers, who will preferably come from disadvantaged villages (villages visited, informed and involved previously), will be accommodated in the hostel, built next to the school for the entire duration of the course; with board and lodging paid by the Association. The aspiring teachers must have completed the two levels of Secondary School, both Junior and Senior. This means that: A) they will be at least 18 years old; B) they should have achieved the Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Examination (BGCSE); C), our course of study could be equated to a Vocational Education in Teaching or Nursing, already known in Botswana, before the University. The village will be responsible to notify us if, inside of the Community, there is a student born in the village itself and still resident or resident in the city, interested in being part of our project. Otherwise we will turn to other stakeholders.
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The training The training will last for one year , divided in two modules of six months each, with an interval of one month of holidays. The lessons of the first module cover several theoretical subjects: psychology, general pedagogy, special pedagogy, pedagogy of human rights. The lessons of the second module, on the contrary, will focus on teaching and practical aspects, trying to give the students practical ways of intervention. The subjects offered will be: childcare, education, children ‘s literature, pediatric first aid, hygiene. The study program has been prepared by the Association and is visible on the website www.santinagusminionlus.org. The course will be taught by two qualified teachers and by a doctor for pediatric first aid and hygiene.
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Activities in the villages. Upon completion of the training course and received their diploma, new teachers will be reinstated in the village of origin ( or similar if deemed most in need ) and must be provided to them a focal point for the opening of a small kindergarten that can accommodate the children of the same village. The Chief of the village and / or the Council of Elders will provide and guarantee the granting of such spaces , in accordance with a previously accepted and signed agreement between the parties. The Association will take over the initial learning material needed and will pay the new teacher for three annuities with a wage of 1,000 Pula ( approximately Euro 100 ) per month , as per the agreement signed with each student before the beginning of the course. The Association reserves the right to conduct any monitoring and evaluation on the work of teacher and solve the existing contract at any time upon the occurrence of a serious matter due to the same teacher . After the three-year period , cost of teacher and updating of teaching materials will be borne by the village ( or by the state if it decides to supply directly ) . Starting from the third year of life, therefore, the Association shall provide for the annual salary of thirty teachers until its activities will last in the country.
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The kindergarten. At the same time with the beginning of the activities of the Training School, the kindergarten, made in the same school complex, will start to operate. It ‘s important to note that the kindergarten constitutes the only one of the initiatives carried out by the Association not for free. It is and will be the sole asset in return for payment of all the activities carried out by the Association in the country. So the families that will use the facilities of the kindergarten, will have to pay a rate established for the services offered . The born of the kindergarten will allow the satisfaction of two different needs : to enable students to carry out an internship in a suitable environment and decrease the annual economic needs of the Association. It is essential to remember that the activities of the Association on the territory will create a constant budget deficit, to iron out annually with spontaneous donations and sponsors. If this deficit , thanks to the proceeds of the kindergarten, become somehow reduced , would make more easily sustainable the presence of the Association in Botswana indefinitely. A quality nursery school would also be an additional service offered to the population. The Association believes to provide for facilities and staff to accommodate an initial number of twenty children, with the possibility of increasing the number of young guests up to forty individuals. The service which will cover the time period from 07:00 a.m. to 01:00 p.m., with the possibility , after assessing the needs of families , of future extension of service up to 05.00 p.m. The quality of the offer , beyond the time period in which the services will be provided , however, will always be on top of our evaluations. We will propose highly skilled staff, complementary activities for everyone, such as music, psychomotor, colors room and, if possible, an indoor swimming pool.
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The staff. Santina Gusmini Onlus has both social and cultural aims and is a non-profit organization, but it might be important to remark how its activities in the country will contribute, albeit in limited numbers, to reduce unemployment that seems for Botswana a very serious problem. (See Sunday Standard article, Sat 05.10.2013 – “Botswana’s unemployment rate among the worst in the world”). In addition to the 30 new teachers, who will receive a salary from the Association, it creates about 15/20 permanent jobs. The school and kindergarten teachers must be foreign, at least during the first years, but the rest of the staff will be local. And perhaps in a country that, according to the article referred above, “only has between 20 and 29% of its able-bodied citizens employed full time ..” this fact could not be secondary.
Sustainability and sponsor
- activities of the members,
- the operational volunteers,
- the “targeted” donors
- the “generic “ donors
- Activities of the members. Members only operate for free. The President and other members who travel, meet people, take action even essential for the Association, do it exclusively at their own expense. So no refund for airline tickets, hotel stays, meals, etc.. Ditto for telephone charges, implementation and updating of website, building project, business cards, drafting and printing of programs and similar activities. Everyone makes available, free of charge, his time, skills, premises, staff (if any), conveyance and communication tools.
- The operational volunteers . The critical economic situation in the European countries makes it very difficult to ask ( and get) by workmen and companies, already experiencing difficulties in their professional activity , time and resources for other initiatives, though laudable . However we will try to promote our project with carpenters , masons, plumbers and electricians in Italy , favoring their presence in Botswana, each group for a short time , free of charge , offering them food and accommodation during their stay . This step, moreover subordinated to the heavy restrictions by local law on foreign workers, today cannot be considered primary and perhaps even feasible, but can, at best, be complementary to the completion of the construction works by institutional donors.
- The targeted donors. Among the many items of expenditure , there are already some quantifiable with a low margin of error. We have divided these items in ” packages ” that, given the amount significantly high , we wish to propose to donors so-called “institutional” (companies, banking institutions , medium-sized companies ) . We expect to receive the subscription of commitment to support this expenditure , as soon as the Government of Botswana will confirm us, in explicit form, its own interest and full cooperation to the realization of our project.
- Annual salary for new graduated teachers.
- Salary for teachers of the training school.
- Conveyance at the disposal of the structure.
- Providing school uniforms.
- Providing educational materials.
- Supply furniture for kindergarten, school , hostel, house.
- The annual cost of the staff for kindergarten.
- The annual cost of the service staff for the entire property.
- Materials of construction.
- Purchase of electric current generator .
- General and administrative expenses : water, electricity, tv, etc.
- Food expenses.
People and institution involved: mutual commitments
- The Government of Botswana.
- Institutions and private entities in Botswana
- The villages directly involved in it.
- The Santina Gusmini Onlus Association.
- The Government of Botswana. No financial contribution is required to the Government of Botswana. All costs will be borne by the Association or private entities, local or international: land acquisition , construction of buildings , staff costs, wages of new teachers for three years , teaching materials . We only ask a proper attention to those who are not coming with the arrogance of the colonizer , but with the awareness of being a guest in a foreign land. Attention for those who believe that international cooperation is not an abstract concept, but can produce effects and tangible benefits both in the short and long term . Attention for an Association and a project totally non-profit , but that will improve the condition of women, will help the children of the villages most disadvantaged , will create new jobs . If you believe in our project, we only ask you to understand and support, in a substantial and not merely formal way, the effort, the diligence and the energies made by our Association . This should result, first in a formal invitation to begin the activities in your country and then in a continuous care to minimize the impact of bureaucratic difficulties. The commitment of government officials must allow, in strict compliance with the current regulations in the country, to break down as much as possible downtime and the formalities which may delay the beginning first and the continuity then, of the operativity on the territory. This is all that we ask and expect, nothing else. It will then be exclusive evaluation of the Government decide whether to provide economic support, partial or total, to the villages, to keep the activities of teacher beyond Association support.
- Institutions and private entities in Botswana. A direct investment by local private entities, was not, at the time of writing of this project, considered essential, though highly desirable. The international trend, the crisis gripping the whole world economies, the goal of self-management for Botswana’s workforce, the desire for the Association to create a new project, providing its know-how, but in short time locally self-managed, make these investments, at least necessary. Private investors must be an active part in the realization of the project. The Association has to build the basis because the entire project is managed by local people shortly. The Santina Gusmini Onlus Association sees Botswana as the first of many other international project self-managed, has no interest in overlap or hinder the growth of the local population, but sees favorably, devolution of management and skills to the country where it’s operating. Our models are the Montessori schools in the world.
- The villages directly involved. Before starting any activity, members of the Association will travel and visit personally, in case accompanied by government officials, an adequate number of villages, potentially interested in the project . A collaboration of the Government in the preparation of these meetings would be welcome. The villages that felt the proposal interesting and worthy of being implemented in their own village , must stipulate with the Association, an agreement in support of the project. The Chief of the village and / or the Council of Elders or the equivalent local authority , qualified to engage the village, must guarantee the free concession to the new teacher, a suitable place to take care and look after the children; watch on carrying out of the activity, report to the Association any anomaly or undue interruption of the service, take action in the three years in which the teacher will be paid by the Association, to prepare a plan for financing the costs of the teacher once finished the above mentioned period. We are willing to provide every village with a proper structure to host the kindergarten, if transportation of the building by lorry could be feasible.
- The Santina Gusmini Onlus Association. The Association undertakes to provide all the know-how needed to start the project, to prepare and manage the building project, in the manner and form chosen, to recruit the staff needed, to form simultaneously local substitutes for each position covered by foreign personnel, but only in the times and ways unquestionably decided by Association itself, to train teachers in the number and time fixed, to support them financially for the period provided by contract and to implement all the obligations contained in this document.
Purposes and goal
We want to once again remind that our project has a dual purpose both cultural and social. We consider essential for the overall growth of a whole people, drawing nearer to a school as soon as possible the maximum number of kids. A true and lasting social change, can only go through a global cultural growth.
A study of CNEL (Italian institution that deals with Economy and Labor – www.cnel.it) estimates that about two million people per year, will migrate every year up to 2050, from Africa to Europe. Prevent our children from becoming migrants by necessity, also thanks to the contribution, although modest, of our Association, would be a great satisfaction.
For sure we will not solve the serious problem of unemployment that afflicts your country, but we are glad to cooperate to combat it, by creating new jobs.
President of Santina Gusmini Onlus