Stories of IREX

The Ungheni Public Library has attracted a group of users that are rarely seen walking the halls of Moldovan libraries: soldiers. A new library service has been made available for members of the locally-based "Prut" battalion of the National Army, designed to give the soldiers access to online information and help them communicate with their friends and families back home.

Last month, IREX Country Director and Senior Technical Expert Naser Al-Ardah, had the privilege of participating in President Obama’s visit to a youth center in West Bank. In an interview with IREX’ s Communications Manager, he offers his thoughts on the historic visit and the challenges and opportunities for youth in the region.

The Novateca program is giving many Moldovans free access to computers and the Internet. Organizers recently inaugurated six regional training centers throughout Moldova where librarians are learning to help patrons make use of the technology. By the end of 2013 more than 350,000 will benefit from free public access to the Internet.

Pregnancy, early marriage, school fees, risk of sexual violence? What are the barriers for girls and boys going to school? As the education community envisions post-2015 Millennium Development Goals, IREX surveyed its pool of teacher-leaders alumni around the world to get a better picture of the ways gender impacts education. What impacts girls’ participation in school the most? What particular factors affect boys? Over 200 secondary school teachers from 45 countries responded to our questions. Here are some of the findings from our snapshot survey.

“A STEM classroom must be a global classroom,” states Sharon Harris, a science teacher in Cincinnati, Ohio and alumna of the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program (TGC). “Science, technology, engineering, and math are not professions that are solitary. We live in a global society with STEM issues that affect us all.” IREX interviewed Ms. Harris in honor of this year’s Women’s History Month theme, “Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination: Celebrating Women in Science, Technology, and Math.”

For World Water Day and its 2013 theme, Water Cooperation, it is important to recognize individuals like Rodrigo Ponce who are working towards bridging the societal gaps exacerbating the water conflict in Peru. An environmental activist and 2012 Community Solutions Program (CSP) Leader, Ponce works closely with local individuals and groups in and around the Amazonian city of Tarapoto.

IREX congratulates educator Randy Malamud for his recent opinion piece published in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the premiere publication of the higher education sector.

The Tech Age Girls are bringing together their problem-solving skills with the power of technology to address issues relevant to them and their peers. In Bac Giang, Vietnam, Ngan is teaching her school’s journalism club how to use digital storytelling tools to better report news relevant to her fellow students.

Librarians in Ukraine are promoting the ideals of a “modern library” and helping to change perspectives about their role in the community. A recent national survey of more than 2,500 citizens revealed that, more and more, think of the library as a place to use computers and receive technical training.

Recently, journalists at Liberia Women Democracy Radio (LWDR) challenged citizens in R.C. Lawson Community, a small village on the outskirts of Monrovia, to take a stand against sexual exploitation through interactive theatre. IREX’s Civil Society and Media Leadership program is committed to strengthening the capacity of Liberian’s civil society and media outlets, including community radio stations.  Through this training and subsequent community and radio presentations, citizens are activated not as bystanders, but as agents of change in their communities.