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July 22, 2011
 While regional expertise will always be key to implementing successful, sensitive programming, I believe good development starts with good listening — which is something dynamic organizations like IREX can do anywhere in the world. |
July 15, 2011
 Two-dozen children welcome me into the school's library - a rare space in most Ugandan primary schools. But this is no ordinary school, and their headmistress, Olivia Muhumza, no ordinary individual. |
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June 29, 2011
 Language transcends borders. That’s why I began studying Arabic six years ago. But when I met with female activists in a café in Fez yesterday, we used three (plus) languages to discuss challenges facing youth in Morocco. I asked questions in classical Arabic or fus-ha, and they answered in French with interludes in the local Moroccan dialect — an amalgam of Berber, fus-ha, and French. I summarized in fus-ha what I had pieced together, and they confirmed my accuracy with nods and giggles. |
June 15, 2011
 Muskie alumna Liana Sanamyan is working to improve the lives of chronically ill children in Armenia through education. As a 2006 Muskie fellow at Bemidji State University, Sanamyan increased her knowledge and skills in the field of special education through courses in curriculum design, behavioral disorders, diagnosis, assessment, and educational research. She also learned about practical program management while interning at Amnesty International, where she coordinated large-scale youth programming. Samnyan has built on those skills in her current work, planning and advocating for support programming for hospitalized children in Armenia. |
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June 1, 2011
 Mouhamadou Mansour Diallo, a 14-year-old youth from Senegal, is using a computer in his classroom for the first time this year. His English teacher, Abdoul Aziz Niang, traveled to the US last year to see firsthand how technology can be leveraged in the classroom. Mr. Niang is an alumnus of the International Leaders in Education Program (ILEP). As a 2010 ILEP Fellow, Mr. Niang was among 84 secondary school teachers from around the world who traveled to the US for a five-month professional development program. During the program, Mr. Niang studied student-centered teaching methodologies and technology for instruction, and developed a teacher training module on best practices for interdisciplinary curriculum design. |
May 12, 2011
 The smile, stickers and Halloween candy I’d brought as a USRVI volunteer weren’t enough. Sasha needed much more than I could give in just one hour, and I had no idea where to start. At 15, he had run away from the orphanage to go home—many children in Russian state institutions have at least one living parent—and found things there in a state of chaos. Orphanage staff heard he was begging on the local electrichka train, found him and brought him back. |
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April 13, 2011
 IREX is pleased to announce the recipients of the Spring 2011 TEA/ILEP Alumni Small Grants competition. IREX, in conjunction with an independent selection committee and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, selected 16 alumni of the Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program (TEA) and 15 alumni of the International Leaders in Education Program (ILEP) to receive funding to support their original small grant project ideas. |
April 1, 2011
 Across the country, American teachers are recognizing the importance of infusing their teaching with international content and themes. Through the Teachers for Global Classrooms program, IREX supports US teachers in their efforts to internationalize their classrooms, effectively reach their diverse students, and continually enhance their teaching practice. |
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March 23, 2011
 It’s Thursday afternoon in Berdyansk, Ukraine and the English club is discussing “Bread and Roses,” a poem honoring female strikers of the early 20th century. One young woman is reading aloud and her voice grows in intensity with each word. Upon reaching the final line, she declares proudly, “Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread but give us roses!” |
March 17, 2011
 Some of the American, oil-company-based engineers with whom I play basketball in Atyrau, Kazakhstan understand what “Peace Corps” service means—thanks in part to its exceptional reputation and marketing—but have a tougher time understanding IREX’s international development work. “So do you get paid now?” is a question I’ve heard. |
