#DayoftheGirl Success Stories from CEI, Sri Lanka: Jeyaruth

CEI Sri Lanka photo: During lessons, Pussellawa School

This Day of the Girl Success Story comes from Jeyaruth, in her own words:

I’m Miss T. Jeyaruth Krishnaveni and I benefited from the project in Pussellawa. There are five members in my family including myself. My father is a day worker and my mother is a housewife. I have a brother and a sister. I’m the eldest in my family. My brother and sister also studied in the project and now they are also in a good position. My sister is a teacher and my brother works in a bank. I’m a science teacher. We live in Wahugapitiya.

I studied in this project for nearly five years. I learned a lot through this project. I improved my English knowledge and now I’m continuing my higher studies (B.Sc.) in English Medium in an Open University. The knowledge I gained from this project is very useful to my life and my studies. My school fees were paid for me and it was a great help to me to improve other subjects as well as English.

My aim is to be a good teacher and to transfer my knowledge to all of my students. I like to help all the poor children as much as possible. I like to help the AED project (CEI in Sri Lanka)  with pleasure. Thank you for giving me this unmeasureable, valuable education.

Yours faithfully, Jeyaruth

CEI Sri Lanka photo: Children playing at the Pussellawa School

#DayoftheGirl Success Stories from CEI, Sri Lanka

 In celebration of the world’s first annual International Day of the Girl, we thought that we would bring you five impressive stories this month of five impressive young women who are succeeding in CEI’s education projects in Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, CEI is AED or, Asiana Education Development and our dedicated staff there have been preparing for this historical day through an in-country awareness campaign to educate communities about the importance of educating girls and what their education can mean to their families and communities. Check their outreach materials on our facebook page & on Pinterest!

CEI Sri Lanka photo: Children in class at AED Ranvirugama school

Let our #humblebragging begin! We are pleased to bring you the story of Chathuni from the Ranvirugama village, an AED school which has seen immense growth in attendance recently. Almost all the children who attend are very academic and successful in their schoolwork. Though most of the parent’s occupations revolve around manual labor in the tea and rubber industry, they display a positive attitude towards the program and they encourage their children to be more involved in school activities. 

Chatuni is a 12 year old girl who has been involved with this AED project for nearly 6 years. She is very talented in various activities such as speech, drama, dancing and computing. She specializes in playing Piano. She has participated in Drama Competitions and Spoken English Competitions and won medals for both. She has also succeeded in these same events at the national level too. She is very talented in her studies as well. She has proven that by passing the grade 05 Scholarship Examination which is conducted by the Department of Education in Sri Lanka in 2010. Out of 240 candidates from her school, she placed seventh by earning 169/200 marks, a passing grade is 142/200.

Chathuni is a member of her school chess team and she placed third in the school chess championship. Also she has won so many certificates for Essay, Drama, Singing and Drill competitions. Here are some of her special achievements:

·         Certificate for the Speech and Drama Competition (2007).

·         First place from the District Piano Competition (2008).

·         First place in All Island Drill competition (2009).

·         First place from the Sabaragamuwa Province Sunday School test (2008 and 2010).

·         Gold Medalist for the All island Piano Competition (2009).

·         Certificate of ‘A’ grade for Piano Competition (2010).

·         Certificate for the Bible Quiz Competition (2009 &2010)

·         Grade 05 Scholarship Examination (2010)

Apart from these awards, Chathuni was a recipient of a special gift that was awarded to her from the Department of Education, an award for proper handling and maintaining of school text books that are given to students free of charge. She takes a lot of pride in this award and is grateful for the recognition she received from the Education Board.

As you can probably tell, Chathuni is a well-mannered and disciplined young girl at school and thus the favorite student of many teachers. At home, she helps to care for her younger brother, helping him with his schoolwork and she helps her mother with many household chores. She is also a very compassionate and generous, in the future she aspires to be a doctor so that she can save human lives.

“When I reach my goal of becoming a doctor I will help the poor children who are studying at AED schools”.

These were the words that came from her heart. Congratulations, Chathuni on all of your achievements! Due to the support given by CEI/AED through our sponsorship program, Chathuni was able to be successful and become an example of what can happen when girls are given opportunities to thrive and access to education.

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, Part 2 airs tonight on PBS 9pm/8c. In case you missed Part 1 :) halftheskymovement: “It is a moral failure that 200 million girls in the developing world woke up this morning and didn’t go to school.  By the time that I die, I would like us to start every sentence with the words like, ‘every girl goes to school’, ‘every child is literate’, ‘every child has access to reading materials.’ And no child should ever be told you were born in the wrong place at the wrong time and you didn’t get educated. That — that whole idea just belongs in the dustbin of history.” –John Wood (Room to Read) Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide premieres tonight at 9pm/8c on PBS
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Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, Part 2 airs tonight on PBS 9pm/8c. In case you missed Part 1 :)

halftheskymovement:

“It is a moral failure that 200 million girls in the developing world woke up this morning and didn’t go to school.  By the time that I die, I would like us to start every sentence with the words like, ‘every girl goes to school’, ‘every child is literate’, ‘every child has access to reading materials.’ And no child should ever be told you were born in the wrong place at the wrong time and you didn’t get educated. That — that whole idea just belongs in the dustbin of history.” –John Wood (Room to Read)

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide premieres tonight at 9pm/8c on PBS

Women with Initiative: Agnes Apea

Agnes Apea, an inspirational voice from Uganda. She was able to get an education and come back to strengthen her community with the organization that she founded in 2009, The Hope Development Initiative.

Even though she made this choice and knew the importance of education she continued to face obstacles. “Everyone just wanted me to marry, not listening that I wanted to go to school. No one believed that I could go to school and that it would be worthwhile.”

internationalwomensinitiative:

You have no doubt heard of Joseph Kony; the conflict in Northern Uganda and the lives which have been impacted has been the subject of many debates in the last year. Yet this conflict has been raging for over twenty years and this was not the beginning of the struggle. Agnes Apea was born into the reign of Idi Amin – she grew up with conflict. She saw people being forced to flee their homes tolive in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps. Their faces wore their hardship…They had given up.

Agnes, however, never gave up. She notes, “I grew up in this environment that really discriminated against women. It was a patriarchal society where girls have no value except for what you can get when married off.” Yet, from a young age she wanted to show everyone that being a woman does not make you less; that she could have a future as more than a wife.

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Gordon Brown on Why Education Is Every Human’s Right - The Daily Beast

Former UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown is now the UN Special Envoy for Global Education. He says:

“Education is integral to ending child labor, child marriage and pregnancy, and even child soldiers. It provides choices and alternatives…it replaces the zero options of despair with the endless possibilities of hope.”

These are precisely the reasons that Child Empowerment International exists, to protect childhood and empower through education.

(via John F. Kennedy: 15 quotes on his birthday - Free thought - CSMonitor.com) Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917. To mark what would have been JFK’s 95th birthday, quotes of his on the topic of free thought and why learning matters: 5. Free thought “Liberty without learning is always in peril; learning without liberty is always in vain.” 9. Why learning matters “A child miseducated is a child lost.”
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(via John F. Kennedy: 15 quotes on his birthday - Free thought - CSMonitor.com)

Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917. To mark what would have been JFK’s 95th birthday, quotes of his on the topic of free thought and why learning matters:

5. Free thought

“Liberty without learning is always in peril; learning without liberty is always in vain.”

9. Why learning matters

“A child miseducated is a child lost.”

Source: csmonitor.com

New CEI school projects in and around Jinja, Uganda are serving 300 children. Support a child’s education today! unicef: PHOTO OF THE WEEK: 21 May 2012 A Karamojong girl runs to class in Naitakwaé Town. Free primary education has raised enrollment rates to 83 per cent in Uganda. Still, children – especially girls – of the semi-nomadic pastoralist Karamojongs face additional barriers to education; less than 40 per cent of the community’s children attend school. A UNICEF-supported non-formal educational model, sensitive to Karamojong culture, is helping to boost enrollment. ©UNICEF/Roger LeMoyne
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New CEI school projects in and around Jinja, Uganda are serving 300 children. Support a child’s education today!

unicef:

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: 21 May 2012

A Karamojong girl runs to class in Naitakwaé Town.

Free primary education has raised enrollment rates to 83 per cent in Uganda. Still, children – especially girls – of the semi-nomadic pastoralist Karamojongs face additional barriers to education; less than 40 per cent of the community’s children attend school. A UNICEF-supported non-formal educational model, sensitive to Karamojong culture, is helping to boost enrollment.

©UNICEF/Roger LeMoyne

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Education is the great equalizer. We hold this truth to be self evident. 

Children around the globe have the ability to rise from poverty and become leaders of business, trade, and politics but only if they are given the opportunity and support to do so. This may seem impossible in the face of conflict, disaster, and poor development. Despite the obstacles, we believe that education provides hope and empowerment.

At Child Empowerment International, our mission is to challenge the cycle of poverty in areas of civil unrest through empowering and educating marginalized children. It is a mission; it is a call to action; and it is inspiration.

We are Child Empowerment. We give children opportunities, education, and hope. Won’t you join us?

To learn more, check us out at childempowerment.org