On Mondays at every Impact Network school, the last block on the upper grade timetable is allocated for a Life Skills and Sexuality workshop. A period whose importance cannot be over emphasized; our aim is that these classes equip our learners with necessary life skills, as well as knowledge about sexual and reproductive health.
Read MoreToday was the return of the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon after the 2020 and 2021 race were canceled from COVID-19! This year, Impact Network was allocated charity spots for the race and had five runners participate as part of Team Race for Impact. The team was made up of Michael Weiss, Sid Banthiya, Deepti Zalavadia, Frank Wu, and me (!) and we raised over $13,000 for our programs in 2022.
Read MoreAs I emerge from an incredible few weeks in Zambia, I wanted to reflect on a recent loss in the international world – Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health. Farmer was a doctor, a humanitarian, and a writer, who helped shape the global health landscape in ways that every international development organization can learn from.
Read MoreBwanji!
What a week. I can’t tell you how inspiring it is to be back among our staff, our teachers, and most importantly, our students, this week! It has been a bit of a whirlwind, and I wanted to share some of the big and small moments stemming coming from our work over the last two years.
Read MoreLast week, we marked International Mother Tongue Language day on February 21st. Meant to promote linguistic and cultural diversity, this day has been recognized by UNESCO since 1999.
Read MoreWhen our classrooms opened for the 2022 school year, our Katete West schools welcomed nearly 200 Grade 1 pupils who had previously attended preschool classes. This is a first for our schools and is the result of our addition of 14 early childhood education (ECE) classes for three to six year-olds in 2021. We are excited to track the growth and progress of these young pupils and have high hopes that their participation in the ECE program will accelerate their progress as they transition to primary school.
Read MoreI recently came across an old copy of a Dave Eggers book called What is the What, detailing the life of Valentino Deng, a Sudanese refugee who came to the US two decades ago. I first read it a 15 years ago, while traveling through South Africa, and was surprised to read about what had happened to Deng after the book’s release.
Read MoreIt is a fact that providing classrooms and latrines in good condition is significant for student achievement. With the zeal to promote quality education in rural schools, Impact Network management as always put into consideration all aspects that would make this dream sustainable and a reality to the schools in communities we are working with.
Read MoreIn late 2018, we received funding from the Sahm Family Foundation to significantly strengthen the ways that Impact Network served girls in our community. It was a multi-year grant with numerous components introducing school supports such as counseling, child protection workshops, and reproductive health workshops as well as the construction of additional latrines for girls and learning spaces for early learners. The core of these programs went on to form the foundation of our work with Impact Girls today, and we are immensely grateful for the support from Sahm Family Foundation.
Read MoreWhile Omicron is also making the rounds in Zambia, Impact Network ensured that the teacher’s conference could take place this week under the best possible conditions by postponing the training and separating it out into five different sites. In small group sizes, familiar and new faces found themselves in the classrooms and immersed themselves in various academic and operational topics over five days. While some of the workshops served to refresh and supplement existing knowledge, there was also a lot to learn.
Read MoreJust a few days ago, Sidney Poitier passed away in his home in California at the age of 94. Poitier was most known for being the first Black actor to win an Academy Award and paving the way for Black entertainers in film. His credentials are stunning – a Grammy award, two Golden Globes, countless honoraries, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Knight Commander, and more.
Read MoreHappy New Year to our supporters, staff members, teachers, students and families! On my end, after some down time during the holidays, I’m looking forward to a new academic year in Zambia
Read MoreMenstrual hygiene is one of the sensitive topics and an area that has raised great concern, because of the lack of adequate provisions for girls in most rural areas in Africa. We have always taken the interest of our learners at heart and make efforts to make their learning experience a memorable one
Read MoreAs Fatima al-Fihri helped pave the way for students all of over the world, we are so honored to be able to do this work in rural Zambia. We congratulate our class of 2021 and all of our Impact Network students on completing this challenging school year!
Read MoreGrowing up, my father always told me that my knowledge was one of the few things that could never be taken from me. He shared with me how much he wished he had received an education
Read MoreI’ve been listening to music more in an attempt to stay sane and away from so many screens, and was reminded of one of my favorite artists – John Legend. In 2014, Legend gave the commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania and more recently, he gave the commencement speech at Duke University.
Read MoreThis week’s email comes from Busiwa Namwila and Irving Lukoma, Project Officers who helped facilitate this year’s NetGirls Zambia program! This is part of our Impact Girls initiative, to empower girls and young women through sport.
Read MoreThis week, I came across a new face on the $10 Canadian bill (new to me, it has been in circulation a couple of years now!). Viola Irene Desmond is the first woman (other than a monarch) to be featured on a Canadian (or American for that matter!) bank note. Desmond was born in Nova Scotia, to parents who were extremely active in the black community there. She became a civil-rights icon in Canada almost by chance…
Read MoreI recently came across a Bolivian educator, known for making any student at Garfield High School into a master of algebra, trigonometry and calculus – Jaime Alfonso Escalante Gutierrez.
Read MoreBoth my kids celebrate their birthdays this fall and one of their books taught me the story about something that happened in the first minute of both of their births. It’s a simple diagnostic test that is used in a few different countries to assess how healthy babies are immediately after childbirth.
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