Monday 10 May 2010 by Madhuri Dass
I made a quick trip to Indonesia to help our team come up with a campaign plan to save babies from dying of easily preventable diseases.
Like other countries in the world, the problem is most acute in the hardest-to-reach areas. In Indonesia, this means reaching babies living on all the different islands.
I googled the question: “How many islands are there in Indonesia?” and came up with a variety of numbers: 18,306, 17,508 and 13,000. Lets just say: there are lots!!
Read the rest of this entry »
Tuesday 13 April 2010 by Amy Reed
Pigeon and grass for lunch today. Pigeon is good, grass is surprisingly not bad but it gets stuck in your teeth.
So far today has been translation day, and I’ve spent most of it with my head in the french-english dictionary.
Words like “outcome” and “output” have a specific meaning in development language, and it’s hard to know whether the direct equivilent has the same specific meaning in French, or whether there’s another word that’s used instead.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tuesday 13 April 2010 by Amy Reed
The Democratic Republic of Congo is 113 times the size of Wales, or 117,242,900 times the size of the Prince of Wales, allowing a margin of error caused by sunday roast followed by jam roly-poly and custard.
About 68 million people live here. They drive on the right, have about 242 languages to choose from, have the 2nd largest rainforest in the world, the 7th most corrupt government in the world (Corruption Perception Index 2006) and some of the best music in the world (me).
There are African rhythms in Beethoven, I’m told, and there’s an orchestra in Kinshasa. But because we’re in DRC, it’s an orchestra with a difference.
Read the rest of this entry »
Wednesday 10 February 2010 by Helen Pinnock
Teaching children in a languages they don’t use at home is causing big problems with school dropouts, exam failures and pupils not achieving their potential, particularly in rural areas of developing countries. Find out what’s being done to tackle the issue and add your voice to the debate on what should be done to stop language being a barrier to learning for millions of children.
Read full post
Thursday 3 December 2009 by Michelle Ringer
We’ve just launched a new report on the crucial role of language in children’s education. It shows how millions of children are having their educational chances ruined because they are taught in a language they don’t understand.
You may be thinking “OK, but I don’t get why it’s such a big problem — can’t kids just get by in a new language?”
Read full post
