Children and youth as mentors and teachers
Challenge
In a world of complex challenges, each of us has the power to make a difference. We believe that children and youth, especially those grappling with significant obstacles, can become powerful agents of change in society.
In Bangladesh, the large divide between the wealthy and the underprivileged, creates barriers that limit opportunities for many. Children and youth from economically poor backgrounds often endure discrimination and stereotyping, leading to feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness. They are marginalized and often pushed away by a society that fails to see their potential.
When Hafiz started mentoring children to teach children in EDS, people told him “Children can’t teach, you better hire a professor. If you help poor children, you will become poor yourself. You can’t trust children, they cannot be responsible. If an EDS child does something wrong, the community will hang you, Hafiz!”
Our response
In EDS, we choose to see the spark of resilience, thirst for knowledge, and capacity for greatness that resides within each child and youth. Hence, we aim to transform the narrative surrounding them by providing a nurturing environment with empathy, trust, and unwavering support, seeing them as vital resources for positive change and encourage them to become role models who inspire others.`
Children and youth get full responsibility to run every part of EDS. They are responsible for identifying challenges, plan and implement solutions and learn from their actions. They plan, teach and evaluate learning processes, and use the community, fish farm and ICT as interdisciplinary learning arenas. When they teach, they learn better. And when they are teachers, they realize how challenging it is to guide groups of students, hence they reflect on how they behave as students in their school.
Our dedicated change agents also use their own experiences of struggle, transformation, endurance and resilience to inspire other vulnerable children to realize that they too can create a better life for themselves and others. When they asked boys at the Shishu Palli governmental orphanage what they needed most, the boys said: “We want a family and people who love us, care for us, and play with us.” So, we strive to cultivate a family-like atmosphere with love, care, and acknowledgment where every child feels valued.
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Our EDS change agents become like older brothers to the orphans, and they invite people with high social capital to connect with the orphans to show them that they matter, that their lives are important, and that they can inspire each other.
Our dedicated change agents inspire globally as they also share their transformative stories with students at Blindern high school and Marikollen secondary school in Norway. The Norwegian students discover their own abilities and learn that they, too are able learners and can create an inclusive and supportive learning environment.
Results
These exchanges between our EDS change agents, orphans, people of high social capital and Norwegian students, foster a sense of belonging and reinforces the idea that we are all interconnected.
EDS children and youth who once saw themselves as troublemakers or failures now feel proud to be leaders, teachers, change agents and volunteers who make a positive change for themselves and others.
In EDS, we are building a brighter future by facilitating for empowerment tough love and acknowledgment. Join us in this journey to create a world where every child can thrive!
