SEED (Student Engagement in Education for Development) is a project meant for students to engage with other young people from different parts of the world, in order to ensure equal educational opportunities and support their personal as well as communal development.
SEED is a student founded and student led initiative which was inspired by the volunteer project in Thailand during the summer of 2009, organized by two Thai students, Waritorn Chariyawattanarut and Monrada Yamkasikorn, as a collaboration between UWC of the Adriatic in Italy and UWC of the Atlantic in Wales.
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The eight international students from UWCAd who participated in the volunteer project in Thailand are the founding members as well as committed organizers of SEED:
Waritorn Chariyawattanarut from Thailand
Amica Matsui form Japan
Flavia Moi from Italy
Hemayat Chowdhury from Bangladesh
Tomas Carolsfeld from Canada
Roxanne Kovacs from Austria
Reza Rahbari from Iran and Italy
Yuchen Zhang from China.
Past Projects:
Primavera a Duino Concert. Our first group project was a fundraising concert based in Duino at UWCAD. The concert featured many UWC students as well as some local musicians. In part, the aim was to develop the group’s teamwork, before the trip to Thailand. The money raised went to various organizations within Thailand, either directly, or in the form of school supplies, or other materials.
Thailand Development through Literacy Summer Project 2009.
The group spent one month in Thailand with the cooperation of Burapha University and Thailand’s Ministry of Education, visiting schools of varying social class and orphanages of HIV/AIDS positive children whose parents had died of the virus. They gave various workshops, aiming to encourage the youth to think critically and constructively, and to exchange and learn from our cultural differences. The students also worked with other organizations to search for possibly permanent, local funding for these schools and orphanages.
Current Activities:
Summer 2010 Project Planning: SEED has grown to encompass 30 UWCAd students from over twenty countries who are committed in expanding SEED around the world. The new members are now an integral part of the group, preparing to lead SEED next year. They are currently developing four student-led volunteer projects for the summer of 2010, which will take place in Bolivia, Cambodia, El Salvador, and Israel.
Bolivia: Chiara Sepulcri and Flavia Moi from Italy are working in conjunction with Suore Rosarie, a group of missionary nuns, about eight students will help out in Santa Fe with "Apoyo Escolar" (an academic support organization for children at risk of becoming involved in criminal gangs) and Pane e Latte" (a project that serves breakfast to 800/900 children per day) and in Sacaba with "Casa" (a female orphanage). This will take place for 20 days in June.
Cambodia: Joyce Lim from Singapore and Stapor Phoung from Cambodia organized a project for ten students. It is made of three parts. The group will help develop curriculum at United World School in collaboration with 50 to 50 project lead by a UWC graduate. They will present workshops on sustainability and health/sanitation in local high schools in the Pursat location for ten days before traveling to Phnom Penh to teach English for a week. During this time, they will also create a documentary for the organisation Project Riverkids, which aims to use education as a means to reduce child trafficking in Cambodia.
El Salvador: Graciela Hernandez from El Salvador established a project, which will take place at the end of May. For two and a half weeks, six students will join UWC El Salvador's efforts in Altos de Soyapango, an impoverished community with very few opportunities for youth outside of gangs. The students will put on theatre-based workshops for local youth, emphasizing the non-criminal possibilities for their lives and giving them hope, as well as helping with the construction of the community centre.
Israel: Shai Slomka from Israel organized a trip for three weeks in July. About 10 students will volunteer with ARDC and Mesila, organizations that run summer camps for the children of work immigrants, who are often left with no place to go during the summer when school is finished and both their parents are working full-time.
Contact and Fundraising:
We are actively looking for collaborations, connections, and financial support. Any funds collected will be used directly for project activities, rather than volunteer expenses. For any questions or suggestions, please contact the SEED group at :
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Take a look at the SEED page @ Facebook.
Check out SEED brand new web-site.
