What's it like to be a teenager in your community?
School linking provides the opportunity for students in the U.S. to learn more about their peers in other countries, like Sudan.
PHOTO: Rafael Velasquez, Plan Sudan
January 11, 2008
By Kate Ezzes, Plan USA Global Connections Coordinator
Two groups of U.S. students have found friendship in an unlikely place. Beginning in the fall of 2007, students in the states of California and Georgia began communicating with students in Darfur, Sudan. This unique school link began because of a request by U.S. youth who were very interested in the situation happening in Darfur and who felt that the voice of youth were being largely ignored by mainstream media in the United States.
Plan Sudan staff were able to identify two secondary schools in the Darfur region that wanted to link with the U.S. schools. The Namuzigeea Boy’s School is linked with a co-ed middle school class in Atlanta, Georgia and Namuzigeea Girl’s School is communicating with a diverse group of high school students in Cupertino, California.
All four groups worked collaboratively to outline their goals for participation and the activities they hoped to undertake. In addition to sharing the current situations in their respective communities, the students are learning about each other’s culture, food, favorite sports and most of all getting the answer to the following question: What is it like to be a teenager in your community?
U.S. students have prepared and mailed their first linking projects which include 20 disposable cameras and photo albums with pictures of themselves and their school. The U.S. students are keenly aware of the high levels of security in place to protect the youth in Sudan, and they are waiting patiently for a reply and a glimpse into life in Darfur through the eyes of their Sudanese peers.
According to Plan Sudan staff member, Rafael Velasquez, “The project is designed to take youth through a process of thinking about their own identity, their place within their community’s values and how they feel about their community’s values and expectations of them.” Plan USA’s goal for school linking projects is to provide an opportunity for youth on both sides of the link to explore their own cultures and identities while learning about those of their peers in other countries. We also strive to allow new voices to be heard, friendships to be formed and most importantly to help the involved students to broaden their boundaries by examining similarities and differences among youth across the globe.
Plan USA is actively facilitating 12 school links with: Haiti, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Togo and Sudan and is interested in expanding the program to more countries. For more information please visit our School to School page or contact Kate.Ezzes@planusa.org.
Learn more about Plan's work in Sudan.
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Two groups of U.S. students have found friendship in an unlikely place. Beginning in the fall of 2007, students in the states of California and Georgia began communicating with students in Darfur, Sudan. This unique school link began because of a request by U.S. youth who were very interested in the situation happening in Darfur and who felt that the voice of youth were being largely ignored by mainstream media in the United States.
Plan Sudan staff were able to identify two secondary schools in the Darfur region that wanted to link with the U.S. schools. The Namuzigeea Boy’s School is linked with a co-ed middle school class in Atlanta, Georgia and Namuzigeea Girl’s School is communicating with a diverse group of high school students in Cupertino, California.
All four groups worked collaboratively to outline their goals for participation and the activities they hoped to undertake. In addition to sharing the current situations in their respective communities, the students are learning about each other’s culture, food, favorite sports and most of all getting the answer to the following question: What is it like to be a teenager in your community?
U.S. students have prepared and mailed their first linking projects which include 20 disposable cameras and photo albums with pictures of themselves and their school. The U.S. students are keenly aware of the high levels of security in place to protect the youth in Sudan, and they are waiting patiently for a reply and a glimpse into life in Darfur through the eyes of their Sudanese peers.
According to Plan Sudan staff member, Rafael Velasquez, “The project is designed to take youth through a process of thinking about their own identity, their place within their community’s values and how they feel about their community’s values and expectations of them.” Plan USA’s goal for school linking projects is to provide an opportunity for youth on both sides of the link to explore their own cultures and identities while learning about those of their peers in other countries. We also strive to allow new voices to be heard, friendships to be formed and most importantly to help the involved students to broaden their boundaries by examining similarities and differences among youth across the globe.
Plan USA is actively facilitating 12 school links with: Haiti, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Togo and Sudan and is interested in expanding the program to more countries. For more information please visit our School to School page or contact Kate.Ezzes@planusa.org.
Learn more about Plan's work in Sudan.
Back to top
