Donate Knowledge
Overview
Education is the core of society. Unfortunately, 246 million kids work instead of studying, while in Peru 28.5% of the population do not have access to education. Subsequently, the lack of education not only affects the population who is uneducated, it also affects society in numerous ways:
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Lack of a voice: People who are undereducated do not have the skills or confidence to speak up for themselves. This is a part of the reason many women remain oppressed in the developing world. Girls who are undereducated are married young – often still as children – and forced into domestic chores rather than education. These women find it very hard to speak up about their own situation and find ways to improve their lives.
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Education is about more than money. We need to educate our society so they can make democratic decisions like: Who should I vote for in the next election? Is climate change action important? Is it good for me that my taxes are spent on foreign aid? A politically uninformed society may lack the knowledge to make smart decisions.
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Purpose
Analyzing this information, we are alarmed by the situation in Peru regarding educational matters, affecting negatively for decades. With this into consideration, we are eager to present the “Donate Knowledge” Project. It arises from the idea of helping educational institutions that do not have the enough resources for providing a quality experience to its students. Numerous minors drop out of school because of the lack of resources that these offer them, making them think that there is no sense in attending at all. That is why, with this project we will support specific institutions to “power up” their educational services.
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In the first instance, we researched for schools in precarious situations. After conducting several calls, we selected our specific school: “I.E N 7258 - Las Palmas”. This institution is for elementary and primary school, and is situated in Lurin, Lima, Peru. Two days later, we went to the school, and had a meeting with the school principal. There, she told us that the government does not provide the basic infrastructural resources (water, electricity), but they also do not provide academic resources as books. She explained that two years before the Pandemic (COVID-19), the Ministry of Education had not provided any books to the institution. This is crucial for the learning processes of their students since they do not have access to technology for e-books. Additionally, the families of the students of this school have a low-income economy, not allowing them to buy books or other sources of learning at home, also cutting off the opportunity for a reading habit. Through the pass of the years, this school is used to working with what they have (no new material since 2018; 520 students in total and only two books per grade). This has negatively affected the development of these students, not only making their cognitive processes more difficult, but also not encouraging their interest and curiosity about learning new things.
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Development
“Donate Knowledge” will be divided into four main stages: motivation, donation, classification and finally, delivery. The first one will work hand to hand with the Image Department of Colegio Carmelitas, allowing the creation of posters, and social media spread of the information. This will start in the second week of September, finishing when the project does as well. The “donation” stage will be held at Colegio Carmelitas for two weeks, where books for elementary and primary school will be accepted, of course in good conditions and previously disinfected. During the two weeks of donation the “classification” stage will also take place: the Secretariat of CarMUN will go to the collection center and divide the donations by age range (2 weeks as well). Finally, the same members of the Secretariat will deliver all the donations at the 3rd week, not only providing the books, but also building the library. In the meeting that we had with the school principal of the receptor school, they showed us a big room that has no use at all, and they mentioned with enthusiasm that they are giving us that space to build a library, where all the books will be stored.
Specific information
Receptor school:
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Name: “I.E N 7258 - Las Palmas”
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Address: Mz D, Lote 5, Pachacamac
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School’s Principal:
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Name: Flor Santos Bendezú
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Phone number: +51 925 092 867
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Email: florsb_71@hotmail.com
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Receptor school:
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What?: Books for elementary, primary school (can be both academic and recreative)
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Where?: Colegio Nuestra Señora del Carmen - Av. Alfredo Benavides 1665, Miraflores 15048
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When: 23-30 Sep, 2022
Partnerships:
Our main partner is Carmelitas Model United Nations, due to our mutual goal: building a bright future. With their help, we will be able to distribute information about the project and attain more donors. Furthermore, thanks to the Secretariat’s vocation for helping, they will help in the classification and delivery steps. At the final one, they will even participate in Storytelling sessions for the inauguration of the library.
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Founder:
The founder of this project is Mariana Aldave Rios, a former student at Colegio Carmelitas. She was also Director General of CarMUN, and President of the Student Council. Her vision for this project is directly aligned with the schools’ “transform the individual to transform society”, having presented the idea that education can transform many lives and it is our mission to help the individuals be part of that.
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