Roger Kingsley introduced our speaker for the evening. G.E.M. Munro (George Edward Mitford). Gem is the Co-Executive Director of Amarok Society. Gem is a bestselling author and visual artist. Most recently, he has directed a documentary film, ‘Heart to Head: How Amarok Society Women are Teaching the World`s Poorest Children’. The film was completed in 2014.
Gem is a powerful speaker on peacebuilding, human rights, education, and international development. Significant support for Amarok Society comes from Rotary clubs. It has a formal relationship with the Rotary Club of Belleville, ON, Canada and with the Rotary Club of Dhaka Mid-Town, Bangladesh, and is supported by many other Rotary clubs in North America and the United Kingdom. Additional support has come from the sale of a book written by G.E.M. Munro, "South Asian Adventures with the Active Poor", which gained best-seller status in Canada. “The Silver Apple of the Moon” is a new book written by GEM Munro. All proceeds from the sale of the books go to Amarok Society. In 2013, the Munros were awarded Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medals in recognition of the work of Amarok Society.
Tanyss and Gem focused the efforts of the Amarok Society on Bangladesh because it had seemed to escape the world`s attention. What happened there was not well reported at all. Bangladesh has been described as the “poorest of the poor, the worst of the worst”. The Turkish Ambassador to Canada supported this view with the following statement, “of all the countries in my travels, Bangladesh made me cry”. Bangladesh also has the worst school system in the world. So, the Munro family went from the best city in the world to live in to the worst city, with 4 children.
The people in the slums were too poor to go to school at all. The slums were also very dangerous places to go into. There were some aid groups working in the area, but they would only work in the villages, not the slums. They said it could not be done. Something like the battle to eradicate polio! The Amarok Society is pleased to have a deep, ongoing relationship with Rotary.
The decision was made to try to do something through the use of education in the slums. The normal approach would be to build schools and teach children. This will not work in the slums of Bangladesh and Pakistan. The numbers of uneducated people in the world is always increasing. One third of the world`s population is not able to get an education. Every one of us should be deeply disturbed. The idea to solve this was that the mothers in the slums would be the teachers. Tanyss and Gem went to some of the well-known agencies working in the area to partner with. They were turned down and advised that the innovative plan would not work. The target group were the poorest Muslim women. They have been locked into their own darkest lives forever. The slums women were ruled by “slum lords, their husbands and vicious police”. If none of these groups stopped the program, then the extremists surely would. The next question was if you can reach these women and can they actually teach the others to create the critical chain required.
At this point a video was played showing a classroom with a student (mother) reciting back a nursery rhyme in English. The student had only been enrolled in the program for 5 months. They must start with showing the mothers how to hold a pencil, then how to place the pencil onto paper to write. These women live in a life of extreme restriction in regard to education. They have a 500-word vocabulary (in their own language). We all have a vocabulary in the order of 15,000 words. They are taught math, English literacy (English is the language of opportunity), social studies (don`t repeat historical mistakes). The more you know, the more you love the world. There are additional classes in health, hygiene, nutrition and conflict resolution. In the villages most women would learn these life skills, not in the slums.
The mothers take to teaching. They are a cohesive and cooperative group. The mothers become the de facto authority in the slum. Another area of great importance to teach is birth control. Bangladesh has 1/6th the area of Manitoba with 180 million people living there. It is the most densely populated country in the world. If you took everyone in the world and put them in the lower 48 States, this would not be as crowded as Bangladesh.
We are reasoning and thinking contextually all the time. This did not come naturally. We had to learn this, and we did because of where we live. These women in the slums never had the opportunity. When they do learn, their lives start to make some sense. The women that get into the home schools must teach 5 children everything she learns, every day in a formal structured setting. She must teach the same children at the same time in a tiny home. The women find this very fulfilling. One student stated that when she was hired into a job at age eleven, she thought her life ended. With the acceptance into the school, her life started again. Our minds are designed to learn, if not used then depression sets in. This will undoubtfully lead to despair. From Rotary, “One Profits Most Who Serves Best”. The program replaces pessimism and despair with optimism.
Rotary has supported the Amarok Society for 10+years. After Gem wrote a best-selling book, he was contacted by Rotary and developed a connection with the Rotary Club of Belleville, Ontario. The Rotary Club of Dhaka – Mid-town is part of the tripartite agreement that founded the Amarok Society in Bangladesh. At the time there were no Rotary clubs in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Dhaka does have a growing population at about 20 million residents. The population growth is at a rate equal to 1.5 Winnipeg `s/year being added onto the city`s population. There are now 52 Rotary clubs. Wilfrid Wilkinson, Past-President / Rotary International, wrote the introduction to the book. There are also a group of dedicated Rotarians on the Board of Directors for the Amarok Society. Rotarians are able to sense the level of urgency to this effort in Bangladesh and Pakistan. These countries are struggling to be moderate Muslim countries. There are groups active trying to take the countries more extreme and violent. The extremists are able to do their work easier with an uneducated population, the extremists hate what the Amarok Society is doing – educating the population. There are 10`s of millions of people that are living in a state of ignorance and desperation. They are being taught by the extremists that their future hope depends on hating you.
The Amarok Society believes that we must educated now, “love is much less expensive than hate”. Rotary also believes that an educated and peaceful world is actually possible.
Q/A
1.- Janet Spence asked about the safety of the women that are teaching and going to these schools.
A.- They do get threats from husbands, slum lords, extremists. They select the locations very carefully. There are no isolated schools. They get a “toe hold then a foot hold”. In Pakistan a school was built right in the middle of the Taliban territory. This was done on purpose to act as a Taliban tapeworm. In 2008 the Canadian Development Fund existed. There was a fear of recession on the horizon, funds went dry, the Canadian dollar fell by 1/3. At that point the pace of expansion slowed significantly. Eventually they want 1000 schools per country. The first attempt in Nigeria failed due to corruption. They are working under a different model now with a Rotary partnership.
2.- Bob Eilers questioned how the initial contact is made, ie. how do they choose the teacher and students?
A.- The best to work with are widows. There is a male life expectancy of just 40 years in these countries. Most widows commit suicide after the male partner dies. Those that don`t have a lot of spunk or perhaps children remaining at home. At this point in time, the widow must come out of the slum home and look for work / beg. So, the first contact was with the widows that were begging on the streets. The first school consisted of six widows and two married women.
3.-Jeff Kulikowsky, how many children do most families have?
A.-Most families just keep having children year after year. With education the numbers of births declines.
4.-Elaine Thompson was surprised that Nigeria was so dangerous. She has seen delegations at conventions that are always talking loudly and laughing. Seem like very happy people.
5.-Is the Amarok Society teaching girls only?
A.- No, both boys and girls. There would be resentment in the husbands and sons if that were the case.
6.- Darvin Jasper wondered, who teaches the mothers?
A.-For the initial school they chose a mother one “station” above in the community. To develop the next schools, they look for promising students and give them extra training. That student will open the next home school.
Bob Eilers thanked Gem for the elegant presentation on behalf of the entire club. The topic was very informative. Gem was advised that a donation would be made in his name to ShelterBox.
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John Inglis called Janet Spence and her husband Brian Campbell to the front of the hall. John read from the New Member Induction sheet to get everything correct. Janet was presented her framed membership certificate showing her to be a “Member in Good Standing of The Rotary Club of Winnipeg – Charleswood”. Brian had to offer his Rotary pin for the interim, as the stash of pins had unbeknownst dwindled to zero! Janet was warmly welcomed by all Rotarians present.