“I ran into a raindrop one day, and you know what it had to say?…’IM GONNA BE AN OCEAN SOMEDAY!’”
My students at Associação União de Caridade São Bonifácio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Education begins in the classroom but goes far beyond classroom walls. Education is the key to improved livelihood, health care, and the exercise of civil and political rights and social, economic, and cultural rights.
I am a firm believer that access to education alongside empowerment programs are key to promoting healthier behaviors and improving quality of life, not just for the child, but for future generations.
Empowerment programs are a vital form of advocacy in this respect; by melding school, family, community and cultural experiences to empower youth, these programs effectively create adults focused on improving the quality of life for those in their communities. Educating children—giving them the tools to advocate for their disenfranchised communities—serves as a catalyst for change in various respects. Empowerment programs create parents, spouses, lawyers, doctors, humanitarians, and more, of the most socially conscious kind.
But, what does it take? What exactly does empowerment entail?
The purpose of educational empowerment is not to impart information, but to foster particularized skills that serve a purpose within a child’s community. It’s contextual. For example, a child who comes from a household where domestic violence is common can be served by learning non-violence and dispute resolution; children who come from communities where health care and nutrition are lacking, can learn how best to improve these conditions; and, children who see early pregnancy or child marriage as the norm, can be taught sexual education and informed of reproductive health rights and the value of independent choice. Teaching life-skills, interpersonal communication, critical-thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making will indeed nurture a child’s voice. By encouraging youth to take up these responsibilities and participate civically, we are ensuring a better future for subsequent generations.
I am positive that educational empowerment programs of this kind will benefit all of us. I hope to explore this topic in more depth on these pages. The right to education is of utmost importance; the right to personalized empowerment, i believe, is a component of that right and vital to the advancement of disenfranchised groups.
When taught and empowered these children are more than just mere raindrops, they grow to be oceans!
