Educators are using their experience to help with a global initiative.
The ‘Classrooms Without Walls’, or CWW, program sees volunteers educating people in conflict zones overseas through free, virtual lessons.
“About 80 per cent of the teachers are Canadian [and] based in Canada. Some are American, Australian and some other countries in the world,” said Andrew Bronson, a director with the program and members of the Rotary Club of Lethbridge East.
“They donate their time in the evening to help students in conflict zones. So, currently, the three conflict zones the classrooms work in are Ukraine, Afghanistan and Myanmar.”
Bronson said the group was formed by David Falconer in 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Falconer was contacted by Smart Osvita NGO in Kyiv, asking international teachers if they could deliver free, online lessons for internally displaced students in Ukraine.
Since then, CWW has grown to oversee the following programs, in addition to ‘Teachers for Ukraine’: ‘Teachers for Afghanistan’, ‘Myanmar Education Program’, and the ‘Winds of Change International Leadership Youth Group’.
“The idea of online [lessons] was that they could stay in shelters and wherever they needed to be [to be] safe,” Bronson said, adding he has sat in on some of the sessions.
“It’s unbelievable what their lives are like.”
“You just sort of picture bright young kids that can’t go outside because of the war zone or because of the Taliban or whatever, they can’t go do what they want,” he added.
OFFERING HOPE
Bronson said the program provides a string of hope for the learners.
“Some of the hope comes from knowing that people in other countries are paying attention and care,” he stated.
Bronson said educators participate on a volunteer basis, and there is “a real big need” for English as a Second Language courses.
“All of these countries, one of their tickets to advancement is to speak English, so as you can imagine, Canadians that donate their time to help out with ESL programs [are] greatly appreciated,” he remarked.
FUNDRAISER
On April 16, there will be an event at the University of Lethbridge to raise funds for the Afghanistan education program and to support women’s education in the country.
“The Afghanistan program, which is what the fundraiser on April 16 is for, is to pay for these high school equivalency tests, called the GED tests,” Bronson explained.
“By our standards, it’s not too much money, but it costs about $1,000 Canadian dollars per student to go through the test, and once they achieve that, then they can apply for post-secondary education, again, online, and all in secret, but the ultimate goal for these young woman is either to get out of the country or hopefully a regime change, and they’re educated to do it.”
“Just the fact that there’s bright young woman getting education is sort of hope for all of us,” Bronson added.
The event will feature a screening of the film ‘The Secret Marathon’, which focuses on the first women to run a marathon in Afghanistan.
Martin Parnell, featured in the film and author of the book, ‘The Secret Marathon: Empowering Women and Girls in Afghanistan Through Sport’, will be at the fundraiser. Parnell has travelled to Afghanistan twice to coach female Afghani marathon runners.
Bronson said another unique aspect included within the CWW group is a podcast led by Sofiia Yakymenko. On ‘Over the Globe’, the Ukrainian teen speaks with teens from conflict zones around the world, who share their experiences before and after conflict.
Funds collected from the April 16 event will also go toward initiatives like ‘Over the Globe’.
More information about the program is available on the CWW website, and tickets for the fundraiser are available through Eventbrite.
