Your Home: Our World
Tasmanian School Forums on Child Rights

A unique opportunity for students around Tasmania to connect with young people from developing countries and contribute to the achievement of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.

Poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom. Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Make poverty history…
Nelson Mandela

Your Home: Our World is a project of the Tasmanian Centre for Global Learning in partnership with Bahay Tuluyan. It is funded by AusAID as part of the Australian Government's Community Call to Action initiative.

Since 2006, the Tasmanian Centre for Global Learning (TCGL) has hosted the Tasmanian leg of the challenging and informative Kids View tour of Australia. Kids View is presented by two former street children and an Australian volunteer based at Bahay Tuluyan in the Philippines. The tour aims to empower young Australians to make a difference for children all over the world.

As the result of a grant from AusAID, the Tasmanian leg of the 2010 tour was extended to include 5 full-day forums in regional areas and to support participating schools in an ongoing project.

The Your Home: Our World project is now complete. All the schools, classes, students, and teachers involved did a great job learning about global poverty, what they can do about it, and taking action in their own way..

Your Home: Our World began in April 2010 when five Child Rights Forums were held around Tasmania - hosted by Huonville High, Rokeby High, Gagebrook Primary, Kings Meadows High and Ulverstone High and attended by 15 other schools. Thank you to the host schools for providing great facilities, food, and assistance which resulted in five highly successful forums!

At the Child Rights Forums students watched a presentation from Angel and Nonoy, two former street children now living at Bahay Tuluyan in the Philippines. This powerful presentation showed what life is like on the streets and that it was the individual choice of Angel and Nonoy to take control of their lives and seek assistance from  Bahay Tuluyan. Both Angel and Nonoy are now completing school, have hopes for their future, and are helping other street children to achieve their dreams. They are presenting their story to Australian children to encourage them to understand that 'change begins with me' and that they too can help children around the world.

Following the presentation by Angel and Nonoy, students participated in workshops about the Millennium Development Goals. These gave them a real life understanding of what it is like to survive on $1 a day. The workshop kits will shortly be available on loan  from TCGL library.

Since the forums the participating schools have been working on their ongoing project - learning more about global poverty and the Millennium Development Goals, then developing a project around this learning.

Most of the participating students came together again at the ruMAD? Youth Action Conferences at the end of Term 2. At the conferences they were able to showcase and celebrate their project achievements.

Schools and the details of their projects as at December 2010 are listed below:

School	Class	Project	Progress
Burnie Primary Grade 5/6 Blue Dragon, Vietnam			Burnie Primary School students who attended the forum shared the experience with their classes. This prompted 2 groups to invite a guest speaker to the school - a person who had worked in an orphanage in Vietnam. Due to the interest that this generated, it was decided that the group would like to work with the Vietnamese non-profit organisation, Blue Dragon, in 2011.
Dover District High Grade 5/6 Bahay Tuluyan, Philippines			Dover District High School Grade 5/6 students were inspired by the stories of Angel and Nonoy at the Child Rights Forum and wanted to do a project supporting Bahay Tuluyan. The class researched poverty through a novel and, next year, Dover students look forward to implementing a project to make a difference.
East Derwent Primary Grade 4/5 and Grade 5/6 Bahay Tuluyan, Philippines			Two East Derwent Primary classes have worked together for the Your Home: Our World project. The classes worked through the ruMAD? process and decided to help Bahay Tuluyan. After researching the Philippines and learning how affordable it would be to help a child go to school, 4/5 Gammon & 5/6 Symmons organised the first ever Swap Party fundraiser at their school. Students presented a play in assembly about how a Swap Party works, and a slideshow to show who the money would be helping. They created 15 posters to advertise the event around the school. Over $60 was raised, which was sent to Bahay Tuluyan, long with letters to begin a penpal relationship. Building on this success, students later held an ruMAD? Mini Fair on 25 November to raise money for their selected charities, which included Bahay Tuluyan (as well as local organisations: Youth BeyondBlue and Bonorong Wildlife Conservation Centre). The fair was a huge success with student-run stalls including bead jewellery, guess the lollies, fruit punch, fruit kebabs, plants, a bake sale, slime, healthy snacks, popcorn, face-painting, Christmas decorations, toys, balloons, drinks, and lucky stick, as well as some free activities, like drumming, and a cup- stacking challenge.
Gagebrook Primary Grade 3/4 WaterAid Australia & TEAR Australia			Grades 3/4 (HEM) deepened their knowledge about poverty and the MDGs by travelling to Hobart to see the ‘Blueprint for a Better World’ Exhibition by Caritas.  They later invited d’Arcy Lunn of the Global Poverty Project to visit the school and share about his adventures in poorer parts of the world, and ways of helping end poverty. To help raise awareness of global poverty throughout the rest of the school, HEM decided to hold a Free Rice Day during International Anti-poverty Week in October. For this day, Julia and Wendy cooked fried rice and students were invited to the computer lab during recess and lunch to answer questions on the website www.freerice.com. For every question answered correctly, 10 grains of rice were donated to the World Food Program, and it was exciting to see the grains of rice adding up in the bowl! Students also held a Hat and Hoody Day and a raffle to fundraise. After researching websites, they decided to donate to TEAR Australia to buy a toilet, and WaterAid to buy two taps for a village water point and tools to dig a well.
Herdsmans Cove Primary Grade 5/6 Alice Glenister Foundation, Thailand and SE Asia			5/6 Ogden chose to support the Alice Glenister Foundation as its teacher had a personal link with Alice. The Foundation focuses on helping children in Thailand and south-east Asia. After learning through the Foundation that one of the problems facing children is a total lack of dental care, students collected toothbrushes to send over. The class also learnt about fair trade – part of MDG8 – using the Internet, books and a knowledgeable guest speaker, Laura Sykes. Unhappy that Nestle’s Milo uses some ingredients made by slavery, they decided to tell others by making educational posters, and giving a presentation in assembly. Some are even thinking about a stall in the mall to raise awareness.
Huonville High Grade 7 & 8 School in Samoa			Two Huonville High School classes participated in Your Home: Our World. Janet Harrington’s Grade 7 SOSE class sought to better understand our Pacific Island neighbours through group research and letter-writing to schools that Janet had taught at. Each of the groups focussed on a different country or archipelago, creating a map and a slideshow to educate their classmates. All wrote letters about themselves to send to Samoa, and hope to learn more about young Samoans as penpals. The Grade 8 English class created posters about the Millennium Development Goals and their own lives here. The School also formed a team to become 'Energy Conservation Monitors'. The team ensures the school conserves as much energy as possible each day and promotes energy conservation throughout the school.
Huonville Primary Grade 6 Cambodia Orphan Save Organisation, Cambodia			Huonville Primary teamed up with their neighbours, Huonville High, who had started a ‘Students Working Against Poverty’ (SWAP) group after a student trip to volunteer at a Cambodian orphanage. Hearing their stories, and learning that the orphanage was losing its land, some Grade 6s decided to start a SWAP group and help raise the money needed to buy the land. Brainstorming produced the idea of ‘students waking against poverty’ – getting sponsored to wake up 1hr early. The SWAP group presented their idea to the staff for permission; then to all the grades using a slideshow they made about the MDGs; then to other schools to inspire even more participants – Glen Huon Primary, Cygnet Primary, Taroona Primary, Waimea Heights Primary, and Huonville High. They have now spoken to hundreds of students, raised awareness of the MDGs, been overwhelmed by support, and have raised $700-800. The Grade 6s involved Grade 5s to ensure the SWAP group continues when they leave for High School - and hopefully Cambodia!
Lindisfarne Primary Grade 5/6 Malighat School and Orphanage, India			This Lindisfarne Primary School class were inspired by Jess Jacobson, a local young change-maker who supports Malighat School and Orphanage in India. They chose to work with Jess, who visited the school several times, and has helped the students begin a penpal relationship with the students of Malighat.  The Grade 5/6s also wanted to support Malighat in a thoughtful way, fundraising by going without furniture and technology for a day, and deepening their own understanding of the difficulties of poverty.
Margate Primary Grade 3/4 Hope for Children, Cambodia			Through their teacher, this class helped the HfCC Orphanage in Cambodia. They wrote letters to the children in the orphanage, and when the class teacher visited the orphanage in September she taught an English class and helped the Cambodian students write letters back to the Margate Primary students. The class also: - Collected 200 toothbrushes, with the help of buddy classes, to donate to the orphanage. - Collected useful school materials, toys and clothing for their teacher to take to the orphanage. - Learnt about the mother baby program and the outbreak of typhoid and malaria early in the year, and used money boxes to fundraise for immunisations. - Completed a project on Cambodia, to find out about the language, history, climate, culture, etc. - Raised money through a Shades 4 Aids Day.
Penguin High Bahay Tuluyan, Philippines			Although changes in staffing meant that Penguin High could not continue with Your Home: Our World, the students sold hand-made merchandise from Bahay Tuluyan to support the organisation.
Riverside Primary Grade 6 Room to Read, Nepal			After working out their class Vision, two classes actively worked on improving their understanding of what life would be like without the chance to go to school. Fundraisers were run to increase awareness amongst the school population, including a graffiti wall in the school library. The wall was soon to be demolished and students could pay to graffiti it, which was a big hit! Students from one class threw the staff a 5th Birthday Party to increase staff awareness of the MDGs, and a lunch group commenced to develop understanding of the MDGs (especially of Goals 2, 4 and 5). Students also raised awareness within the school through displays, pass the parcel games (with MDG facts and encouragement, and Room to Read information as the parcel slips), creating and presenting slideshows, and making dioramas that compared life/school/home for children in Australia with countries where Room to Read operates. Enough funds were raised for three scholarships through Room to Read. 100 students and staff teamed together to raise $2600 for World Vision through participation in the 40 Hour Famine.  Some chose to try the Rice Fest, eating only rice for a week during school hours, while others undertook a Furniture Famine, where they could not use furniture for 40 hours. A lot of fun was had along the way and the whole school is starting to move towards Making a Difference in the lives of children around the world. Thanks to Mrs White for all her effort and commitment!
Rokeby High Grade 7 Tabitha Foundation,  Cambodia			The Grade 7s who participated in the Your Home: Our World program chose to address MDGs 1 & 2, supporting education for the poor by fundraising for the Tabitha Foundation in Cambodia, while raising the profile of poverty and the organisations tackling it. Following the ruMAD? process, the students took on the great challenge of organising an underage concert for youths from the local community and the surrounding area. Months of dedicated teamwork organised everything from logistics to promotion, with several mini-fundraisers to cover costs. The ‘Concert4Cambodia’ was a great success.  Headlined by Justice Crew and Ballpoint, and with 300 attendees, over $6000 was raised!
Smithton High Grade 10 Project Indochina, Vietnam			11 students, forming the ‘MAD Team’, went on an exposure trip to Vietnam for two weeks, from 29/8 – 12/9. Having initially raised money for TEAR Australia to pay for a well, education and health care, students felt that ‘to really make a difference on poverty we needed to experience it’. The MAD Team made community presentations around Circular Head and asked for donations. They did face-painting, sausage sizzles, and a poker run, raising $32,000 in total.  In addition, $2000 was raised from a Thai dinner, which was used to support poor students in Thailand. In Vietnam, students met people who were generous towards them, were happy in spite of having little, and who helped each other out. They also met people whose problems included parents not able to afford to look after their children, and having to leave them to orphanages. The MAD Team visited three orphanages (Home of Affection, Tam Ky Baby Orphanage, and the Hoi An Orphanage) and gave their time, love and gifts collected from the school community (soft toys, sports equipment, soccer tops, balloons, stickers, pencils). They also visited the Social Support Centre in Da Nang, and learnt that elderly women were always falling over in the run-down bathroom, and so they donated funds to help fix it up. Believing in the power of education, they paid the 2011 costs for four Year 10s like themselves, and bought bikes to allow them transport to school. Visiting the High School in Nam Giang, they met Geoff Shaw of Project Indochina. The MAD Team will partner with him to improve the student accommodation, which is overcrowded, unhealthy, and sometimes has just a tarp for a roof, but is currently the only option for highland students who want to continue education.
St James Catholic College Grade 7 Shinta Mani, Cambodia			The students have been inspired by a Grade 6 girl who has twice volunteered with her family to support the Cambodian Childrens Trust (Tara Winkler). The class ran a whole school fund raising campaign for the Shinta Mani organisation to buy treated mosquito nets and rice. During their study of the Millennium Development Goals, the students were horrified to discover that one child dies every 30 seconds from malaria, and so chose mosquito nets and rice as tangible objects for the fund raising drive. Each class was challenged to raise $100 by conducting small activities which attracted sponsorship or to sell goodies like cup cakes and icecream. Combined with a 'free dress day' on the last day of Term 2, they were able to forward US$1415 to the Shinta Mani organisation. The students look forward to receiving photos of the mosquito nets and rice being distributed to the children. Students also spoke at the Middle School assembly and based their prayers around the MDGs. This obviously had a great effect as the Grade 5, 6 and 7 classes raised approximately $A800 between them!
Trevallyn Primary Grade 5 Bahay Tuluyan, Philippines			This class has broken up into groups, each of which focussed on a different project. One group supported Bahay Tuluyan's 'Ikot Tampayan Star Children's Program' which supports children on the streets of Manila. It has a van that visits six districts in Manila and provides food, water, and social services for the kids. The Trevallyn Primary group turned cardboard boxes into van-shaped money boxes and put these in local businesses to raise awareness and funds for the Ikot Tampayan Star program. This together with a free clothes day raised over $360!
Ulverstone High Grade 10 Malighat School and Orphanage, India			Four boys from the ‘Save the World’ SOSE class (Patrick, Leam, Conor & Yaans) decided to support Malighat because family and friends had volunteered there. They organised an all-ages concert, ‘The Malighat Sound’, with all profits going to the school and orphanage, that are helping and educating children in poverty in India. It took two months and plenty of cooperation with the community to put it on: Ulverstone High provided the Gym as venue, and equipment came from schools; bands volunteered (including Dirt, Nine Lives, HYH, and Blu-Tac Snail); the team wrote sponsorship letters to Coles and IGA for a crate of water, and to display charity tins; security was hired at a discount; and the boys postered Ulverstone and Devonport to advertise, and letter-box dropped the neighbourhood with a noise alert. The event had a great feel, and raised $1000 - selling excess drinks and chips afterwards to hit the target.

To find out more contact:
The Tasmanian Centre for Global Learning
4 Battery Square, Battery Point, 7004
Ph 03 6223 1025 or 0400 824 261
Email: mary@afairerworld.org

 

Millennium Development Goals

In 2000, world leaders including Australia’s Prime Minister signed the United Nations Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of targets to be reached by 2015 – these are the Millennium Development Goals. The eight goals – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and the world’s leading development institutions. Find out more about the UN MDGs and the Millennium Campaign.

MDG Champions

These are young Tasmanians (18-25 years old) selected for their passion for social justice and for making a difference. They have volunteered to be a part of Your Home Our World in 2010 under the guidance of the Tasmanian Centre for Global Learning. Their commitment is to assist and inspire Tasmanian students to connect with young people in developing countries in support of the Millennium Development Goals.

Bahay Tuluyan (“house of welcome”) is a non-profit organisation based in the Philippines that empowers street children to look after themselves and fellow children. Bahay Tuluyan offers opportunities for young Australians to volunteer at its Centres and each year brings two former street children to tour Australia to tell their incredible personal stories. The tour aims to promote children’s rights and has already inspired hundreds of Tasmanian students to learn more. Find out more about Bahay Tuluyan Philippines and Bahay Tuluyan Australia.  

AusAID is the Australian Government agency responsible for managing Australia's overseas aid program. The objective of the aid program is to assist developing countries reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development, in line with Australia's national interest. Find out more about AusAID.

Community Call to Action is a pilot initiative of the Australian Government that supports activities to raise awareness about global poverty and the Millennium Development Goals. Find out more about the Community Call to Action initiative.