In May, Christine was finally able to travel back to India to meet some of Saphara’s valuable partner NGOs, schools, pupils and friends in India after such a long time due to the pandemic!
Christine’s journey began at SNEHA Doon Academy in Dehradun where she was delighted to catch up with the children and some Saphara Girl Champions, and to spend time with the wonderful Dr Reeta Rao, founder and director of SNEHA.
On Saturday Christine made the trip to one of her favourite places in India, Kaplani High School which is nestled up in the Himalayas! A journey which is often a favourite memory of students of past Saphara teams
While visiting the Himalayas, Christine was also delighted to meet
with some amazing young women who are leaders of the Saphara Girl Champions
programme in Himalayan villages.
Saphara Girl Champions programme was developed to empower young
girls from the marginalised Dalit and tribal (Adivasi) communities. The
programme builds the emotional resilience of the girls, their understanding of
menstrual health and ultimately creates create supportive and inclusive communities,
encouraging more girls to stay in education and to follow their dreams for the
future.
At SNEHA the wonderful Kamlesh and Vinita are leaders of Girl
Champions programme, empowering so many young girls to grasp the bright future
ahead of them!
While on her visit Christine also made the famous trek to Donk – another popular memory of many former Saphara students! There she visited met up with some, very grown up, past pupils of Donk Primary School:
“It’s great to see Donk kids so grown up! The Semwal twins are waiting for their GCSE results so that they can join Class 11 at Kaplani HS.”
Christine’s busy trip back to India was a wonderful opportunity to re-connect with so many of Saphara’s valued partners in India and, as always, helped to highlight just how important the Saphara Be the Change India and Girl Champions programmes are.
To find out more about our work in India and how you can support this vital work why not click below:
This year’s Saphara Be the Change programme has been off to an exciting and vibrant start as we celebrate being able to meet and learn together in person once again.
From 4th – 8th April our team of brilliant students from Stranmillis and St Mary’s University Colleges joined together for a week of planning, reflecting and delivering a programme of inclusive learning to 50 Primary 7 children from Fane Street Primary School and St Paul’s Primary School. The theme of “My Story, Our Town” helped the children, many of whom were newcomer children, to reflect upon identity and belonging; and how our individual stories and cultures work together to make Belfast a wonderful and welcoming city for everyone.
From games and dancing to crafts and sharing stories, the children learned many valuable lessons as they were enthusiastically guided by our hardworking team of Saphara college students. One teacher said:
“My children are loving making friends with the children from St Paul’s. We are so pleased that Saphara is providing this Shared Education experience, we haven’t had any opportunity over the past 2 years.”
Mrs Brown, Fane Street PS
Of course, it wasn’t just the children who were learning valuable lessons as our Stranmills and St Mary’s students reported:
“To say [Be the Change week] was an eyeopener would be an understatement. The children that you work with are among the most caring, funny and gracious children that I’ve ever come across… the week of planning, delivering and reflection that we took part in was an opportunity to gain invaluable experiences and develop transferrable skills that will be …useful in many situations”
Clodagh, St Mary’s College
“The planning was so much fun, working with St Mary’s and Stranmillis together…. When I look back on Be the Change Week I take away many things, but through my personal reflection I realised one thing. The ability and willingness to hand control over to the children … is most successful in delivering a programme like this.”
Jordan, Stranmillis College
Out of the 50 primary school pupils, a phenomenal 27 languages were represented. This highlights the importance of the Saphara Be the Change programme as we work to support newcomer children in Northern Ireland, not only supporting their English language skills, but celebrating the diversity and richness they are bringing to Northern Ireland! Many of our college students were delighted to learn new phrases and facts about other languages and cultures; all of which add to the vibrant tapestry of “Our City”.
Watch this Space… Be The Change Schools
The fun didn’t stop with the college students! On 11 th April we were delighted to celebrate the work so far of our 140 Be the Change Award sixth-formers.
30 pupils from 12 schools attended the reception in Belfast City Hall alongside their teachers and shared some of the highlights of their Be the Change journey so far.
Clodagh and Jordan from the Colleges’ Be the Change Week were also there to share some words of wisdom with the Year 13s who, following their AS exams, will have their own opportunity to engage with newcomer children and their peers.
We were honoured to welcome the Deputy Lord Mayor, councillor Tom Haire. Although the Lord Mayor, Kate Nicoll (then councillor, currently MLA), could not be there is person, she joined us virtually with a message of encouragement to the Saphara teams:
“I just want to thank all of the Saphara volunteers for your incredible contribution. It’s so important now more than ever that we have a global outlook, that we spread kindness, and empathy, and awareness, and that’s something that you all have in endless amounts! So, thank you for your amazing contribution!”
As we look forward with anticipation to June’s Be the Change Award events, we want to say a huge well done to our brilliant school teams and, of course, a special thank you to the teachers who make it all possible.
Keep an eye on this blog and on our social media for updates on more of the wonderful work of the Be the Change Programme 2022
Saphara Newcomer week proved to be an unforgettable climax to Be the Change programme involving:
142 Primary School Children
134 Sixth Form volunteers
20 Student teachers
36 Teachers
17 Schools
20 hours of educational fun, affirmation & inclusion delivered to newcomer children & their peers.
Following the very successful Be the Change week with teaching college students at Easter, our final event of the year brought the turn of the sixth-form teams. At the end of the summer term, our Year 13 volunteers led 3 fun-filled days of educational activities for six Primary 5 classes from Belfast primary schools in socially deprived area with high percentages of newcomer children.
In recent years schools like Fane Street, Holy Rosary, Malvern, St Bride’s and St Paul’s Primary Schools have welcomed into their communities, families fleeing from countries such as Eritrea, Iran, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and now added to by refugees from the conflict in Ukraine. Teachers deal daily with the constantly changing challenges of language, culture and trauma on top of the ongoing issues of social deprivation in their catchment areas and we were amazed by the inclusive learning communities which they had managed to create.
It was a privilege to offer these inspiring schools a day out for their P5 pupils to celebrate how their diversity enriches our wider community in Northern Ireland, and how our unique identities and experiences provide common ground, but also opportunities to learn from and grow in respect for others.
Each day a different team of around 45 Year 13 students, worked together to run a variety of activities for these children. Each team had been divided into teaching groups comprised of young people from different education and faith backgrounds who had prepared together for these events at workshops during the year. Their effective teamwork and mutual respect were evident as they worked towards the common goal of ensuring an unforgettable day for and with the newcomer children and their peers.
After refreshments on arrival, the children had the chance to meet and mix with each other during some ice-breaker games in the sports hall, with balls and beanbags, parachutes, treasure hunts and hopscotch helping them to overcome any shyness and find their own voice.
Small groups then participated in a Getting to Know You classroom session with pupils working together on fun language and literacy games. Teaching groups were able to provide lots of individual engagement and support, ensuring that all language abilities were catered for and that everyone felt included and involved.
A lunchtime break included not only a delicious meal, but also more fun and games outside for the P5s and their new ‘teachers’.
With full tummies and legs stretched it was back to the classroom for a craft activity. Each child decorated a large jigsaw piece with their name surrounded by designs depicting their own personality and experience. Creative juices were encouraged to flow with paint, pipe cleaners, tissue paper and glitter adorning these works of art. Craft time ended by building the group jigsaw, reflecting on how individual and unique we are, but how well we all fit together to make a more beautiful and interesting whole.
After reluctantly waving good-bye to the P5 classes, the Saphara teams had their own time to reflect on finding confidence in previously undiscovered skills and abilities, on new friendships and team bonding, but most of all on the children who had inspired them with their enthusiasm, resilience and aspirations for the future, as well as their acceptance and support of each other.
By giving of themselves and bringing dazzling smiles to the faces of the children they met, our 2022 school teams proved that they could indeed Be the Change they want to see in the world.
Sincere thanks are due once again to Stranmillis University College for hosting this event and to St Mary’s University College for their financial support.
Student comments
I really enjoyed learning from the newcomer kids at the teaching event and seeing where they all have travelled from. I think they show how resilient and inspiring children can be in such difficult circumstances.
The Be the Change Award has helped me to appreciate how difficult it can be for children who come from different backgrounds to integrate with those who do not share or understand their culture. It has also opened my eyes to how many children there are from different countries and religions in my local area, and allowed me to discover how well the majority of these children have assimilated amongst their peers, despite often coming from disadvantaged or marginalised communities. I have discovered that human connection is important to every young person, regardless of their ethnicity or nationality, and that friendships can extend beyond language barriers.
The kids also showed so much joy and hope which I loved and made me keener for other cultures to come into our society and bring fresh life.
Being honest I was not aware of the volume of newcomer children here in Northern Ireland so close to home. It has made me more aware and conscious of disadvantaged communities and how I can make such a difference to them by doing the smallest things.
I have realised that this issue of poverty is more common than one may think, at first, I had thought that this problem was very limited in NI. However, I have experienced first-hand that this is a growing issue here, the Be the Change Award has helped me become aware of this issue and through this award I now have the skills, motivation and mindset to help eradicate this marginalization and hardship in my local communities.
Interacting with different children proved that they all have something unique to share and contribute no matter what their background is. We should always be tolerant to those who appear different to us, as every single child wonderful and that is regardless of the hardship that many have faced. I am definitely more aware of the differences that exist in society and now feel in a better position to seek other opportunities to engage with and help more people.
The Be the Change Award has made be truly sit up and pay attention because I have learned to be more understanding.
Team Teacher Comments
The pupil experiences at the Newcomer Day gave a real sense of reality and opened their eyes to challenges currently being experienced by our increasingly diverse society.
The teaching day was a really special day and the pupils haven’t stopped talking about it. Knowing the disruption of the last two years it was particularly special to witness them interact, teach and influence positively the lives of younger children.
Primary Teacher comments
Our P5s loved the day! Thank you so much for everything! Principal, St Paul’s PS
It is wonderful to see our children, especially the boys, connecting with the Saphara young people – having role models who can inspire them to stay engaged in school and to aspire to a better future. I hope this will just be the start to a great collaboration with Saphara. Teacher, Fane Street PS
• reached over 3,900 people with food and basic supplies.
• run online classes, especially for adolescent girls, reaching hundreds of girls, together with their mothers and siblings too.
• provided adolescent girls with 3,750 washable sanitary pads.
• funded 17 tuition centres providing catch up classes for 1800 rural children, including at Donk and other Himalayan and tribal villages.
• reached thousands of adolescent girls in tribal villages protecting them from trafficking and child marriage.
• provided telephone counselling to support families, reducing family breakdown, domestic violence and alcohol abuse. Led by Dr Reeta and SNEHA, this programme is reaching mothers and daughters facing gender-based violence.
• continued to support SNEHA and Kaplani schools, paying teachers’ salaries and supporting online learning.
