BRIDGE NEWS: March 2005
IN THIS ISSUE: iEARN EGYPT holds a YouthCaN Conference and installs new high school computer labs; INDONESIA holds a World Poetry Day for teens; NEPAL prepares for Global Youth Service Day; PAKISTAN particpates in iEARN's OneDay in the Life collaborative project; OMAN continues to recruit new schools; NGO's working with BANGLADESH to spread iEARN support; JORDAN visits schools and hold iEARN workshop; BRIDGE students from MOROCCO arrive in the US; Youth CanMed continues in LEBANON; and INDIA celebrates Youth Service Week by collecting books
 March
was a busy month for iEARN-Egypt with a Physical Exchange, recruitment,
new computer labs, and a YouthCaN Conference. To
start off, Egypt welcomed home their BRIDGE students who completed
their exchange to the US on March 20th. That same day, iEARN
staff and host families welcomed US BRIDGE students from the
Metropolitan Learning Center for their three-week exchange! Robert
Cotto, MLC teacher traveling to Egypt, has been sending updates of their
trip and shared, "we
are having a wonderful time and have learned quite a bit. We should be
really proud how well the students are taking advantage of this
opportunity to interact with Egyptian students and learn from each
other." BRIDGE exchange participants held a tree-planting ceremony to symbolize this BRIDGE Exchange Program.
 Egypt
also continued work to recruit and encourage iEARN programs and
projects through school visits. Coordinators and volunteers
visited several high schools including Aby Sekel Preparatory for Boys
and El Saidad Aisha Preparatory for Girls. Both visits were
successful and included workshops highlighting iEARN projects and the
benefits of on-line collaborative learning and connectivity in
schools. iEARN-Egypt also teamed up with the Wadi Environmental
Science Center and hosted YouthCaN. Participants included
50 iEARN secondary students working on environmental projects during a
three-night/four-day camp. Students worked on skills in
science investigation and environmental science (the picture to the right shows Egyptian participants assisting with such projects).
iEARN Egypt also hosted its first ever iEARN Special Day. This
day
was for schools and teachers to shared and celebrate their
iEARN experiences. US BRIDGE students from MLC participated as well
reflecting on their expectations of Egyptian culture and sharing with
their new friends. One last bit of great news from Egypt is the
installation of three new computer labs in Secondary schools!
Congratulations! 
March was an exciting month for iEARN-India with
wonderful on-line collaborations and youth community service.
Shri. Arbidono
High School in India and Martha's Vineyard Regional High School in
Massachusetts participated in a truly interactive forum entitled, "Oneday - A Day in the Life Project".
iEARN-India and Martha's Vineyard students have shared pictures
and stories of daily life routines, traditional attire, school
uniforms, and even photographs of typical cuisine. Indian youth also
participated in Youth Service
Week where they collected books for underprevilaged students in the
area. Other activities included cleaning around a local
lake, conducting a hospital waste survey, and
accompany senior citizens to health check-ups administered by the Red
Cross.
 ![]()
iEARN India youths participating in
Youth Service Week.
 Pakistan students also participated in
iEARN's collaborative forum, "Oneday - A Day in the Life Project",
with Martha's Vineyard Regional High School. Pakistani students
from Fatimiyah School, Lords International School, and Government
Girls Secondary School joined the forum sharing pictures, traditional clothing, and describing what goes on during a
normal day at school or at home. US high school students have
been equally eager to share their own daily routines
photos. Pakistani students have not only posted photos, but
provided an autobiographical profile that gives forum participants an
explanation of the photo and it's siginificance. Other news from
iEARN-Pakistan is the introdcution of iEARN as a curriculum tool to over 100
K-12 schools nationwide. All
participating schools are equipped with compuer labs to engage in iEARN's collaborative projects. Below are photos that Pakistan
studens shared with secondary students in Massachusetts. One
shows Pakistani students in their tradtional national dress, and the other shows their traditional hats. On the forum, a US student from MA shared thoughts about Pakistan clothing, "Your
clothes are so beautiful! They are so different from the clothes most
people wear in the US! I love all the detail on your dresses too."
 
 On
March 28th, Moroccan BRIDGE students arrived for thier three-week
exchange to George Washington High School for Law and Public Service
in New York City.
GW students had traveled to Morocco in February, so this BRIDGE
exchange was both a reunion and an immersion into US school and
culture. Moroccan high school students began working on
a thought-provoking forum entilted, "Shanty-towns". This proposed
on-line collaborative project aims to help young students from
Morocco and abroad better understand issues of poverty and class. It will
highlight shanty-towns and serve as a forum where students can share
their questions and learn about different members within
their communities. The forum will be for secondary
students.
 Despite
political concerns, iEARN Lebanon continued to move forward with
plans for Youth CanMed. The Lebanese students were confident and
eager
to welcome students from The International Preparatory School (TIPS) in
Cleveland, Ohio. TIPS students will visit the country in April and
engage in videoconferencing, environmental presentations, and cultural
activities. Orientations
have been conducted for BRIDGE students traveling to Madison, WI this
coming May 2005. The reciprocal exchange (US BRIDGE students to
Lebanon) will take place next Fall, 2005.
Two
on-line courses were also completed this month: YouthCaN
and Intro to Writing. iEARN-Lebanon has also invited
students and teachers to brainstorm and develop a project that will
examine
the recent Lebanese political rallies. They will explore
questions such as: What it means to ask for truth? What is
the meaning of civic duty? How can understanding diversity
add value to Lebanon and nations around the world? Students and
teachers propose the forum idea to other iEARN secondary students in an
effort to rally commitment for this new and timely project.
 Indonesia celebrated World Poetry Day
on March 21st in Jakarta. The Ministry of Education opened the
ceremonies and all iEARN schools particpated. iEARN Indonesia
collaborated with the Ministry and UNESCO to give students (ages
12-18) the opportunity to participate in a poetry
competition. Close to 2,000 poems were submitted and six
winners were selected! Diplomats from various countries joined the celebration,
with the USA being represented by Ms. Joy Sakurai, Cultural Attache at
the US Embassy. A heart-warming highlight of the
celebration was a poem written by Mr. Shaban Shahidi Moaddab,
Ambassador of Iran. Mr. Moaddab read his poem entitled, "United
Fist", which is about the Tsunami in Aceh. Indonesia also conducted a workshop, "Achieving Peace through the Participation of Women in Development." The
workshop was held on March 26th and attended by 30 students.
Among the many events during the workshop, iEARN Country Coordinator, Dr. Hasnah Gasim,
held a seated roundtable discussion asking students what they think
about the importance of women in acheiving peace.
Ambassador Moaddab of Iran and iEARN National
Coordinator engaging students in peace workshops
NEPAL: Nepal's students spent March in
final examinations with classes resuming this coming April. In
the meantime, iEARN Nepal continues to encourage teachers to start and
or join an on-line collaborative project. In March, teachers
begin their curriculum planning and discussed ways to integrate iEARN
into their lessons. iEARN teachers are also active with online
courses and are using forums to increase their own connectivity with
other teachers around the world - sharing and learning. We all look forward to April when Nepal begins working on
projects. Stay tuned!
 ![]() March
has been a busy month for iEARN-Jordan. Workshops were held and school visits made to
spread the news of iEARN's collaborative projects and resources.
In fact, Mr.
Jarrah was interviewed and a press release is expected to be distributed
on
April 1st highlighting iEARN Jordan's workshop at the Yarmouk
University Model School. Over 20 teachers attended the training
which focused on project based learning and benchmark practices for
implementation of iEARN projects into the classroom. With that, a total of 25 new
teachers were added to iEARN-Jordan this month. Congratulations!
 In
March Bangladesh Country Coordinator, Golam Hiru, was selected by the
People's Forum on MDG's to represent the country at the Global Call to
Action Against Poverty in Asia Conference. The meeting is
scheduled for
April 2005. Bangladesh also organized a workshop with two
neighboring NGOs on youth activity in Bangladesh. This will prove
instrumental in helping them acchieve their goal or raising support and
awareness of iEARN-Bangladesh on the national level.
OMAN:
Since holiding its first National Workshop, iEARN-Oman has taken great
strides in establishing and building suppport among a network
of schools, teachers and students. Two new iEARN teachers were
added this month bringing their total to 35! iEARN
Oman contiues to provides support to teachers as schools begin learning
about on-line collobarative learning and iEARN resources. Some
teachers have already visited neighboring schools to present iEARN and
help increase awareness about our programs and resources.
For
more information on BRIDGE Exchanges, oversees offices, or for basic
program information, please call our New York City Office at
212-870-2693
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