Sri Lanka – the need to Develop Links for Reconciliation, Amjad Saleem

Education- Global School Partnerships link – ground level, Caroline Harmer WGEC- Linking in education, Sharon Leftwich-Lloyd

Health- World Child Cancer, Jo Hopkins- THET is pleased to announce a call for applications for Start up Grants

Community- Links Japan, Phillida Purvis- Angel’s Orphanage Nepal, Brian Mildenhall

BUILD’s New MembersBSWNCIEHRoyal African SocietyThe Grubb InstituteThe Sabre Trust

Bits and bobs- Jubilee Time capsule- Fair trade update- BUKDIP Bristol meeting- Jubilee Beacons across the Commonwealth-An Introduction to Effective Lobbying & Campaigning”The Cordoba Foundation 2011

BUILD Newsletter

January 2012

Director’s Report

Well, this is my first attempt at writing something for the general membership of BUILD! As I approach the completion of four months as Director, the first thing I would want to say is ‘Thank you’ – to the many people with whom I have already managed to have substantial conversations, for the encouragement and support you have offered; to those with whom I have not yet managed to connect properly – for patience! And perhaps at this stage most of all to Nick Maurice, and also to Lynne Mawby and to John Whitaker, our Chair, for the way they have welcomed me, advised me, accompanied me sometimes, and left me to find my own way at others, and forgiven my trampling all over their carefully-cultivated soil in my attempts to get to grips with the task!

I think it is fair to say that, whilst I have by no means got the whole picture – and that picture is constantly developing and changing anyway – I do feel that I am beginning to grasp the role that BUILD can play in this business of building positive, creative and sustainable partnerships between communities across the world. We have an amazing diversity of groups, organisations and individuals with whom we are working, and one of the very positive things has been to find more organisations wanting to join our ‘coalition’, and we welcome a number of those in this edition of our newsletter. Of course, as we know only too well from other contexts, coalitions are not always easy to manage, and ours is probably broader than many – the size, primary focus, sector all affect the way different groups engage with BUILD, quite apart from styles, beliefs and structures, which are unique to any organisation. So, spending time working with each other on the concept of partnership, and how we can engage fully, openly and respectfully with one another (especially in these difficult days of severe financial restraint and competition) is an agenda in itself, and one which will always be a part of who and what we are. There will be an opportunity to think further about this at our Members’ Meeting in London on 24 February – details have been circulated.

But as well as diversity of membership, there is also huge diversity in where and how we all focus our work. BUILD I hope tries to maintain an overview, and not to become too

focussed on any one geographical area, or one particular sector. I believe that is important, if not vital to our work. Of course, we all have our instinctive favourites! And it certainly seems to be true that a very large portion of our engagement seems to be with Africa (and we are delighted to welcome as a new member, very recently, the Royal African Society, with all its commitment and expertise in understanding both the history and the modern story of Africa). But Asia too, and Latin America, the Caribbean etc, are all places of huge significance in world terms. India and Brazil are now highly influential in economic terms, conflict – both international and internal – continues to afflict many countries in Asia, and natural disaster destroys life and livelihoods without fear or favour – hitting Japan and new Zealand as much as Bangladesh or Pacific islands. The creation of strong relationships between communities ‘here and there’ will make a significant difference to all our lives. It has been one of our observations from the BUKDIP project (Building on UK Diaspora International Partnerships) that it has been quite difficult to draw Asian communities in to our events. It is not always easy, for many reasons, for African and Afro-Caribbean diaspora groups and Asian groups to work together. We are looking carefully at how we might approach this more effectively, and the current work in Wolverhampton is particularly significant in that respect, because it is the home of the largest Sikh community in the UK.

But it will not escape your notice as you read this newsletter that there is an Asian theme running through it! This was a deliberate decision, and we hope that you will find – as we have - all the articles to be stimulating and enticing. I am very glad to find myself working very closely with the Cordoba Foundation, and especially with Amjad Saleem. Cordoba is committed to building strong and positive relationships between Islam and the West, a vital task, given the Islamophobia which is so prevalent at the moment. Cordoba has strong roots in the Asian context, but is by no means exclusively focussed there, and we are collaborating in a number of areas at the moment, along with a range of other organisations, and we will certainly hope to be able to say something about these at the Members’ Meeting.

I hope you enjoy this newsletter. We are always keen to encourage contributions and the next edition will be due in the middle of the year. If there is a particular theme you think could be valuable for exploration, please let Lynne or myself know, and if you feel moved to contribute....please just go ahead. (I know it’s not ‘pen to paper’ these days, but you know what I mean!) And we hope to see many of you in London on 24 February; and I will be continuing my quest to meet representatives of all our member organisations before my first year is complete! Andrew Deuchar

Sri Lanka – The Need to Develop Links for Reconciliation

We look forward to welcoming you all to the next MEMBERS’ MEETINGbeing held on 24th February 2012, 11am-4pm

at The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund Rooms,

Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7PB

A sandwich lunch will be provided

Since the end of the thirty year war in May 2009, Sri Lanka has been at a stagnant point vis-a-vis reconciliation. Whilst infrastructural development has taken off, the larger political and social components of post war reconciliation have yet to gain much momentum.

A lot of this inertia can be attributed to a reactionary impulse of the government to deflect widespread international criticism about how the last stages of the war was handled coming from many Western governments and institutions, perceived to be largely pressurised by a vocal and influential Tamil Diaspora largely affiliated with the LTTE. As a consequence, much needed concerted and focussed engagement with members of the Sri Lankan expatriate community has been at best patchy.

The recently released report of the Sri Lankan government appointed LLRC (Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission) alluded to this, when it recommended that the Government engage with and encourage those expatriate groups interested in redevelopment and reconciliation efforts. This is a significant milestone in Sri Lanka’s recent history as there is now a window of opportunity to work on a comprehensive package of reconciliation that could not only meet political aspirations but also grass roots needs, providing a space for them to express themselves.

Creating this secure environment of equity and social justice is one of the current needs of the hour. However creating that space is not easy. It will have to be done organically and will need to entail developing alliances which reach out to the other and which take responsibility to move beyond victimhood by acknowledging each other’s narrative, empathising and hearing the other’s stories and ultimately working with each other in order to provide a safe space where special programmes of social engineering to build bridges, facilitate cross faith interactions and regain inter community trust can be rebuilt and the past can be acknowledged in a way that does not negate it but allows one to move forward.

For the last 30 years or more, suspicion and distrust between and among the different communities have been displayed openly, and the perception of the “other”- the Sinhalese of the Tamils, the Tamils of the Sinhalese, the Tamils and Sinhalese of the Muslims; has been fed on hate and insensitivities for varying beliefs. This is even more exacerbated in the UK, where the lenses with which different communities are viewed are coloured by old narratives.

So the question becomes how can the Sri Lankan expat community be mobilised and empowered to play a role to bring out about reconciliation that moves away from apportioning blame for deceit and destruction? Rebuilding trust will mean honouring unity and celebrating diversity, working towards equity and justice and ensuring the eradication of social prejudices in building a collective identity.

In short, we must learn to listen closely to one another, not simply because it is polite, but because it is just possible that we might learn something important about ourselves, become better human beings, and build a better world in the process.

The first step in doing this is to open a space where members of all Sri Lankan ethnicities within the UK can come and openly talk, understand and ultimately address

issues of mutual concern. The second step is to jointly identify projects which bring mutual benefit to both sides. It is in this that BUILD as an organisation can play a facilitation role. Through its linking programs and its partners involved in linking particularly in Sri Lanka, it can offer opportunities and safe spaces for second and third generation British of Sri Lankan heritage to rediscover their roots, to realign the narrative whilst contributing to helping communities and the country build back better. Second and third generations do not have the same baggage as their forefathers, but they often have a skewered lens with which they view their countries of heritage. This prevents them from providing much needed skills and advice towards bettering these countries.

By seeing things on the ground first hand, these opinions can be changed. Linking provides opportunities for this. This is now the project that I am working on with regards encouraging this new generation of ‘Sri Lankans’ to revisit the country and discover for themselves the realities on the ground, in the hope that they can play positive roles and change the country for the better.

Sri Lanka is now at the cross roads of moving forward, cleansed of the past and with a chance to develop a common vision shared by all towards collective nation building and prosperity or to plunge back into another unknown era of bitter interethnic rivalries fanned by divisive politics. Given the space, Sri Lanka can reconcile and hold people to account. The Sri Lankan expat community and Diaspora have a unique opportunity to facilitate this.

Amjad Saleem,amjad@thecordobafoundation.com

Global School Partnerships link – ground level

At the Wiltshire Global Education Centre, part of the Marlborough Brandt Group, we’re well used to community linking - Marlborough has a longstanding association with Gunjur, a small fishing village in the Gambia, West Africa. We are passionate about the ensuing benefits to schools and when we were offered the opportunity by British Council

EDUCATION

in June 2011, to run a Local Authority link between 10 schools in Wiltshire and Bangladesh, we jumped at the chance. Advertising the opportunity in our regular ebulletin produced a huge response - there is clearly an appetite for this type of project. Over fifty schools were keen to be involved and it became clear that to satisfy demand, we should consider running another link with another 10 schools. As a result, we now have 10 schools in the Swindon area linked with Gopalganj in Bangladesh and 10 more around Salisbury with partner schools in Madurai in Southern India. Six months into the project and things have moved on, if not exactly along a smooth path. Our first visit took place in December 2011 when together with two teachers (names strictly selected from a hat), I spent a memorable week in Madurai, visiting each of the ten schools and trying to establish common ground for project work. Like everything Indian, it was a week hard to capture in words – but thinking back on it, disparate images come to mind: of the elephant on the road from the airport at dawn, complete with red reflector on its tail; of mile upon mile of wind farms, as far as the eye could see; of the Russian consul talking to the local Rotary Club of his country’s plan to invest in the construction of tanks in southern India and its promotion of huge nuclear power projects; of enormous schools, up to 4000, far better resourced than we would ever have imagined; and with young people totally engaged on learning – even though to our mind, the teaching methods were far less active than our own children are used to; of a performance of King Lear, just for us, in English; of an enthusiasm for school linking in every school and of hospitality towards us that sometimes bordered on the overwhelming. Schools were so keen to show us what they could do and offer that it was sometimes hard to focus on what we felt was important and the need to use our time profitably, discussing issues which would be difficult via email. How we were viewed, I’m not sure – my request to sit in at the back of a class in one school and just see what was going on provoked such a panic stricken reaction from the young teacher that I suspect more appropriate to some sort of international Ofsted inspector crossed with a visiting dignitary of royal lineage. We’re now waiting for information from India to plan for a similar incoming visit in the spring – the only thing that generally alarms me is whether our Indian colleagues will be underwhelmed by a welcome from their partner schools that doesn’t involve garlands, blessings, marching bands, flags, saluting boy scouts...In the meantime, all of the schools in the cluster have completed applications for reciprocal visit grants and given the big commitment and input from their Indian counterparts, I am reasonably optimistic.

Our link with Bangladesh is so far still in its fledgling state although visa permitting ( a HUGE issue in school linking) I shall be making a similar visit to Gopalganj at the end of January . One thing that has become very clear within this process is that communication is the key to everything – my Swindon schools are already quite disheartened by the lack of response to their overtures via post, email and phone. They understand that we are linked to a very poor country (rated 146 in the world on the 2011 HDI) with limited Internet access etc., but at the same time don’t see how they can

progress linking relationships effectively without it. And of course ironically, with no input from the Bangladeshi schools, they are not in a position to apply for the reciprocal visit funding which would take them there to sort out communication problems on the ground. We shall see what happens.

So, six months in, what have we learnt about linking with India and Bangladesh? The positives would be that the enthusiasm on both sides is clearly there and the British Council training ensures that schools do not enter into relationships of this sort unprepared. The mantra of educational, sustainable and equitable has been well learnt on both sides – in a personal sense, it has certainly been educational for me although whether my own state of mind is now either sustainable or equitable is open to some debate! The commitment by schools on both sides of the link has been commendable – with the Indian link, teachers are already working on some brilliant joint curriculum projects and the learning for children on both sides will, I’m sure, be profound and long lasting. There has been great support from the British Council in the UK, India and Bangladesh.

On the down side, I would say the biggest negative is that it seems the better funded the school in the southern country, the more likely the link is to be successful. Is that the way things should be? Also, co-ordinating a LA link effectively is an enormous amount of work for which I was naively unprepared and for which, I have to say, the funding is woeful if not virtually non-existent. It’s one thing to look at a budget and feel you can manage it adequately and another to be faced with local security issues which result in unexpectedly high hotel and transport costs or escalating visa costs as your applications get rejected and rejected again, each one incurring a fresh fee. No time is built in for co-ordinators – possibly OK when this was part of the LA’s International Officer brief but certainly not OK when even the week visiting the projects cannot be costed in. Who should pick up the tab for inoculations or malaria tablets? What about that roaming mobile telephone bill? In addition, I feel the need for ongoing support for linked schools is essential. Nobody who has been involved in school linking would ever suggest it’s easy and I think schools are going to need help and encouragement a few years down the line when for example, the initial enthusiasm might have waned, it’s been tough going or the key link person in the school has moved on.

Would I do it again? I’m really not sure. My head says no; my heart would probably say yes.

Caroline Harmer Wiltshire Global Education Centre

carolinembg@yahoo.co.uk

Linking in education

EDUCATION

Sharon Leftwich-Lloyd has been in post as a Drama teacher and Internationalism and Development Education Co-ordinator at The Polesworth School in North Warwickshire since 2000 and is a Trustee of UKOWLA and member of BBC Worldclass. This is a piece taken from Sharon’s speech at the House of Commons on 3rd November 2011.

“I was standing in the playground waiting to pick up my four year old daughter from school. It was Diwali celebration day when I overheard one parent saying to another, “and if my kid comes out of school with one of them dots in the middle of her head I’m rubbin’ it off. I ain’t walking home with her like that.” You may think that perhaps this is a monocultural school; on the contrary there are children representing four distinct cultures in my daughter’s class alone. I admit – it scares me, if schools do not take it as their personal responsibility to prepare students and communities for life in a multi-cultural society, in a shrinking world, a world where communication is becoming faster, further-reaching; a world where hatred and misunderstanding is rife. What is to become of those young people?

In May there will be twenty young people from our link school, Vidyashram, Jaipur, India in Polesworth along with their teachers. Our students compete to have the honour of playing host and I can guarantee that most of them will arrive at our evening ‘gig’ wearing saris, greeting each other ‘namaste’ and Banghra dancing together. And what is it that makes this fundamental difference in two schools only 15 miles apart? – Linking!

Linkers believe in a world built on personal friendships, mutual respect and kindness. We live by a non-judgemental code, gradually developing relationships and learning about people from people. We strive for love overpowering hatred. I am exceptionally lucky that my work allows me to spread my beliefs, to engage others in conversation and to be inspired by young people every day.

Polesworth is virtually mono-cultural, potentially insular, inward-looking. The young people of Polesworth are not particularly streetwise (in fact the first time I took a group of young people to Ghana, when asked where they came from by a local, they replied ‘Polesworth’ and were surprised when they had no idea where that was). The world is not in their classroom so we decided to put it there – we could never have imagined how integral, how important, how vital it would become. Twelve years ago we had many students at Polesworth who thought Africa was a country, now they take an avid (and rather protective) interest in their link. A student talking to me last month said, “what’s special is that it’s ours, isn’t it?”

Some resources held at Polesworth School about their Link countries

It is this tender feeling of ownership that drives progress. The best learning occurs when teachers are filled with enthusiasm for what they teach. Our links enable the curriculum to be taught creatively in a global context. In our curriculum we have, for example: year 7s learning Mandarin and painting Mehendi hand patterns; year 8s playing kabbadi and learning the real story of slavery in Ghana; year 9s devising Chinese dragon dances and learning about Hinduism by writing to their peers in India. At GCSE students produce cushions using traditional batik processes and learn about mixed media African Art, they explore the UK as a tourist destination and use ICT to create questionnaires which they post online to our partners. Post-16 we offer A level World Development, in other subject areas students explore religion in a global context, study Kathak and yoga, explore food from our partner countries ….the list goes on and on.

In these and the many other units of work that we teach, students have the benefit of access to a direct window to another world through which they can see with the eyes of their peers and friends in India and Ghana. They work with real resources collected by their teachers during study visits – photographs, videos, fabrics, artefacts, stories … And the best bit? They have a real audience for their work and an authentic place to go when and if they ‘get stuck’.

Of course a multi-cultural education is not, in itself, life changing. It’s contact and friendships which achieve that. A student on the plane on the way home from two weeks in Ghana wrote, “this trip has changed my life; as I now know what I want in life, and I know what I have to do to get there. I have met some great people who I hope to remain in touch with both at Polesworth and in Pampawie. All in all a fantastic trip with amazing people.” And is it? Life changing? Five of our students have gone on to complete gap years in Ghana, one is currently living and working in Hong Kong. One of our students won the VSO Global Student prize and then the Prime Minister’s Global Fellowship. An increasing number have changed their study at a Higher level to include time abroad and International elements to their study. We have a previous student who plans to be a travelling doctor. Others are now teachers who have set up links of their own, everyone who has visited a partner country has ‘stayed in touch.’

At Polesworth, though, we feel that it is vital to look beyond the young people – change the staff, and the students won’t be able to resist. A link really must be embraced by all members of a school community – Polesworth’s Head of Catering took part in the trip to Ghana last summer; a member of Admin staff returned from India last week. We pride ourselves on opening opportunities as far as possible as you never quite know what could happen next. Members of staff are always asked to teach whilst in-country and to carry out research which they can bring back to the classroom. Last summer, our Head of Art was part of the study trip to Ghana. He introduced a joint curricular project based on the work of artist, Andy Goldsworthy. Reflecting on the experience, Ian said, “I thought it was fantastic, it went really well. It was interesting to see that there was a commonality in mistakes – that students in Pampawie made similar mistakes to those which I have seen our students make in England. To see the joy and the fun that the Ghanaian students were finding in being able to get out of the classrooms to do something practical: to have fun while they were learning was amazing.”

Whilst many people worry that this is an enormous amount of ‘extra work’ I cannot disagree enough. At the age of 4 I started school in East London and though I lived in a city rich with culture I can honestly say, apart from the odd Religious Studies lesson, I don’t remember anyone really asking me what I thought or encouraging me to ask questions – I was aware of difference (when two thirds of the school left assembly before the prayer and hymn) not sisterhood.

Back at Polesworth we have won the TES International School of the Year (2006); twice achieved the Leading Aspect Award (Internationalism, Development Education and Global Links); three times been awarded The British Council International School Award and are three fifths of the way towards Fairtrade school status. But what matters to us most is the people.

Our dream is that our students will leave school with an understanding of key issues arising from cultural variations, trade, poverty and inequality. Our vision is that staff will develop a global dimension to their teaching; that study visits will enhance personal skills and deepen academic interests. Our mission is to play our part in educating young

people to embrace change; indeed, to instil in them the courage and belief needed to change the world for the better and to awaken a sense of hope for the future.

And I leave you with a few words from 15 year old Lauren, “In a time when I wasn’t 100% happy and had kind of lost myself, Ghana found me. A truly amazing and magical experience.”

Sharon Leftwich-Lloyds.leftwich-Lloyd@thepolesworthschool.com

What can other countries learn from BUILD? The case of Japan.

Japan’s ODA has declined dramatically since its peak, in the early 1990s, when it was the world’s largest aid giver. Now it ranks fifth in terms of overall net disbursements in the OECD-DAC listing. However, it remains the largest aid donor in Asia for historical, geographical and economic reasons and an important generator of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the region. This would not be the case if there were not advocates for it within Japan and personal links with other Asian countries. This is clearly the missing piece of the puzzle in the case of sub-Saharan African countries, which are considered too far from Japan for people to people exchanges to be possible, a situation perpetuated by the nervousness on the part of the Japanese of the unknown.

The focus of Japan’s assistance to sub Saharan Africa instead is on developing infrastructure, along the lines in which donors supported the development of Japan’s own physical infrastructure, in the early post-war years, setting the scene for its astonishing economic development. Japan deliberately shies away from the people empowerment activities of ‘western’ donors, because attempts to influence recipient governments politically, they believe, could be considered ‘neo-colonial’. There are of course many Japanese technical cooperation experts in Africa, from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and about 500 JICA-despatched Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, equivalent to VSO volunteers. Japan’s shosha, the trading companies, and other major international companies, obviously also have a wide

COMMUNITY

range of commercial involvements with the continent, although the bulk is with North Africa, and some resident representation. However, outside that limited commercial and aid community, which includes some NGOs, the number of actual Japanese in Africa remains very limited.

The huge presence of China, and evidence everywhere of second-hand vehicles imported from Japan, makes this lack of Japanese individual involvement all the more astonishing and regrettable. Certainly, Japan is missing out on commercial and economic opportunities as a result, as well as all the other benefits, on both sides, to be gained from partnerships between communities. In short, Japanese people do recognise the importance of a commitment to development assistance to Africa, and to the Millennium Development Goals, although the devastation caused by the March tsunami will have unsettled even that commitment. However, there is little recognition of the benefit that could accrue to Japan from long-term, grass-roots links and exchanges of the sort that BUILD members believe in.

Links Japan promotes sharing between the UK, sometimes involving other EU countries, and Japan of good practice, successful models and innovation in the voluntary and community sector. Advocating the development of mutually beneficial partnerships between Japanese and African communities has become a strand of that work, all based on the experiences learned about from BUILD and UKOWLA members! Some school links have begun as a result, a couple of which have a third leg link with a school in the UK. At university level some three way links in the scientific arena are being debated and research for the Japan Red Cross has begun on the opportunities for their health care practitioners to be involved in exchanges with Ethiopia, through the ICRC. Japanese voluntary sector leaders have become involved in training with an agricultural cooperative in Eastern Uganda, and a solar electrification project. Other business opportunities are brewing as a direct result.

In spite of a prolonged recession, and all the woes of the last year, Japan still has the third largest GDP in the world, and its debt is owned by its own citizens. Only the US has more millionaires than Japan, and the population are highly educated. The top down nature of government in the country, throughout its history, and an economy that kept on growing, into the 1990s, has meant that formal volunteering is only a recent phenomenon, and, although it is now enthusiastically embraced, it is still largely directed by the state. The use of IT and air fares becoming more accessible have caused the world to shrink – as well as to highlight its interdependent nature. ODA has not changed the world, but ordinary people, given the right opportunity, can. In most African countries, people stand poised to grasp the opportunity. Will the Japanese recognise the value to themselves of responding? The approach advocated by BUILD at least provides the ‘nudge’ factor.

Phillida PurvisLinks Japan

phillida@linksjapan.org

Angel’s Orphanage, Nepal

COMMUNITY

Angel’s Orphanage isn’t like any other orphanage I’ve seen in Nepal. Most are run as institutions with paid staff looking after the children, some of whom may return to their natural home as their stay at the orphanage is temporary during desperate family times. Other orphanages are run as a type of shelter where the children are looked after by otherwise homeless women, often widows.

In many ways Angel’s Orphanage isn’t an orphanage at all. True, some of the children are orphans and some have been given up by a single parent so poor they cannot afford to care for their child. Like the father whose wife died in childbirth and couldn’t work and look after his daughter at the same time. Or the mother who had no money and no work following the death of her husband who was killed while out searching for wild bee honey. Others were rescued from the streets and saved from a life of scavenging and sleeping in plastic bags.

The real difference is that these children, twenty in all, have been “adopted” by an amazing young Nepalese couple and live together as one large family. They eat and play together; go to school; do their homework; sing, pray and celebrate together; help with the household chores; and look after one another as caring brothers and sisters.

For a number of years the family got by on the father’s erratic earnings and handouts from passing tourists. But with increasing prices for basic food such as rice and the significant drop in tourism it wasn’t long before the family found themselves living in the city slums with no water, electricity and little food. The children were malnourished and suffering from a number of related ailments with no money to pay for a doctor or medicine. Today it’s different. Three years ago a couple from Wiltshire met the family while on a joint Nepalese and UK medical mission to the hill villages of Kathmandu Valley. Since then this couple have tirelessly built a network of support both here in the UK and in Nepal. The network is spreading, little by little, into Australia, Oman and mainland Europe.

Inevitably, the main initial focus was to raise money so that the family could be re-housed into reasonable rented accommodation and to provide regular food. Even so the children’s diet is still dominated by too much rice and not enough fruit and vegetables. A supporter from Amsterdam raises funds to pay for educating the children at a good school.

The need for money will be ever present. There’s currently no other way to secure housing, food and water, education and basic health care for this large family. The aim is to keep them together, support them rather than tell them, to let the children grow up in a loving and caring family, and to give them an education and the opportunity of friendship and a brighter future.

This has already brought communities together and created new friendships, including the Nepalese diaspora here in Swindon and Reading, as well as those in Nepal. And many friendships with people in Nepal. Not just with the family but with a hotel owner, a solicitor, a doctor, a hotel manager, several retired Ghurkha officers, a restaurant owner, and a university student. All these people are working together to help and support the family and in doing so helping each other to better understand the world around us and to realise that we can do something practical and really change lives.

Brian Mildenhallbrianmildenhall@hotmail.com

World Child Cancer’s Project in The Philippines(January 2012)

World Child Cancer has been working in southern Philippines since 2009 to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment for children. The focus of all of our projects is the establishment of an international twinning partnership to create a two-way transfer of expertise and skills between a child cancer unit in a low/middle income country and an established child cancer centre in a developed country. We empower local medics to come up with locally appropriate and sustainable solutions to the problem of child cancer in their country.

Whilst survival rates for child cancer have risen over the last few decades in developed countries the same is not true for children in low/middle income countries where the majority of children are either not diagnosed or die from the effects of the treatment or the disease itself. In The Philippines the most common childhood cancer is acute lymphoblastic leukaemia with an overall cure rate of less than 20% for diagnosed patients compared to around 80% in the UK/Europe and USA.

Our project in The Philippines is based at the Southern Philippines Medical Centre in Davao City on Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippines. The region has a population of 25 million of whom 45% are under the age of 15. It is estimated that

HEALTH

regionally there are 1,100 new cases of child cancer a year (based on expected rates of between 80 and 150 per million children from registry data). However, at the start of the project fewer than 150 cases were diagnosed annually. Of the children who are diagnosed and treated the most common cancers are leukaemia, solid tumours and retinoblastoma which are all highly curable in developed countries but with survival rates of less than 20% in Mindanao. Despite this it is fair to say that the Southern Philippines Medical Centre has a strong child cancer unit led by the inspirational Dr Mae Dolendo. Dr Dolendo and her team have been working for a number of years to improve survival rates by developing locally appropriate treatment protocols. However, they have been hampered in their efforts because of the high rate of abandonment of treatment and the large number of patients who are diagnosed at an advanced stage. Key issues are lack of awareness about child cancer amongst parents and primary healthcare workers and the inability of poor families to take their children to Davao City for treatment.

We are funding a strategy devised by Dr Dolendo in conjunction with medics from the two twinning centres – St Jude Children’s Research Hospital (Memphis, US) and University Hospital (Singapore) – which tackles low levels of awareness and poor adherence to treatment to improve overall survival rates. World Child cancer is providing financial support of £35,000 a year for five years as well as facilitating the mentoring of Dr Dolendo and the transfer of expertise through the twinning partnerships. The strategy focuses on three key elements – a poster awareness campaign in large population areas in Mindanao; the development of satellite treatment centres around Mindanao; and a large scale training programme of doctors and nurses in child cancer diagnosis and treatment. The rationale is that by raising awareness and by making it easier for children to receive treatment closer to where they live more children will be diagnosed and fewer families will have to abandon treatment.

The project has been operational for over two years and has already achieved considerable success. Two satellite treatment centres have been established in Tagum City (3 hours from Davao) and General Santos City (6 hours from Davao) and over 500 healthcare professionals (doctors and nurses) have been trained in the identification of child cancer and its treatment. For example, a specific campaign to improve diagnosis and treatment of retinoblastoma (eye cancer) has trained over 330 medics and nurses to identify symptoms in the early stage. Survival rates have increased for easily treatable

Dr Mae Dolendo examining a patient with an advanced solid tumour

cancers to around 60% and abandonment of treatment has been reduced to less than 10%. In addition, diagnosis has improved with more children being diagnosed at an earlier stage. Word of mouth from parents to parents appears to be playing an important part as the news is spread that childhood cancer is curable. A notable recent success is the purchase of a new vehicle funded by World Child Cancer. The new vehicle is being used to transport patients and equipment between the main centre in Davao and the two regional satellite centres.

This year the project will be establishing at least one more satellite treatment centre, consolidating the training of 150 doctors and nurses and treating around 250 children. We are pleased with progress but there is still much to do to ensure that all children in Mindanao with cancer receive a diagnosis and the best possible treatment.

www.worldchildcancer.orgjo.hopkins@worldchildcancer.org

Dr Mae Dolendo with two patients

THET is pleased to announce a call for applications for Start-up Grants.

The grants form part of the Health Partnership Scheme (HPS) which is a four-year programme that funds health partnerships to carry out training and capacity-building projects in low-income countries. The Scheme is funded by the UK Department for International Development. It is managed by THET in a consortium with HLSP to deliver the programme. The Start-up Grants will help to facilitate the development of new and effective health partnerships between UK institutions and their counterparts overseas. They are designed to meet the costs of the activities necessary to establish and formalise a successful partnership and are up to the value of £5,000. Applications can be submitted at any point during the HPS.

Eligibility for Start-up Grants

1. Grant recipients are eligible institutions as stated in the Eligibility Criteria section of the grant overview

2. Grant recipients are based in eligible countries (see overview)3. Applicants must show demonstrable commitment to forming a long-term

Partnership 4. The partnership must be less than 2 years old5. It will be expected that the start-up grant will fund a needs assessment. The

results of this needs assessment will form part of the final report and should inform whether the partnership will be formalised with a Memorandum of Understanding.

How to Apply Download the Start-up Grant Overview and the Application Form from the THET website. Applications can be submitted at any time during the Health Partnership Scheme. If you have any questions, please contact the HPS team on 020 7290 3895 or

hps@thet.org

BUILD NEW MEMBERS

HEALTH

Black South West Network (BSWN)

BSWN is a regional based infrastructure network, and many of it’s member organisations are involved with/have relationships with international development and civil society. They have around 360 members, drawn from local, regional and national BME and mainstream organisations.

They have an interest in developing civil society knowledge transfer opportunities in relation to their members’ Commonwealth heritage across and between the global south and BME diaspora communities.

BSWN support and facilitate engagement with BME communities across the region through promoting their work via their website and e-communication. They enable their members and partners to participate in exchange programmes where appropriate, as well as developing opportunities for more BME organisations to be involved with linking activities.

rdaniel@bswn.org.uk

CIEH Chartered Institute of Environmental Health

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health is a professional, awarding and campaigning body at the forefront of environmental and public health and safety.

The International Special Interest Group (ISIG) aims to encourage individual CIEH members to actively engage in international environmental health.

CIEH through the (ISIG) is linked with many developing countries such as Uganda, Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Jamaica through partnerships and links with the Professional Associations of Environmental Health Officers in those countries officially linked with Regions of the CIEH in the UK. These links aim to assist the Associations to develop their capacity to improve environmental health in their communities.

The CIEH has hosted many Commonwealth Fellowships as a means of assisting mid term professional colleagues as a way of sharing good practice and achieving the Millennium Development goals.

DPurchon@aol.com

Royal African Society

The Royal African Society is Britain’s prime Africa organisation. Now more than 100 years old, its in-depth, long-term knowledge of the continent and its peoples makes the Society the first stop for anyone wishing to know more.

We foster a better understanding of Africa in the UK and throughout the world - its history, politics, culture, problems and potential.

We disseminate knowledge and insight to make a positive difference to Africa’s development.

We celebrate the diversity and depth of African culture.

Membership is open to all. Among our members are Africans in Africa and in the diaspora, business leaders working in Africa, academics, politicians, civil servants, teachers and students, health professionals, journalists and writers, artists and musicians, charities and non-governmental organisations and anyone interested in Africa and its future.

ras@soas.ac.uk

The Grubb Institute

The Grubb institute undertakes a range of projects and assignments which provide leadership development and formation to religions, educational, government and business bodies in Africa, South America and the Caribbean. Their principle educational programme which is built around linking activities is Ubuntu4Schools which is linking schools in the UK and South Africa around developing the leadership which will nurture the spirit of ubuntu, both at personal and organisational levels.

The Grubb institute has a history of over 50 years developing ways of contributing to the healing, repair, transformation and wellbeing of society by helping people to draw on their Faith, beliefs and spirituality to transform themselves, their groups and their organisations within our globally connected world.

j.bazalgette@grubb.org.uk

The SABRE Trust

The Sabre Charitable Trust is a small charity working on a big issue: Education. Through our Whole School Improvement Programme we work with the local education authorities to make school a better place for Ghanaian children and encourage them to stay in education for longer. We also work to link schools in Ghana with schools in the UK through the Partner Ghana programme. These partnerships bring a new dimension to lessons and extra-curricular activities as both sets of students learn about each other's cultures and lives, sharing experiences and advancing their education. We believe strongly that, In order to prepare young people to become responsible, global citizens, it is vital to give students a chance to interact and learn together with their peers from all over the world. These experiences encourage tolerance, openness and a spirit of cooperation for a better world. The Partner Ghana programme is fully supported and involves teacher exchange visits, student expeditions, resources, training and advice to support both schools to build an equitable, sustainable relationship. We currently work with 28 schools in the UK and Ghana, a number that continues to rise thanks to our partnership with the Associated Board of School and College Leaders.

We are proud to have joined the BUILD community and look forward to forging ties with other members and working to support linking in all its many forms. If you would like more information about Sabre and the Partner Ghana programme, please contact James Love at partner@partnerghana.org.

Bits and Bobs

Jubilee Time Capsulewww.jubileetimecapsule.org In honour of Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee, we at the RCS are building the world’s

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Jubilee Time Capsulewww.jubileetimecapsule.org In honour of Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee, we at the RCS are building the world’s

FAIRTRADE Update

The development of Fair Trade Towns in the South has promoted North- South Linking and greater cooperation between Fair Trade Towns in the North and producers in potential Fair Trade Towns in the South.

This became a major focal point at the 5th international Fair Trade Towns conference in Malmo, Sweden in November.

I am delighted to say that Garstang’s link community of New Koforidua in Ghana proudly made a self declaration to become the first Fair Trade Town in Africa as a consequence of ten years of working to promote fair trade using our link.

Walter from New Koforidua and I gave presentations during the conference in Malmo and a joint presentation in a workshop on how we can promote fair trade through North -South links.

All reports and presentations from the conference are available at: http://www.fairtrade.se/download/fairtradecity2011/FairtradeCityDocuments.zip

and video can be viewed at: http://bambuser.com/channel/Fairtrade.se Bruce Crowther

Fair Trade towns

BUKDIP Bristol meeting facilitated by BUILD and BSWN

BSWN have uploaded the video from the BUKDIP Bristol meeting onto their blog...here is the link and feel free to circulate http://bswnsouthwest.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/diaspora-links/

“An Introduction to Effective Lobbying & Campaigning”The Cordoba Foundation 2011

This is an excellent publication, the second in a series of training manuals, aimed primarily at Muslim groups in the UK, but entirely relevant to any organisation looking to increase its effectiveness in selling its message to a range of people at different levels in society, It is clear, attractive and comprehensive and can be purchased from the Cordoba Foundation. (publications@thecordobafoundation.com; www.thecordobafoundation.com; 02089913372)

The Foundation also runs courses in the field of marketing and PR for any small organisation interested and the first of their training manuals, “Working with the Media: A Guide for Local Muslim Groups” is another very interesting angle on the training

Jubilee Beacons across the Commonwealth

Bruno Peek , the Queen’s Pageant Master brunopeek@mac.com is planning the lighting of 2012 beacons across the Commonwealth on 4 June 2012 in celebration of Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. BUILD, through its membership and many Commonwealth links, has been asked to collaborate to achieve this total.

http://www.diamondjubileebeacons.co.uk/Diamond_Jubilee_Beacons/HOME.html gives all the details and “Guide to Taking Part” and how to register.It is a great opportunity to bring communities together across the Commonwealth and “light up the world” in celebration!

DIRECTOR Andrew Deuchar Andrew@build-online.org.uk

ADMINISTRATOR Lynne Mawby Admin@build-online.org.uk

ACCOUNTS MANAGER Brian Mildenhall Accounts@build-online.org.uk

www.build-online.org.uk

Contact Details

“An Introduction to Effective Lobbying & Campaigning”The Cordoba Foundation 2011

This is an excellent publication, the second in a series of training manuals, aimed primarily at Muslim groups in the UK, but entirely relevant to any organisation looking to increase its effectiveness in selling its message to a range of people at different levels in society, It is clear, attractive and comprehensive and can be purchased from the Cordoba Foundation. (publications@thecordobafoundation.com; www.thecordobafoundation.com; 02089913372)

The Foundation also runs courses in the field of marketing and PR for any small organisation interested and the first of their training manuals, “Working with the Media: A Guide for Local Muslim Groups” is another very interesting angle on the training