I Hate When Teachers Are Right

As an American, I have been told from a very early age that education is the key to success as an individual.  I was told millions of times by teachers that reading is fundamental, education is power, the key to your success is through education, blah blah blah.  I, as a skeptic, didn’t really believe this.  Hard work, I said, was the key to success.  As I got older I found that the answer to being a successful adult is…well, it’s both.

One funny thing I have learned on this planet for my short time:  Entire nations usually have the characteristics of their people.  If you think about this fact, you’ll see that every nation takes on the personality of the people that reside within the borders.  Now, this is likely an overblown and broad generalization, of course.  But, it makes sense…just think about it.

So, as I was thinking about literacy the other day, I was curious about how well people read around the world.  Why was I pondering this, you ask?  I do not know.  Curiosity, I suppose.  Boredom, most likely. But, I digress.  When I have a question that keeps nagging at the back of my brain, I do one thing…I consult the Internet.  I decided that I wanted to see for myself if there was a connection of how well we read to the relative success of our nation.  While looking at the statistics, from various sources, it appears that there is a severe correlation between overall literacy rates for citizens and the economic status of a country. Overall, if the people of a particular nation read fairly well then that nation will have a better chance to achieve world prominence…or at least relevance.

For example, there are a number of nations with literacy rates of less than thirty percent.  Keep in mind, literacy rates are often defined as a person aged 15 or older that can read or write.  Just telling you that for clarity.  Anyway, Niger (29%), South Sudan (27%), Afghanistan (28%), and Burkina Faso (21%) are all nations that fall into the category of, what I like to call, life-threatening literacy poverty.  As we know, or can easily find out, each of these nations has little political power, resources have been dwindled to nearly nothing, and each has very little wealth, either personal or political. These countries are poor.  Well, these countries are beyond poor.  They passed poor ten bus stops ago.  These nations are into territory of poverty that your average American cannot fathom.

Basically folks, if your people can’t read then your nation will suffer economically and politically.

So, what can we do?  Get people to read!  Yeah I know, it’s easier said than done in most cases.  Also, there are often cultural norms that prevent a lone proselytizer of literacy (like myself) from walking into Riyadh and saying “I will teach anyone to read if you want to learn”.  The powers that be may not want that to happen.  In many nations, even if higher literacy rates are a good thing, overall, a higher percentage of citizens who read well may prove problematic to incumbent power bases.  So, in many instances getting the people of the world to read can be an uphill battle.

But, this is a battle worth fighting.

I always hated when my teachers were right.  Reading is fundamental.  Education is power.  And, dang it, the key to success IS through education. 

*For an excellent example of what can be done to change world literacy rates, check out the work that the organization, Room To Read is doing in some of the poorest nations around the world.  Just amazing work, these people do.   

Author: Josh Mincey (Pangea Proxima International Consultant- Distance Learning Specialist)

Rethinking Development: Empowerment of the Community

The other day, I was having a conversation with someone about the goals of Pangea Proxima and, more generally, about development work.  This person suggested to me that I consider introducing clinical trials to impoverished rural areas of the countries that I may work in.  The rationale was that clinical trials were a method of supplying people with medical assessments and medications that they would not have access to otherwise.  As well-intentioned as this perspective may be, I couldn’t help but be surprised that the larger implications regarding ethical practices and sustainability weren’t immediately understood as well. 

Children of Butajira, Ethiopia

I joined Pangea Proxima as a consultant because I believe in work that is thoughtful in its development as well as respectful of human dignity regardless of location or socioeconomic status of the people benefiting from the project.  The goal is always to develop projects that have staying power, that community members have ownership over, that elicit pride.  A clinical trial, while potentially providing healthcare to the selected participants, is time-limited and for a select few.  Sustainable projects should ideally have a long-lasting impact and be available to all.  In addition, I don’t believe that using a person’s inability to access healthcare as an avenue to test medical practices or medications is morally acceptable.  So this leads me to my question of... why?  Why would someone who I believe to be generally ethical suggest a project idea that I believe is a great departure from the direction that development work should be heading?

Mural in Hawassa, Ethiopia

I think the answer to this question lies in the distance that people can place between those living in wealthy countries as opposed to people living in low-income, and therefore low-resource, countries.  There is a tendency to try to fix the problem of poverty by throwing solutions at it, in the form of money or donations, when these may not ultimately be a solution at all.  Feeding a person for a day may mean that their stomach is full today, but empty again tomorrow; the underlying issue that caused the hunger remains.  I believe that educating and empowering an individual or a community is 100 times more effective in promoting development than donating food or clothing is.  Increasing skills in sustainable farming or building practices not only provides lasting food and shelter, it maintains the dignity of the project participants. 

There is a movement in the international development world that is shifting away from the previous paradigm of wealthy countries donating money and an agenda for poor countries to implement.  The shift is toward the empowerment of people in low-income countries to find and implement solutions for their own countries because they are, quite obviously, the people who know their land best.  I believe that the most successful and ethical projects that require outside funding or support are the ones that truly harness and empower the voices of the target population.  Pangea Proxima is attempting to do just this by building local capacity, employing local people in projects, getting ideas from local people and consulting with the community every step of the way.  I believe that this is the direction that development work needs to head in in order to maintain integrity, and for this reason I am very proud to join the Pangea Proxima team.

Author: Marina Marcus (Pangea Proxima International Consultant- Global Health Specialist)

The Benevolent Octopus: Using Distance Learning To Reach All Students

For the first hundred thousand years of human existence, the schooling of children was completed in ways that were practical to the function of the society.  Meaning, kids learned from elders who learned from their elders and so on.  The skills acquired were entirely practical: how to sow and harvest a crop, which seasons were best for planting, and how to accurately track an animal, kill it, then skin the sucker.  Learning was for real-life events and situations and would often be done with individual instruction between expert and student.

Of course, modern society has seen a shift in both subject matter taught to children (relevant information, just not as practical) and the delivery method of teaching.  Where learning used to be individualized, modern teachers are tasked with the education of, very often, hundreds of young minds throughout a day of schooling.  The one-to-one instruction of ancient times is a pipe dream in the minds of today’s teachers.  Also, technology has been running through education like wildfire, causing policymakers to take notice and evaluate how the use of technology could help advance the future of education. These technological methods are the future of our world’s education, as evidenced by the use of internet-based class formats by a majority of American universities and many others, worldwide. 

I think we need to ask ourselves: Why should we utilize Internet based education in our schools, anyway?  That answer should be fairly obvious.  To gain access to experts in certain fields (subject matter experts, or SME’s) one may have to expand their method of learning and look outside of their classroom at their school.  This is normally due to the distance from the expert to the student.  Not everyone is lucky enough to have a teacher who is proficient in the language of Swahili, for example.  But, with internet-based teaching modalities that teacher of Swahili can spread their knowledge to learners over the entire globe.  No longer are students limited to the SME’s that are available locally.  Experts around the world can be utilized to improve the lives of people thousands of miles from their home. 

Children of Atlanta, Georgia, USA

So, modern education has evolved into what I like to call a “benevolent octopus”.  Education in this century and beyond will involve instructors of various nationalities and cultures spreading what they know to students worldwide.  It is conceivable that a student could, through the magic of the Internet and computer technology, have a Calculus instructor based in Pakistan, and English instructor located in Canada, a Biology instructor located in Honduras, and an Art instructor based in New York City.  Students of the world today could have the best possible instructors in every field right at their fingertips and on the screens of their televisions, computers, and smart phones.  The goal of education is to better the lives of the learner and to impart knowledge from the best possible sources.  The benevolent octopus could do deliver the overall goal of education.

The benevolent octopus of online collaboration and learning is one that would allow students to reach out with many different “arms” to the information that they need to improve their lives.  There would still be a place for on-site teachers, of course.  The instructors on-site, or physically with their classes, would be critical in the functioning of schooling through the virtual world.  The on-site teachers would act as tutors, problem solvers, assistants, as well as teaching a few classes of their own, face-to-face.  However, an added benefit would be that on-site teachers would no longer have to be “generalists”.  They too, could be experts in their field. 

Of course, there is a question of the costs of outfitting schools, communities, and individual homes with the equipment needed to take part in such cutting edge educational experiences.  Yes, there is an up-front cost.  There’s just no way around that fact.  But, once the cost-prohibitive factors of equipment and infrastructure are in place, the cost per child of internet-based education is very reasonable.  In a later blog post, I will tackle the issue of cost, so stay-tuned.

Internet based education can benefit our children in ways unknown in past generation.  The access that today’s students have to teachers in distance lands, peers with cultures very unlike their own, and resources from around the world is astounding.  We just need to figure out a way to get each child their own benevolent octopus so they can reach out to the world and get the education that they need.

That, for us, is the challenge.

Author: Josh Mincey (Pangea Proxima International Consultant- Distance Learning Specialist)

Costa Rica: Making strides with GIS (Geographic Information Systems)

   In February 2012, Pangea Proxima met with Alan Ramirez, the manager of the GIS department of INEC, at his office to discuss Costa Rica’s situation with GIS. INEC (Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Censos) is the national institute which conducts the country’s census every ten years.

   Alan talked about the nation’s latest census report (2011) which was just completed and how the data is currently being examined. Also INEC, under Alan’s guidance, has just recently completed the process of digitizing all of the cities, towns and streets throughout Costa Rica. This development will not be noticed by most Ticos (Costa Ricans) initially, but it sets the stage for advancement of the nation’s economy, business, health, education and environmental conservation which will be far-reaching and will eventually affect every citizen in some form. Those people up to meet the challenge and ready to take advantage of the opportunity presented will be able to examine spatial patterns occurring among the population and achieve success by planning accordingly. Concerning growing the economy, business people will be able to examine the demographics across regions and target their audience effectively. They will know where to best start a new business or distribute their products after examining variables such as incomes and densities of populations. The government will have the ability to improve access to health and education  by building new facilities after examining spatial patterns of population demographics, densities, education levels, and health topics. The government and NGOS may also start working on curbing important negative social issues such as poverty by targeting specific areas down to the block level and creating “hot spots”, which pinpoint the areas facing the highest social risks. The government and NGOs will also be able to help conserve the nation’s pristine environment and large biodiversity by examining historical records with a new spatial perspective. This new factor could produce such positive effects as helping to preserve some of the world’s endangered species.

A GIS thematic map of Costa Rica using the "hot spots" technique

Older hand drawn maps

  In the past, all of the official Costa Rican census maps were hand-drawn, which were very time-consuming and were not effective when it came to examining census data because the collected information could not be imported automatically. Speaking from an economical stand-point, in the short term, the cheaper option to produce census maps may be the traditional manual approach, especially in countries that have low costs of labor. However, from society’s point of view, it will be efficient and economically effective to initially invest more on the front-end in a digital method because the long-term benefits are far greater when it comes to planning for the future. In the case of the GIS, the largest investment must be made at the beginning. This means that expenditures in the early stages of a project, are incurred while the tangible benefits perhaps only materialize well into the project cycle. An initial large investment on the front end will translate to lower costs of maintenance, updating and sustainable benefits in the long-term. Long-term benefits are much higher because the process creates a multi-purpose digital database. 

   The proposal for modernization of the census mapping unit breaks with the traditional schemes and aligns with the most innovative trends in the production of geostatistical data. This methodology is also in full convergence with the main tenets of the United Nations in cartography for census reports. The tenets reflect the recommendations of the expert group meetings and includes the conclusions of the regional workshops on GIS and census mapping. The meetings of the experts stressed the need for countries to consider the use of census geographic programs as a continuous process and not merely as a sequence of operations of mapping and dissemination. It was emphasized that the manual should demonstrate that the use and application of contemporary geospatial technologies is beneficial in all stages of population and housing censuses. The manual also prevents ways in which various technologies improve the efficiency in the preparation stages, census, census processing and dissemination of its results.

Here are some other important recent developments in Costa Rica concerning their GIS census mapping efforts:

The digitization process

• Input of orthophotos (aerial photograph geometrically corrected such that the scale is uniform) in 85% of the country  

• 2009: All modern processes of digital mapping became operational
• Development of mapping facilities and the purchase of necessary equipment and technology



Costa Rican geographers at work digitizing the nation's cities, towns and roadways

• Recruitment and training of 100 people to digitally map the entire nation 

• The MGU (Minimum Geostatistical Unit) was updated. The MGU covers a geographical area, of variable size. Urban Area = one block; Rural Area= town, village, hamlet.
• Mapping of the following:

o   Rivers: Represents the national water network updated to 2010

o   Localities: Settlements, neighborhoods, villages, Center, city, indigenous community, condominium, precarious, village, urbanization and residential.

o   References: They represent the locations of places of interest, they are shops, schools, churches, squares, parks, which are useful for the census.

o   Limits: Represents the limit geostatistical or the administrative political boundary.

o   Public works and roads: streets, sidewalks, threshing-boards, malls, railway lines, power transmission lines, bridges, gates, pedestrian crossings, etc.

Additional GIS Census Projects in Costa Rica happening in the near future will include:

• Improvement of cartographic layers
• Permanent cartographic update in the field
• Publish the Catalog of Territorial Integration
• Design of printed maps and in .pdf format
• Creation of thematic maps with variables and indicators of the 2011 Census
• Site for interactive queries via the web
• Mapping for new sampling frames on the basis of the mapping of the 2011 Census

   Early this coming summer (2012), Pangea Proxima will be working with the Minister of Education in Costa Rica to help place accurate location markers on the 29% of their 5,000 schools which are located in extremely rural areas (mountains, forests and jungles).

Costa Rican planners examining maps

Strides in mapping technology will help the nation use the science behind studying spatial patterns in helping to further the cause of creating greater access to health and education. This work in turn will lead to a healthier and higher quality of life decreasing extreme poverty.

To read more about the Costa Rica 2011 Census click on the following link:

http://www.inec.go.cr/Web/Home/pagPrincipal.aspx

Costa Rican census workers collecting data

Hand-held GPS device used to gather data for digital maps