Refugees Need An Education Too

Almost all the youth in progressive countries have access to free education. Even young children from third-world nations still have access to quality education although not always for free. However, everything changes once you are a refugee. Aside from not having a home of your own after being displaced because of wars, famine, or other natural or man-made disasters, refugees have an uncertain future where they don’t even know where to get food to eat, more so in having a shot at getting an education.

The life of a refugee isn’t easy. They have to make do with whatever is given to them out of other people’s generosity. Not all the time the government can provide everything they need to survive. It’s why going to school seems impossible when they barely have access to life’s basic necessities. Young refugees don’t normally go to school like typical kids. The places where they find asylum does not always cater to all their needs especially those of younger children who not only want to read and write but learn more about the big wide world.

Abbas and the other young refugees have been accepted in 93 schools across mainland Greece thanks to a transport scheme funded by EU Humanitarian Aid and implemented by the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM). The project started in October and now covers 32 camps.

“Before the launch of the programme, kids did not participate in any kind of formal education,” says IOM project coordinator, Iannis Baveas. “Before that, it was only non-formal education inside the camps. It’s very important because every kid has the right to go to school, and education is not a privilege, it’s a basic human right.”

The kids are taken by bus to selected schools located between two and 18 kilometers away. It takes Abbas about a quarter of an hour to reach Avlona elementary school, which has taken in 20 refugees from Malakasa camp in addition to its 235 pupils.

“Many of those children have never been to school in their home countries, which means they didn’t even know the basics about how to behave inside a classroom,” explains teacher Giannis Stefanidis.

(Via: http://www.euronews.com/2017/06/20/refugees-integration-through-education)

Many refugee families struggle in making their kids understand the value of education because they didn’t even go to school in their home country and given the dire situation they are in. Moreover, there is no assurance as to how long they can stay in that particular place. They all have to persevere to change their fate and not allow their misfortune dictate the direction their lives are taking. With education, they can turn their life around and save the future generation from living a miserable life that they have lived so far.

Now 19 years old and resettled in the U.K., she is not only working hard on her own education but championing the cause of refugee education around the world.

Almellehan was appointed as youngest ever UNICEF goodwill ambassadoron June 19. She is also the first UNICEF ambassador with official refugee status.

“Goodwill ambassadors must exemplify good citizenship and be passionate, courageous, inspiring, caring, principled, credible and capable of acting as influential advocates for children,” said Georgina Thompson of UNICEF. “They must demonstrate leadership in their professions and show enthusiasm to use their professional prestige and networks to promote children’s rights. […] Muzoon fills this criteria perfectly.”

As a goodwill ambassador, Almellehan will advocate at events like the upcoming G20 summit for children affected by conflict or disasters to have safe places to learn, aiming to help influence policy and increase investments into this field.

(Via: https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/community/2017/06/19/a-teenage-syrian-refugee-on-a-mission-to-educate-her-generation)

The government should have education at the top of their list because educated individuals become productive citizens later in life. They can contribute to the betterment of society and help bring about the changes desperately needed by the country regardless if they are refugees. It’s the reason why government funding is crucial to help schools cater to the needs of the youth who want to learn the ways of the world even if they have to spend most of their young life in the four corners of the classroom absorbing everything they need to know to prepare them for adult life.

The article Refugees Need An Education Too was originally published on The New Influencers

source https://www.newinfluencers.com/refugees-need-an-education-too/

How Social Media Reshapes The World

The world is getting smaller and smaller virtually but that does not mean we’d all be able to cover the distance the separates us all. The world has changed a lot but most of these changes were brought about by technological advancements. The popularity of the Internet became even more unstoppable with the emergence of smart gadgets. You no longer need to use a laptop or a computer to be able to access the web like you used to. The world suddenly became accessible through your fingertips and it helped a lot that Internet access was made more available to the public too or more affordable for home use.

Nowadays, social media has become a household name mostly because almost everyone uses it every day, especially the teens and young adults who are most active online. Can you imagine life without Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and many others? These social channels wiped out the word boredom from the dictionary and everyone rejoiced. It is a common sight to see people hooked on their smart gadgets all throughout the day. Social media is the perfect 24/7 plaything for both the young and adults alike that you don’t mind getting addicted to.

I was just as excited as everyone else when my college was finally on Facebook. I opened an account that day. But now, almost 15 years later, it’s too much. A decade or more into this grand social experiment, it’s obvious social media is changing us, and not for the better.

It zaps my productivity and places me into a narrow bubble of people whose actions and feelings have little impact on my daily life. Multiply this by the billions of social media users online, and we have a fundamental restructuring of how people form and grow relationships, with huge ramifications for American political life.

The average person spends nearly two hours a day on social media. That’s five years and four months over a lifetime, and beats the amount of time spent eating and drinking, socializing, and grooming.

And although the internet has democratized information sharing by opening up access, it has also cheapened opinions. It’s taken Americans’ focus from their homes and local communities to national and international issues, which influences their lives much less.

This shift will continue to impact how we govern, how we vote and how we engage civically.

(Via: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/kaitlyn-buss/2017/05/18/media-democracy/101815302/)

Along with the popularity of social network sites are computer jargons used by just about everyone who is using social media on a regular basis. Unfortunately, too much social media has also affected relationships. SNS distanced you from the people around you but bridged the distance from loved ones living abroad. Fake news became a thing as well and has duped many people into believing stories that aren’t entirely true.

If keeping up with the latest social media trends feels like it’s harder than keeping up with the Kardashians, you’re not alone.

The very nature of social media is that it’s fast. Social networks are where people go for quick snippets of everything going on with the people, brands and places about which they care. They’re also where people go when they want an immediate response about something, such as a customer service issue with a business. Furthermore, the social networks themselves have fostered a fast-paced environment, changing how things look and feel, adding new features and updating algorithms at a rapid-fire pace.

5 Trends for Social Media Marketers in 2017

To start, let’s dive into the latest trends shaping how marketers need to approach social media. Only a few months into 2017, and it’s already clear that this will be a big year in the social-sphere, as marketers need to ramp up on different approaches and technologies in order to inject new life into their social media presence to really hit the mark. Here are the top five trends we’ve seen this year to date:

• Live video

• Paid social

• Influencers

• User generated content

• Chatbots

(Via: http://customerthink.com/keeping-up-with-the-latest-social-media-trends/)

Like the technology itself that powers social media itself that is dynamic, social media trends are just as flexible too. Some trends stay for good while others are only as fleeting as the thankful emoticon on Facebook quite recently. While there has been news about it only lasting for a week in celebration of Mother’s day, many were still aghast after not seeing it in their newsfeed anymore.

Unless you’re a pioneer in the field yourself and work alongside brilliant minds like Gates and Zuckerberg, it is hard to tell what the future of social media will be like. We live in the moment and we relish the gift that social media offers in our daily pursuits but we also don’t want to lose our sense of humanity and compromise personal relationships because of our over fixation with our virtual life.

The blog article How Social Media Reshapes The World is available on The New Influencers

source https://www.newinfluencers.com/how-social-media-reshapes-the-world/