International Contacts with
UNICEF/Africa
I listened
to a podcast through the organization UNICEF which was my international contact.
This particular segment featured and highlighted a program that is spearheaded and
supported by NBA star of the Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol. In 2010, Gasol launched Pau’s Project, an
initiative that supports Schools in Africa. The project targets areas hardest
hit by poverty and dire need. Mr. Gasol
mentions on the podcast that many children face difficulties even attending
school due to poor health, nutrition inequities, gender discrimination, and
distance. Sometimes even their very lives are threatened due to war and civil
unrest in some areas.
Mr. Gasol
mentions on the podcast the importance of early childhood education saying, “We
know from the age of 0 to 5 is the most critical time for a child to develop.
If you don’t provide children with the opportunity, it can negatively affect
them for the rest of their lives.”
NBA star and Ambassador for UNICEF plays with children in Ethiopia. UNICEF supports education and protection programs for children. |
Gasol raises awareness on the
disadvantaged through his recent project ‘Give a Day’, phone app that tells stories promoting
children’s rights narrated by Gasol. Mr. Gasol believes that change will happen
through raising levels of awareness especially in communities that have little
exposure to the need of children on the other side of the hemisphere. “Everyone
should make childhood a priority. As ambassadors, as people who do have the
opportunity to give back, we should make it a constant priority to make sure
that the message and the reality of millions of children are known,” Mr. Gasol
concludes.
This podcast presented a tool where
regular folks can become involved with heightening awareness of the needs of children
in developing countries.
Segment
#57: Pau Gasol on making early childhood a priority
AUDIO listen
Sheila,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this inspiring story. I am happy to see a professional athlete taking such an interest in early childhood education. In the United States we can't even imagine the challenges that children face in trying to go to school. Our expectation is that all children will go to school if they want to go.
With my international contact, I discovered that positions in early childhood are even more competitive than they are in the United States. Jobs are even more scarce than they are here. As a result, professionals in early childhood have at least a bachelor's degree in order to teach.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful philanthropic story.
Shelia, what a great message Gasol is sending out for those children. In Africa they are really struggling with many issues other than education. After recent studies, when I see those advertisements about giving to children around the world I really pay attention now. It is hard to grasp that people are still suffering the way they are with all this technology and improvements in the world.
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