Change and empowerment happen through education. As a mathematics educator, I have committed myself fully to the development of students as critical thinkers, communicators, and problem solvers. I believe strongly in the power of education to affect change. This summer, I will be living and working in Southern Sudan with The Valentino Achak Deng Foundation, which is helping rebuild war-affected southern Sudanese communities by increasing access to education.
One of the worst effects of the civil war in Sudan has been on the children, with most of them never attending primary school. Girls have even fewer opportunities for education with less than one percent of girls completing secondary school. I have been granted the opportunity to teach students and train new mathematics teachers at the first secondary school in the entire region, where after twenty years of war, students now have opportunities to continue their education. With major emphasis at the school being placed on providing girls with access to education, the female students in Marial Bail will be the first of their generation to have the opportunity to graduate from high school.
You can follow the work I will be doing at www.valentinoachakdeng.org. Also, you can pick up the book What is the What?, by Dave Eggers, to read the story of Valentino Achak Deng, who started and runs the foundation I will be working with. I look forward to sharing stories with you all at summers end.
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