Project Report
| Dec 11, 2017
The INEB Institute Prepares for its School of English for Engaged Social Service (SENS) 2018 Program
![The INEB Institute's Desk at the Taiwan Conference]()
The INEB Institute's Desk at the Taiwan Conference
Dear Kind Supporters of the INEB Institute,
First of all, we would like to wish you a great holiday season ahead! May you have a joyful Christmas, Hanukkah, or other family celebration, and may you all move into the New Year with great spirit and enthusiasm!
On behalf of the INEB Institute team, I am very happy to report to all our supporters, who have very kindly donated to our cause of providing funding support to cover full scholarships for two students for our 2018 SENS Program, that we are moving steadily ahead towards the launch of our program in January 2018, as per schedule.
Within the last few months, our team has been working very hard on various pre-program activities and tasks to ensure that everything is in place and shape before our SENS program commences. To give you all a brief overview of our preparatory phase, the following are some of the activities that we have been engaging in -
Recruiting Prospective Students
The INEB Institute's SENS program can take a maximum student intake of 18 students. Each year, we strive to locate and recruit young students who have demonstrated a commitment to working for the broader welfare, whether it be of their own communities or our planet as a whole. We look for students for whom improved English, leadership, and life skills will become powerful tools for constructive change. We look for students whose empowering experiences in our program will be shared with others in creative ways, and in ways that meet the students' own personal and professional goals. We are especially pleased this year with the tremendous diversity of the students we have recruited. The following are some of the recruitment activities that we have completed -
- In September/October this year, our Academic Director, Ted, and Assistant Director Lucy, interviewed and recruited 7 prospective students and trainees for our SENS program. They include young adults working on sustainability issues in Indonesia, Myanmar, and Laos, trainees from Thailand and Myanmar who would like to replicate or build on our program model, and a young leader of the Karbi tribe in Assam.
- We have been provided three scholarships for members of minority ethnic groups in Asia, and Ted and Lucy are currently carrying out interviews to select from a very highly qualified group of applicants.
- In September, we received a full student scholarship from a Thai donor, who offered the scholarship to a Thai monk. Our team has been scanning and communicating with our network of organizational contacts to recruit a Thai monk for our program.
- We have also received funding support from one of our member organization's in Myanmar, who would like to send two of their social workers to our program. Our team has reached out to our member organization to discuss and organize interviews and selection processes in order to recruit the final 2 candidates.
Fundraising
Not all the students that we recruit can afford our program. Some students can only cover a portion of the fees, and therefore require partial support from us, while some students require full support from us as they don't have the means to cover any part of our program fees. Fundraising for our prospective students takes up a major part of our pre-program activities. Our Global Giving campaign/project is one of our fundraising initiatives that we have rolled out to make it possible for two of our prospective students (a Buddhist woman from Myanmar, and an Indonesiam Muslim woman from Indonesia) to attend our program. We are constanly on the lookout to fundraise through various other channels and means. The following are some of the activities that we have conducted in the last few months to fundraise for our other prospective students -
- In November, our team developed a flyer, which shared brief details about each prospective student candidate that required funding support. The flyer will be distributed at future organizational events in order to raise awareness about our program and potentially raise funds for our students.
- Our team attended our primary organization, INEB's, 18th Biennial Conference in Taiwan, which was held from 21st - 29th November 2017. Our Academic Director, Ted, presented about our upcoming SENS program to INEB's Executive & Advisory Committee, as well as to INEB's network members and other conference participants. A total of 170-180 people from 20 countries attended this conference.
- Our team set up a table at the INEB conference, where we placed our program brochures and fundraising flyers for distribution to conference participants, as well as a laptop that displayed our Global Giving project page. Our team members at the desk, Arjun and Lucy, engaged in many interesting conversations with participants, who expressed great appreciation and support for our program. We also received some donations.
- In the last few months, we have been actively on the lookout for other sources of fundings, the details of which we have been continually inputting into a database of contacts. These sources range from Embassies, NGOs, and Foundations. Our current plan of action is to contact the major country embassies here in Bangkok, and request their support in providing funding for a student scholarship. Our fundraising team is working on developing a donor package that will be shared with embassy representatives.
- Along with our approach to gain access to funds from outside sources, we have also been trying to get in touch with some of our potential private donors, requesting them for funding support.
Program Development and Outreach
- Ted conducted a 3 hour workshop on the SENS 2018 program at the INEB Conference in Taiwan. There were a total of 23 participants at this workshop. A majority of participants showed great interest in participating in our program. Some participants conveyed that they were interested in working alongside with Ted to develop a similar program that could be implemented for the youth in their country. The workshop was a success, and revealed great popularity for our SENS program in Thailand and in other Southeast Asian countries.
- Ted attended another conference that was held in Taiwan on the 29th of November, and presented about the SENS program. This was another opportunity to promote our program, network with and make important contacts, as well as possible collaborators for our program.
- A 2 day workshop about Civil Society in Southeast and East Asia was organized at the Bangkok offices of INEB on 5th-6th December. This was another occasion where we got a chance to share about our SENS program with other organizations like us who were working in the area of transformative learning and education.
Curriculum Development for the 2018 SENS Program
- Despite having a fully developed curriculum for our 2018 SENS program, we are always on the search for new materials and resources that we could use to further enhance the learning experience for our students. We have been engaging in curriculum development activities for the last few months.
- We are also in the process of systemazing the curriculum to illustrate changes and document more comprehensive evidence of what has been done in the previous 2 cycles of our SENS program.
That is a snapshot of our preparatory phase for our 2018 SENS program. We are very excited for the 3rd cycle of our program! Despite the many challenges ahead, especially on the fundraising side, our team is moving ahead with a joyful spirit, ready to embark on another educational journey!
On behalf of the INEB Institute team, I express my heartfelt gratitude to all our supporters for your very compassionate contributions towards our cause. It is truly amazing to see how your support is making it possible for young students to attend our program. Once again, I encourage you to share our Global Giving project page with your friends, family and other contacts. We still have about 4 weeks before our program commences, and donations in any amount will add on towards providing much needed funding support for our young and bright prospective students.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy New Year in advance! May the coming year be one which is full of love and light!
![Ted with participants of INEB Institute workshop]()
Ted with participants of INEB Institute workshop
![INEB Institute Workshop at INEB Taiwan Conference]()
INEB Institute Workshop at INEB Taiwan Conference
![Group Activity during the INEB Institute Workshop]()
Group Activity during the INEB Institute Workshop
![18th Biennial INEB Conference in Taiwan]()
18th Biennial INEB Conference in Taiwan
Links: