By Mona Lenhard | Voulenteer
It’s a sunny, cool Saturday in November. Outside the Azure Learning Centre of The Ideas Partnership (TIP), a large group of crows is enjoying the sunshine and the occasional bath in the water puddles behind the centre’s garden, which has just been cleaned for the winter.
Inside, about 15 first- and second graders are diligently writing the letter A onto coloured sheets of paper and cutting them out – some by themselves, some with the help of one of the volunteers that conduct today’s extracurricular activities. A 5 year old girl is watching attentively, saying she is looking forward to being able to learn once she starts school. Every child has their own school notebook provided by TIP, which they will be using throughout the coming months at the Learning Centre. Along with the couloured paper, pencils, scissors and glue spread out across the tables, these have been bought with the help of donations.
Some of the third- and fourth graders have arrived early today, seemingly eager to start their class, which will be held after the little ones have finished theirs. „I’ve been coming here regularly since I started school in first grade“, says Linda (3rd grade), who originally learned about the Azure Learning Centre from her aunt. She particularly enjoys maths in school, and tells us how she was able to better understand calculating with parentheses with the help of the volunteer teachers. When she grows up, she wants to become a teacher herself, and dreams about going to Germany, where she has family.
Like Linda, her friend Medina (3rd grade) is fond not only of the extracurricular classes, but also of the Science Club and the excursions the Centre organizes, like the recent one to the Prishtina Bear Sanctuary. There, they got to know some of the animals that they had previously discussed in class – apart from 18 rescued bears, the Bear Sanctuary is also home to a lion, which seems to have made a particular impression on the kids: They’re eyes are shining as they tell us about how he approached the fence to be admired by them.
As we speak to the kids, a discussion unfolds among them on how to deal with those children who come to the Centre, but seem less interested in and focused on the learning part. While some say they should be expelled if they don’t pay attention, Afrim, who is in 5th grade, thinks they should be allowed to stay, so that „they can be influenced positively“. Him and his sister Elif (4th grade) have even created a poster with some rules they think should be embraced at the Centre, like not playing on your phone or chatting during class.
Meanwhile, the volunteers have prepared the classroom for the activities they will conduct today with the third- and fourth graders, and Linda, Medina and Elif run off to another learning experience.
By Almedina Ajvazi | Coordinator of Private Donations
By Almedina Ajvazi | Coordinator of Private Donations
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
