The UNICEF Project

Ms. Barbra Levine, 5th Grade Humanities teacher

The systems of education today do not teach about the spiritual reality of life.  There is no investigation into spiritual reality, the interconnectedness of all things, or the implications of our actions related to all things.  As a result, society at-large does not problem-solve according to spiritual or moral principles. 

Any fair-minded individual would agree that every problem in the world—from widespread corruption to the serious worldwide financial crisis to the depletion of the planet’s resources to the growing extremes of the rich and poor—are one-and-all, in reality, spiritual in nature.  Indeed, there may be classes offered here and there throughout our high school or university schooling that addresses the spiritual or moral significance of life and our role and responsibility in it.  Yet, by and large, for the vast majority of humanity mainstream education continues to train and shape the human being from age 5 onward within a purely materialistic system of philosophy. 

It is important to question the consequences of such a system and the far-reaching effects it has on the individual, community, nation, and today’s interdependent world.  The set of values of secular or mainstream education, which dominates world society today, has created spectacular material successes; the spiritual bankruptcy of the modern world, however, also comes from the same mainstream education.  We all, wittingly or unwittingly, are responsible. 

To me, the UNICEF Project addresses these and other concerns and raises important questions about what should be “basic education” for all.

Education for Transformation

The UNICEF Project is about raising awareness about the true life condition for the hundreds of millions of people in the world who live on less than 60NT a day (moral education) and about the raising of funds for a reputable humanitarian organization that is ranked number one in providing support and assistance to children and youth in emergency situations (service to humanity/charity).  But the UNICEF Project at IBSH is much more than a month-long project-learning on poverty. 

It is the seed of an education necessary for our students at IBSH—the kernel of education for transformation and based upon spiritual and moral principles.  To be sure, moral education through service-learning is the educational paradigm called for by the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) and UN for education for the 21st century (www.unesco.org). 

The UNICEF Project, an example of service-learning at the international level, is the kind of education that I hope will grow at IBSH to replace of the current outdated system of education that all of us, in one way or another, suffer through today.  It is education that has at its core the aim of individualistic pursuit of material gain at the expense of others.  Every year the seed of moral education—education for transformation—is watered by UNICEF and other service-learning opportunities. 

A Growing Seed

In 2005, the first year of the UNICEF Project, 5th graders and their parents learned for the first time, for the most part, about UNICEF and its aims.  As a first-time event at our school, we worked together to bring a Halloween Carnival to Grades 1-6, and together we raised an amazing 91,587NT for UNICEF.  The high spirit of service positively affected the school community at-large, and several administrators, teachers, children and youth expressed interest to me in holding the project again the following year. 

And so, in 2006, with a little experience under our belts, we continued the UNICEF Project, which, in that year, somehow exploded into an unprecedented, historical event.  From a one-classroom project to a 30-classroom project involving six local schools, the project led to success in several significant ways:  The Project brought together, in unity, the Bilingual Department and the Experimental Departments in a new, cooperative way; the project was featured in three national newspapers and two magazine articles; the culminating fundraising event brought more than 1000 attendees to the Halloween Carnival; efforts from the project raised an unbelievable 857,659NT for UNICEF; and, the UNICEF 2006 Project won the Excellence Award for Education for Human Rights, the first prize in a public education contest hosted by the Ministry of Education.  It truly was an amazing confirmation of the importance of our efforts.

Last year, once again, teachers, administrators, parents, and students pursued service-learning through the UNICEF 2007 Project.  Although involvement dropped back to one single classroom, the 5th Graders, the meaning and purpose of the project stayed the same, and by the end of the Halloween Carnival a total of 83,971NT was raised for UNICEF.

Once again, there was tremendous success in this year’s UNICEF 2008 Project at IBSH.  This year, there were several IBSH groups and individuals who were involved with this year’s project.  There were two ways to be involved in the—one way was through learning in the classroom (moral education), and the other was through fundraising activities (service/charity).  About five teachers integrated UNICEF-related concepts into their curriculum, thereby providing, to varying degrees, moral education for their students.  Additionally, fourteen teachers involved their students in some way to fundraise for UNICEF.  This year, also, two high school clubs were involved with the project, Key Club and VISTAS.  We were pleased that so many people decided to join hand-in-hand to participate in this year’s project.  Our financial goal this year was 80,000NT for UNICEF, which we surpassed with amazing flying colors.  A grand total of 158,494NT was raised in this year’s project.  All the partners in the project deserve the honor—the Administration, who supported the project; the teachers who brought education about UNICEF into the classroom; and, the 5th Grade parents, who were the organizers of the entire fundraising event.

The Tree of Unity

What was and is most exciting for me, as a teacher of nine years at IBSH and as one small individual in this world, is being a part of a school where opportunity exists to help shape its vision and direction—and to do this with all of the partners of a school community.   It has been an honor to work with Administrators, teachers, parents, and students who all hold the same value as I do of what is truly important in life, who feel as deeply as I do about the special moral responsibility we have as people who enjoy affluence in the world, and who ask the same kinds of questions I do about the kind of education that is required for today. 

It is my hope that the UNICEF Project will continue watering the seed of moral awareness that has been planted, until, with time, a strong tree of community cooperation will extend its branches into a future of social activism on behalf of the world’s poor.

A Little Bit of Key Love for the Kids

12A Stacy Lin

Do you know what it’s like to be hungry? When you’re sitting in math class and your stomach is rumbling and that snack at hi-life sounds so appealing? Imagine that hunger, and then think about feeling like that every hour of your day, every day of your week and every week of your year. Can you believe that children around the world are suffering like that? With these words, Eileen Liang captured the attention of every single student sitting in the gym.

Every single one of us can make a difference, however small. Ms. Levine, Theresa Lou, and the Key Cub officers James Wu, Eileen Liang, Sunny Tsai, and Pertz Liao realized that the best thing they could do to help UNICEF was to help spread awareness. and so, one fateful afternoon in October, all the 7-12th grade student rallied in the gym, not to learn how to recycle, or to hear a performance, but to learn about all the children in the world out there, living in conditions we cannot even begin to imagine. As Sunny Tsai puts it, that day, we all left the gym much more aware and very much moved.

The caring members of Key club had a UNICEF fundraiser the following week, on the 28th. The almond tofu jelly, ai-yu, and ice cream floats brought a total of $5,500 for the children. This may not seem like much, but to the children, it could mean more food, improved living conditions—a better life.

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