[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN2VTyBwKXI&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
One of my first assignments at EDC was to interview all the Chiefs of Party (cool name for a position right?!). Simon Richmond, the COP of a project in Malawi, tells a story about a boy who didn’t want to miss school. Thanks to IRI, he didn’t have to.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9NQHb37MIw&hl=en_US&fs=1&]
I put together this video for a presentation with the World Bank on Early Childhood Development, demonstrating how we (Education Development Center) use Interactive Radio Instruction to reach marginalized and disadvantaged children. Check out my post “Letter to Chapel Hill News & Observer” for more about how we do so. I think Information Communication Technologies is something I might try to pursue as a career. It requires you to be creative, using new/multi-media to help people who otherwise could not be reached. It also keeps me close to music, and puts me in a position where I feel like I have something of value to bring to the table. I’m just now learning how to put video stuff together, and plan on tackling graphic design next.
Later down the line, I want to start my own NPO (non profit organization) or NGO (non government organiztion) that centers around the idea of using media as a platform to educate. A place where musicians, actors, athletes, and anyone who has a skill and the desire to give back, but does not know how to do so, can participate. A creative consultant type of company that utilizes a persons talent to make a difference, without just asking people to throw money into a pot. I think the impact these people can have on an international scale has not fully been tapped into. Just an idea…
My name is Michael Myers, and I am the emcee in the band Addictive Nature. From 9-5, however, I work for the International Development Division of the Education Development Center in Washington D.C.
Here at EDC we make learning more accessible, relevant, and exciting. Our International Development Division collaborates with local partners in more than 35 countries across five continents. We work at the preschool, primary, and secondary levels, and with youth, adults, and out-of-school learners. Whether helping youth build job skills in Haiti, teaching HIV/AIDS orphans in Zambia, or helping Yemeni teachers use technology to improve their skills, EDC is committed to building human capacity and ensuring our partners can sustain their own programs.
I work primarily with the Somalia project. One of the most effective and creative methods we use here at EDC, and what we are considered pioneers of, is Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) Programing. We generate radio programs which include skits, lessons, and songs to promote reading, math, and life skills. We then distribute radios across the country to different schools and communities, and broadcast our programs. This allows us to reach children who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to go to school, and helps train teachers to become more engaging and creative with their lesson plans. I run the studio in Georgetown where some of these radio programs are created. I also edit the Somali children’s books, which help children learn english by including both somali and english text in the stories. We accept donations in the form of $125 (which allows an entire school to access our IRI programs) and $12.50 (which sends two of our books to a school in Somalia). These books are supported by K’naan, who has a link to our donation site on his main webpage. You can donate here: http://idd.edc.org/causes/you-can-help-somali-children-learn
My career is education; my passion is music. I have been blessed enough to get the opportunity to combine the two, and do it on a scale that reaches the entire world. I look forward to performing with Sean Kingston on Aprill 11th and further supporting education in Africa.
