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Editorial A new year brings with it new ventures and new challenges and in this issue of INDEX we take a look at the increasingly popular activity of North-South Linking. Barbara Wilson, from the Development Education Unit of Irish Aid begins by introducing their proposals for a national scheme on linking and immersions within the context of the White Paper. She makes important clarifications about the distinctive nature of each of these initiatives. Cathal O Keefe from Link Community Development shares their experience with linking projects and urges us to take measures to preserve the quality of the learning experience. For this he makes useful recommendations for those planning to participate in these kinds of schemes to ensure the success of future programmes. We also hear from the perspective of a teacher from Brazil who tells us about some of the difficulties she experienced which should inform our own approaches to linking or immersion initiatives. 2007 marks the European year of equal opportunities for all. What does this European year mean for those involved in Development Education, how can we all incorporate and bring to life this important message? As a start, the Equality Authority has launched their plans for events for the year. Check out their website www.equality.ie to consider some ideas. And while we’re talking about important messages, another central issue appeared on the radar screen recently…not too many readers can have escaped the recent media coverage of accusations of racism surrounding the "Big Brother" reality TV show. While we may all bemoan the popularity of the show we could use Intercultural and Anti Racism week which takes place this year from March 18th-25th and includes March 21 - United Nations Day against Racism to educate and raise awareness. As you know we have a tradition of profiling interesting organisations in Index and in this edition we learn about the work of EIL, the oldest educational exchange organisation in the world. For all you’re regular links and news go to pgs 6,7, & 10 and if you have ever thought about using blockbusters or cartoons as a Development Education resource pg 11 will be of interest! As always, Index magazine is a communications tool for the Development Education sector. This is your voice so we urge you to use it as an instrument for discussion and analysis. We would love to hear your feedback on the articles we feature and we always welcome constructive comments. Why not avail of our calendar section “Index Links” for upcoming courses and events, and share your own projects, advertise your events, workshops, resources and tell us about your challenges. We strive to keep this medium for exchange current and relevant so your input is very much appreciated. Please feel free to email us any suggestions and/or contributions for future issues to index@comhlamh.org
Until the next time…
They may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel
Irish Aid developing national scheme for school linking .........................................Page 3 School linking, some inconvenient truths ...........................Page 4 North South links, pitfalls and potential ....................................Page 5 Index Links ..............................................Pages 6,7 EU Corner .....................................................Page 8 Profile EIL Ireland ........................................Page 9 News, news, news .....................................Page 10 Reviews & Resources ................................Page 11
INDEX www.comhlamh.org/index INDEX is a Comhlámh publication for the Development Education sector funded by Comhlámh, Trócaire, Concern and Irish Aid. The views expressed in individual articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organisations to which they are affiliated, the editorial committee or Comhlámh. The Editorial Committee is: Stephen McCloskey (CGE- Belfast), Maria Barry (Trócaire), Matthias Fiedler (DICE project), Michael Doorly (Concern), Johnny Sheehan (NYCI), Astrid Pérez Piñán (Comhlámh) and Deirdre Kettlewell (Comhlámh). We welcome your comments about this edition and your ideas about future issues of INDEX at: Index- Comhlámh, 10 Upper Camden St, Dublin 2 Tel: 01 478 3490 or index@comhlamh.org
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