ABSENCE DOES NOT MAKE THE HEART GROW FONDER

These can also be applied to self-adhesive plastic and then wrapped around the book as a cover. Alternatively, as many of the papers printed are highly decorative, they can be cut out and applied in pieces like a jigsaw puzzle or applied to brown paper. There are many ways in which this can be utilised to create a truly outstanding cover that is completely unique.

Stamps

If you are using brown paper, you can use stamps to create an effect on the paper. Either buy or make stamps and get a few different coloured inks. This will provide children with some entertainment.

It can even be done as a project during the holidays. Spread the rolls of brown paper on a table and allow children to stamp the rolls using different stamps and inks. These can then be rolled up, ready to use in the new school year. This can also be used as wrapping paper in emergencies!

Drawings

For those with very creative children, who love to draw, allow them to draw directly onto the brown paper cover of the book. However, this is only recommended for those with children that are confident in their ability - a “mistake” would mean that the cover would need to be removed and reapplied.

This may also take a long time, which is less than ideal if the books have to be covered in a specific time frame. A better idea would be to allow them to make drawings on paper that can then be glued to the cover of the book. They still get to express themselves, but it is altogether less stressful when time is of the essence.

Painting

As with drawing, painting on the cover can be very effective but it is more time consuming. Using an acrylic paint should work, but preferably not directly on a softcovered book as it may wrinkle and crack. Painting onto rolls of brown paper, or doing smaller paintings on card that can then be Children can experiment using different paints like acrylic or water colour on paper, or inks dropped onto damp paper, to create a universe of unique images.

Photographs

A photograph, whether of nature, a sunset or the beach, or any other image that may work for the subject of the book, can be used. These can be applied to paper and a frame can be hand drawn or patterns can be made to frame the photo on the book cover. The page does not need to be A4, it can be cut in any shape or size that fits.

Stickers

Most children like applying stickers and this can be done on the cover of books to create something special. Stickers can be in a series or they can be linked with a bold marker to each other. Even funny bumper stickers – not rude or profane – can be used. I’m sure teachers would get a chuckle looking at some books.

Glitter

Glitter can be applied, and on brown paper you need only paint the surface with a little glue in the patter of your choice, and dust the glitter over the glue. Children can either work on rolls or you can cut book-sized pieces of paper out and allow them to decorate each with a unique design or pattern. This can be combined with images, drawings, paint, photos or almost anything else to make an exclusive one-of-a-kind covering.

Beading and wire

Beading and fine wire can be added to a cover, though hard-cover books would be the best option here. This is time consuming and due the size of the beads, probably only suited to older children.

If you have the stationery list, you can buy all the supplies and make this a project for the holidays. Allow children to create and Beading and wire is a really good idea for journals or diaries. Plastic beads will stick better and are less weighty than glass beads, also, the smaller the better with uniformity being key - the book shouldn’t be too cumbersome, as they still need to use it, so varying sizes of beads could make for a bumpy writing experience.

Doodling

For those that embrace doodling or dotting or other pattern making designs, this is the time to break out your skills! Covering a book with brown paper gives you an awesome surface to put marker to paper. Get a nice thick marker, choose your colours, and then - ready, set…..go!

Varying colours and thicknesses can be used as well as combining this with other mediums mentioned above. Whether adding an image at the centre, or glitter or even beading, there is no limit to what you can design and create. Try your hand at drawing a mandala and let children add colour or other embellishments from thread to sequins – the sky is the limit.

Material

Material can be used to great effect when covering books, though admittedly, it works better on hard covers unless you are using something extremely lightweight such as silk. An old pair of jeans can be cut and glued to the cover – you can have the pocket on the front as a useful pen holder! Or an old t-shirt with a band name, even old scarves (the silk variety, not big woolly ones) can be used to great effect.

Collage

This is an old favourite from years gone by. You can cut out images from old magazines and glue them to the cover – it has the added benefit that a label can be stuck over the top. It’s easy to cover in self-adhesive wrap and each book will be exclusive! Just watch out that the children don’t pillage your coffee table collection of books.

Shopping bags

This is unusual but can be very effective. We are not talking about grocery store bags, but shopping bags that have creative designs, colours or images on them. They can be cut out as a collage or just wrapped around the book. Both paper and plastic bags will work with either glue, double sided crafting tape or good old sticky-tape. This can also be combined with other mediums or even glitter glue and is surely an expression of self, especially for teenagers.

Plastic wrap

There are several varieties of plastic wrap available, from the heavier duty to really quite flimsy plastic. The heavier the better as the thinner wrap, although usually more transparent, tends to tear easily. This is less than ideal and really false economy if you end up recovering books several times a year.

There are slip on covers in plastic, which can be excellent time savers but some are prone to tearing. There are harder plastic covers made from PVC, some are even available in a range of colours, others have a double sheet on the front which is filled with glitter and liquid or small toys etc. so even if you only use a plain paper covering, it will still look special.

Self-adhesive wrap

This is the bane of many parents and certainly some children. There is an art to applying this, avoiding wrinkles and bubbles. If you want to avoid frustration, there are many links and videos on the internet that will show you how to do this with the minimum of frustration and wastage.

We recommend that you take a look at the videos when wrapping text books, as some of the adhesive plastics are not easily removed and can damage the cover of the book.

Pre-cut book covers

This is a go-to for many parents as it saves time and effort and the covers just fit. The covers can still be decorated before adding the plastic sheath at the end, so all is not lost.

Conveniently, as they come in pre-cut sizes, there is no wastage and no need for scissors and space; children can decorate these individually as a December project, so the fun factor is still there. Both the paper and the plastic are available as pre-cut and sized to make things easier.

Unfortunately, many of these will not fit on a hard cover book, so you may need to resort to traditional means for this!

However, you choose to cover books, you are guaranteed to have at least one afternoon of crafting fun. If you’re sneaky, you may even be able to convince the children to cover all the Christmas presents too!

Have fun and allow them free reign to demonstrate their creativity and originality.�

IndustryLeaders

Invest in women Invest in women to end poverty to end poverty

Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness, heart, talent, guts. That's what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice," - Bethany Hamilton

Women hold the key to ending extreme poverty. There is strong evidence that when women and girls are afforded a quality education, access to healthcare, a sustainable livelihood, and a seat at the decision-making table, economies shift.

In communities where all this is in place, poverty has been removed permanently. Gender inequality has many forms that are at the foundation of poverty. In order to facilitate progress, all gender inequalities need to be eradicated.

1. Educational Gender Bias

Education benefits society as a whole and girls’ education especially will positively influence not only society, but also economies. Healthcare and education are two of the basic building blocks of an empowered community.

Educating girls affords them the opportunity to actively participate in the economy and be less dependent. Children born to mothers that are educated are likely to have the same educational opportunities and are likely to have access to better healthcare.

People perpetuate what they know and knowledge can change an experience that will have a lasting effect across generations. Sadly, an estimated 130 million girls will never set foot inside a classroom.

Child marriage, lack of adequate sanitation (especially for girls who are of menstruating age), and gender-based violence in the classroom are some of the obstacles specific to girls when it comes to this very basic human right.

2. The gender pay gap

Financial and economic equality is imperative to gender balance. A 2020 World Economic Forum (WEF) report suggests that if we maintain the current pace of correcting the gender pay imbalance, it will be another 100 years before women receive equal pay for equal work.

Surprisingly, the gender pay gap does not see much disparity between high income countries vs. low-income countries. Even more surprising is the fact that some lower income countries are actually further ahead in correcting the gender pay gap.

Take Rwanda for example - they are in the top 10 countries worldwide in closing the pay gap. Whilst there is still a long way to go, they outrank the United States in both overall and wage gap-specific progress.

Ensuring that women not only earn the same salaries as their male counterparts but also get the same access to economic independence boosts economies. It also means that other basic needs, like healthcare, education, and adequate food and water are available.

Women are often the head of the family; thus, they are likely to make better choices for the whole family and in doing so will be changing the trend for future generations.

3. Gender 55 disparities in agriculture

At least half the world’s farmers are women, but they largely have less productive fields when compared to their male counterparts. Reports show that women have less access to critical tools and resources like fertiliser, seeds, training, and farm labour.

More discouraging, even when they receive equal access to these resources, is the fact that there is evidence that they are not equally compensated when it comes to income. As the primary caretakers of children and often head of single parent families, women struggle to get their goods to market, particularly in rural areas.

With reduced harvests and lower income, this has a knock-on effect, as women (more than men) reinvest the earnings into their family and the community that they live in. The inequality is a loss for more than just the woman and her family, it’s a loss for their community and society as a whole.

Women need to be empowered, especially in rural areas of low income, to start backyard gardens to help feed and nourish their family. Many women doing this in an area will allow for food diversity and for a barter system between the women, helping to alleviate malnourishment.

4. Poor access to healthcare

Healthcare is lacking in those suffering from poverty. There is a high mortality rate amongst the impoverished, specifically women and girls from complications arising from pregnancy and birth.

The chronic absence of healthcare, combined with the ongoing, unnecessary loss of so many women from maternity related complications, results in massive negative impact on families and communities. Sick mothers are often unable to seek treatment for themselves, their children are less likely to receive healthcare and older children are obligated to take care of younger kids and the home when they have an ailing mother. This effectively means that education is forfeited and the cycle of poverty is destined to perpetuate itself.

5. The high price of collecting water

Ensuring there is water for the family is considered a woman’s job. More than two billion people worldwide don’t have access to clean water at home. Many women living in impoverished areas without drinking water at home, spend hours sourcing and bringing back water daily. Since no-one can live without water, this takes priority at the cost of education.

A study showed that school attendance increased by as much as 12% when water was available within 15 minutes of the home. Every minute that a woman spends collecting water, is a minute lost, that could be used to earn and save money and to change the cycle of poverty.

6. Gender-based violence

Figures for marriage globally uncovered some disturbing data. According to UNICEF more than 700 million women were married before they turned 18 in recent times. More than a third of that number, approximately 250 million, were married before the age of 15. For boys the figure drops to about 156 million married before the age of 18.

Child marriage clearly affects more girls. Girls who marry young are less likely to receive a complete or quality education, and child brides (under the age of 18) are frequently subjected to more discrimination, violence, and increased maternal mortality rates.

Forced marriage is one of many forms of violence against women and girls. This includes sexual violence, female genital mutilation, trafficking, and honour killings. All forms of gender-based violence (GBV) contribute to the belief that men and women can and should be treated differently.

As long as these acts continue to be seen as the “culture” or norm, women’s rights will continue to be oppressed.

7. Lack of female representation

Most legislators and decision makers are men - even on women’s issues, it is still men that make the laws and policies and in so doing, women are never likely to get fair representation and equality.

Given that women are often the head of single parent families, and already suffer inequality on so many fronts, this is something that needs to urgently addressed. Policy makers and legislators need to be inclusive of women as much as men and for laws to be embedded to protect women and their rights. This is not a feminist leaning but something that needs to happen for the good of society. Women raise and generally have more dependants that they are actively caring for, therefore equal pay is the least that they should be afforded.

This will enrich society, not just a woman. That said, it should not be a criterion for pay, whether a woman is married, a parent or a single parent.

8. Concern and Gender Equality

Gender disparity has underlying societal and cultural factors which needs to be addressed, but concurrent to this, the need to eradicate poverty and hunger is equal. These needs are interlinked and by making changes in one area, others are positively impacted.

Gender inequality is the overarching factor impacting on many areas of concern and the cause of many of the current global issues pertaining to education, poverty, health and hunger.

By initiating positive changes in addressing gender inequality, many of the other issues will lessen and with time, be resolved.

Be the change for equality and inclusion, look where you can make an impact and bring change to influence change for a better future. �

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

concern.net