Teach a Mother, Change the World
Posted by Aaron Parker
on Jun 07, 2016
That's the aim of the Amarok Society. Our speaker yesterday was G.E.M. (Gem) Munro, who gave us a very inspiring talk about teaching in Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world.
Gem Munro and the Amarok Society
” If you teach a mother, you teach a family.
If you teach five mothers, you teach a neighbourhood.”
On Monday June 6 th Gem Munro spoke about the work being done by the Amarok Society in the slums of Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nigeria. The Amarok Society teaches very poor mothers how to read and write in their local language, they teach them English (necessary for economic advancement) and teach them math and social studies. The society also teaches them life skills such as health, nutrition, child care and conflict resolution. These mothers then pass these teachings on to at east five children in their neighbourhood. The benefits of these teachings are multi-layered; not only are the children of these mothers taught to read and write but it is hoped that through a better education they will live a healthier lifestyle and be less susceptible to recruitment by more radicalized members of their communities.
Gem spoke about the role Rotary plays in the success of this program. The Amarok Society received a grant from Rotary International to help with their work. This money has been put to good use and has had a positive impact on the communities it has served.