Project Suspended...REMEMBERING A GIANT - ANDREWS NCHESSIE

 It is with great sorrow that my dear friend, colleague, and the changemaker that made EMPATHY happen on and in the ground in Malawi - Andrews Nchessie - has died. 

A world-class teacher, mentor, trainer, and humanitarian, Andrews inspired all who met him, and made change happen throughout Malawi. His reach was not just national, he had countless friends and colleagues around the world, and he made a profound impact on so many of us with his willingness to try new things, share, and participate in global projects between classes, or things like his tree planting project or EMPATHY, which became a national model for how schools in Malawi can ensure children do not go hungry and can stay in school. 

It will be one of the great pleasures and honors of my career to have had the chance to know and work with Andrews, whether on this project, or the Global Teacher Prize Teacher Advisory Board. 

This project has helped feed thousands of children the past 7-8 years, but unless connections can be made to have raised funds go to schools and farms, the project is suspended indefinitely. If anyone who sees this is or knows any of Andrews's colleagues on the project, please let me know: vondracekm@eths202.org.

May you rest in peace, Andrews...my brother. 

Some thoughts on: EELS as class pets, and how Quantum Mechanics changed how I think about students (and humans generally)

 Go here to find deeper dives into EELS as class pets, where EELS stands for Everyday Essential Life Skills and a renaming and rebranding of SEL

Go here to find deeper dives into how Quantum Mechanics changed my view and mindset of who my students are (and humans generally), which I believe needs to happen with all educators across the country, regardless of grade levels taught.

Feel free to share on your social media platforms. Teachers, feel free to use any/all of this! 

#SEL #mindset #EduReforms #EducationMindset #education #teaching

Online donations are again possible! Check it out!

 The GoFundMe site for the EMPATHY Project is up and running. Please consider ANY amount, even something like $5 is around 8500 kwacha, and all of this adds up quickly to help multiple schools feed their children for the entire school year! Everything helps, and is appreciated by everyone involved! 

Also, the spring planting season is fast approaching in the southern hemisphere, so this is an ideal time to contribute funds to help purchase seed and fertilizer! 

THANK YOU for your consideration!

Malawi, Sub-Saharan Africa facing drought and increasing hunger issues

 This is an article about Malawi, and how the World Food Programme (WFP) needs more funds to help there and other southern Africa regions that are in severe drought, due to both El Nino and climate change. Irrigation is especially vital in order to get water to crops. 

It's estimated 9 million people, half of Malawi's population, is directly affected by lack of food and nutrition. We do not want them to face conditions of famine again, like what happened in 2014-15. Donate to WFP if possible. 

Trying to reduce kids' deaths from disease in Sub-Saharan Africa

 In some regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, as high as 10% of children die before the age of 5 years old, mostly due to diseases like malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea, which in wealthier countries can be treated by antibiotics. The World Health Organization (WHO) conducted studies to determine the most effective ways of treating children as a function of age. Let's hope we have the means of providing the medication in amounts large enough to make this difference, and in the process saving the lives of millions of children with the antibiotics we take for granted in the West. 

                                                 BioMed Central

A summary of US aid and initiatives in Malawi

 Here is a report summarizing what aid and initiatives will be supported by the United States in Malawi. These initiatives were announced through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and were part of a list for countries that are experiencing democratic openings. It outlines tens of millions of dollars coming from philanthropic groups and other private sector expenditures. As a new drought and widening regions of hunger are landing on the people of Malawi and Sub-Saharan Africa, it is interesting to see how the rest of the world acknowledges the problems being faced and how they are reacting and assisting. 

Southern Africa, including Malawi, face extended drought and increased hunger

 The combination of El Nino and climate change continues to hit some of the poorest countries in the world, with widespread drought and increased levels of hunger in southern Africa. This includes our friends in Malawi. For the fourth consecutive year, the Malawian President has had to call for a state of disaster due to climate issues; this includes Malawi and some of the schools we help being hit by Cyclone Freddy last year. The drought is the worst that has been experienced in the last 50 to 100 years, depending where one is.

This further encourages us to continue to help support our Malawi friends into the future. They need additional funding to maintain crops, drill wells, and create irrigation systems to continue to survive through the extreme weather they experience in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

New funds wired to Malawi

 We are wiring an additional $310 to our friends and schools in Malawi, Africa, to continue to support our EMPATHY Project. This is equivalent to 520,000 kwacha, their currency, which will continue to help about 24 schools plant and maintain crops and harvests that will feed on order of 10,000 children throughout their school year. We will continue to raise funds before summer break. Contact Doc V if you have any wishes to help out with this effort! 

A consequence of Climate Change - reduced food worker productivity

 As global temperatures rise, a new study suggests there could be significant reductions in the productivity of farmers and other food workers. The physical capacity to work in warming and hot environments may have a direct impact on the food supplies around the world, which is something most have never considered. 

What will the impact be on a country like Malawi? One of the poorest countries in the world, climate change will impact it in multiple ways, and this aspect of the problem must be considered. Consider that the study suggests physical activity could be reduced by some 30% compared to today's productivity - this would be potentially devastating to those who work the crops in the villages we work with, and every other community that has their own farms. It is something that must go into longer term planning for food supplies. 

Looking to start 2024 on the right foot!

 Last year, our Malawi friends were hit with Cyclone Freddie, and some schools had damage to their crops and the final harvest. But we will continue to move forward and raise funding so new crops can be planted. Fertilizer has become more expensive in that part of the world, so some new crops will be planted, including soy beans, sweet potatoes, ground nuts, and some other vegetables. 

Looking forward to this year, and as of today a high conversion rate of 1 USD = 1680 Malawian kwacha! This is what it is all about in the end...

Thanks for the coverage of EMPATHY Project in The Evanstonian paper

 One of our students at Evanston Township High School, Emir Bombaci, was kind enough to write about EMPATHY in our student newspaper. We certainly appreciate the positive coverage, and are in the process of raising some more funds to help some of the new schools get started with this process! 

SEL in Schools Series, for any and all teachers, administrators, schools

 My students know I am really into the inclusion of helping humanity into our physics classes, and also promoting the skills we ALL need and use every day of our lives, Social-Emotional Learning skills (SEL). It is to the point where ETHS, and most districts around the country, are promoting and including SEL into their district plans and goals. This is good news for everyone, and now the challenge is to all learn what SEL is (and is NOT), why we need it for our students, evidence that it works (otherwise it would be a waste of time and resources), and finally how it can be embedded within content courses. 

If interested, I have created a SEL in Schools series of slide decks and accompanying videos, as well as hundreds of examples of lesson ideas in all subject areas/departments for middle schools and high schools, in order to train teachers and staff, as well as build up 'buy in' among teachers when they see how possible and valuable it is to include SEL in lessons on a fairly regular and consistent basis. 

If you happen to view it and find it useful, please share with other teachers, administrators, schools, etc. 

Plumpy nut: Being used for years to help fight hunger and malnutrition

  If you are now aware of Plump Nut, here's an introduction. This is a simple mix of peanut butter, milk, sugar, vitamins and minerals, that is in the form of a paste. It can be stored at room temperature and has a good taste, especially to children. Groups like Doctors Without Borders use plumpy nut in places of extreme poverty and hunger in order to quickly build up the nutrition of their diets. This has been highly effective for a number of years with severely hungry and malnourished children, where a couple weeks of plumpy nut can revitalize their health and energy levels. 

I have always loved this example as one where it is sometimes the 'simplest' solution that can solve real problems. Can you come up with simple, creative ways of solving an important problem? It is so tempting to overthink problems, and assume one needs fancy equipment, technologies or mathematics to reach a solution - and often it just take some common sense and trial and error to develop a simple solution. It reminds me of early in the space race, when the US spent all sorts of money to build pens that could write in space, whereas the Soviets used pencils. Einstein was a fan of thinking conceptually about a problem in as simple a way as possible, and then add in the math after a simple physical model was in his head. 

Update on the aftermath of Cyclone Freddy

 Andrews sent me a message that after a horrible experience with Cyclone Freddy, which hit hardest in Malawi and Mozambique (over 200 died in Malawi), the crops at the schools have been largely unaffected and flooding has not hampered their growth and expected harvest times or quantities. We hope the harvests will provide more than enough food for the schools for the upcoming school year, so kids have the nourishment necessary for maximal learning and growing. 

A NY Times article about farmers in Malawi finding creative ways to maintain crops

 It is wonderful to see a major western newspaper and organization like the NY Times recognize the challenges in Malawi and other Sub-Saharan countries when it comes to growing and maintaining crops. This is the entire purpose of this project, where we try to help schools become self-sustaining and independent growers of the food the children have for entire school years. This is vital in keeping kids in schools, maintaining their health, and allowing them to learn and grow to become the future leaders of the nation. 

Play Freerice, and help feed the most hungry

 Try the game Freerice, and help feed the hungriest people on Earth through the UN World Food Program (and the WFP won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for their work during COVID shutdowns around the world). Choose topics and try to answer questions about them, and for every correct answer you provide 10 grains of rice that go to the hundreds of millions people who do not have enough food on a daily basis. 

What we ALL should do, everyday, for everyone...

 You can't be best friends with everyone, but you CAN: 

- notice everyone

- be friendly to everyone

- make room for everyone

- cheer for everyone

- listen to everyone

- have a smile for everyone

- say hello to everyone

- empathize with everyone

Oh, and you can be nice to yourself, too! 

EMPATHY Project coverage in school newspaper

 A big thank you to Ethan and the Evanstonian (the ETHS award-winning newspaper!) staff for the nice article about our EMPATHY Project. This is the effort to raise money for friends in Malawi, in order to ensure children have enough food for an entire school year so they can remain in school. With this becoming a national model, we hope that some 10,000 children will benefit from this program! 

If willing and able, donations can always be made here. 

Donations heading to Malawi, helping in time for planting season

 THANK YOUs go out to everyone who helped either in school or online, where we raised a quick $1020 to send to our friends in Malawi! This is equivalent to 1.042 million kwacha, and will be used by some new schools to prepare land for planting crops as they go into their spring and planting season. Our model will help over 10,000 children once the couple dozen schools harvest their crops towards the end of their summer in 2023. Each harvest will feed the kids at the school for an entire year, and this model has largely been adopted as a national model to avoid famine and kids missing school due to hunger.

See our EMPATHY Project site for details. We also have a GoFundMe site to raise money any time. 

ONE-THIRD of Malawi's population expected to be on brink of Extreme Hunger

 The Malawi IPC Chronic Food Insecurity Report from February, 2022, shows how 5.4 million of the 16.6 million Malawians will face moderate to severe hunger in the coming year. IPC stands for Integrated Phase Classification, and is an international scale that allows everyone to be on the same page when discussing and doing something related to hunger. 

Another 4.4 million Malawians are expected to face mild food insecurity, and under 7 million will suffer from mild to no food insecurity. Some 70% of the population in Malawi live under the international poverty line of $1.90 a day. 

With this being the reality on the ground, it is imperative we take the interest in our school-farm model and turn interest into reality for MANY more schools. We have a couple dozen schools looking for start-up money to purchase land, seed, and fertilizer so they may begin planting farms for the schools. Harvests keep children in school, and we look to ensure as many as 10,000 children have enough food every school day so they may remain in school! We want to make the photo below become a standard start of the year photo for many dozens of schools, where new crops are planted, maintained and harvested, all the way to meals on a child's plate!

HELP by making a DONATION! Every penny goes to the teachers on the ground in Malawi.