Brighter Communities Worldwide

BACKGROUND

Brighter Communities Worldwide’s goal is to work with people in rural Kenya and Uganda to build healthier and more resilient communities, enabling them to access improved health education and employment opportunities. As part of its work the organisation sends 20-30 adult volunteers to work in Kenya for periods of 2-3 weeks. Development Education has been embedded in the volunteer programme from the outset, with volunteers doing three days of training prior to deployment and a debriefing day on their return. The aim is to ensure they have a critical understanding of development work

CURRENT PROJECTS

Brighter Communities also runs a schools network linking three Kenyan schools with three Irish schools. Teacher exchanges have helped build this network, which also holds an annual conference in both countries, based around the Sustainable Development Goals, and linked by Skype and video. The Schools Network Programme began in 2009 after volunteers with Brighter Communities Worldwide developed a link between Killinarden Community School in Ireland and Kapcheplanga Secondary School in Londiani in Kenya. Other schools followed suit and there are currently six schools involved:

• Mountrath Community School – Siret Secondary School
• Colaiste Pobail Acla – Baraka Secondary School
• Carrignafoy Community College Cobh – Londiani Township Secondary

Each school develops a partnership agreement with their link school and plan activities throughout the school year; the link is based on mutual learning, understanding and partnership between the Irish and Kenyan schools and is focused on educational outcomes. Brighter Communities Worldwide believes in development education as a means of learning about global issues and through a shared sense of these issues, global justice and equality can be achieved. This programme is part funded by WorldWise Global Schools, which is an Irish Aid initiative.

Brighter Communities has also linked in with local Green schools on World Water Day.