Wednesday, May 17, 2006
ideas that run unchecked through my mind in the absence of enlish-speaking human contact
pragmatic application of liberation theology, coopting the potential of a booming Lombok tourism industry to channel a portion of the resultant wealth towards ensuring high standards of health care and education are available to all of the island's residents, a full 25% of whom live on less than $1/day.
sensible? overreaching? herculean? awesome?
the previous idea, since scrapped, was to use start-up funds available from my former employer in aceh to expand access to insitutions of secondary education for indonesia's very poor. beginning in aceh and partnering with already established/entrenched local ngos working to sustain the primary education sector, the program would provide free (or nearly free) financing to gifted but destitute high school graduates... allowing them to extend their education (which otherwise would have been impossible due to indonesia's poorly developed education financing options). This work in Aceh would be a feasibility test whose success would be used as a springboard for expanding the program nationwide... in a movement involving national government buy-in, supplemental financing from america, and participation from financial aid offices of universities currently operating in more complex education financing environments.
i dropped the idea when further discussions with my friends out here in jogja revealed that there are some options for indonesia's smart but very poor already in place, including gov't funding and university specific funding.
would have been cool though - straight out of article 26 of the universal declaration of human rights... and providing incentives for poor persons to make strong commitments to their childrens education (because partner local ngos would make them aware of the very real possibility that good marks could lead to a free college education which would, ion turn, lead to greater earning potential... and a way out of structural oppression) ¶ 2:25 AM
sensible? overreaching? herculean? awesome?
the previous idea, since scrapped, was to use start-up funds available from my former employer in aceh to expand access to insitutions of secondary education for indonesia's very poor. beginning in aceh and partnering with already established/entrenched local ngos working to sustain the primary education sector, the program would provide free (or nearly free) financing to gifted but destitute high school graduates... allowing them to extend their education (which otherwise would have been impossible due to indonesia's poorly developed education financing options). This work in Aceh would be a feasibility test whose success would be used as a springboard for expanding the program nationwide... in a movement involving national government buy-in, supplemental financing from america, and participation from financial aid offices of universities currently operating in more complex education financing environments.
i dropped the idea when further discussions with my friends out here in jogja revealed that there are some options for indonesia's smart but very poor already in place, including gov't funding and university specific funding.
would have been cool though - straight out of article 26 of the universal declaration of human rights... and providing incentives for poor persons to make strong commitments to their childrens education (because partner local ngos would make them aware of the very real possibility that good marks could lead to a free college education which would, ion turn, lead to greater earning potential... and a way out of structural oppression) ¶ 2:25 AM