The following letter is an email update from Luanne Zurlo, founder and director of Worldfund, our Latin American partner.
Dear Friends:
Worldfund is pleased to be an invited participant at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), which is currently taking place in New York City, and where I write to you from today! Worldfund is proposing two projects at the CGI, both Mexico-focused: an intensive training program for public school teachers; and, the opening of five top-quality Mano Amiga schools in impoverished border communities.
As Worldfund’s Founder and Executive Director, I was invited by the CGI to participate in these important meetings. President Bill Clinton introduced the CGI
(www.clintonglobalinitiative.org) in 2005, as a forum for global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
The two initiatives Worldfund is presenting address the crucial educational challenges facing Mexico. The teacher training program, a two-week intensive course designed and executed by The Rassias Foundation at Dartmouth College, will provide 250 Mexican public school educators with necessary English language instruction skills. Current English instruction methods in Mexican schools are of poor quality; and spoken English skills are becoming increasingly vital in securing employment and hence for Mexico’s economic growth. Our corporate partners in this program are Fundacion Televisa and Nextel Mexico.
The second initiative focuses on opening five top quality private schools in very low income Mexican border communities. The Mano Amiga network – one of our partners in the region — already runs 28 primary and secondary schools throughout Latin America, and these five new schools will educate an additional 3,100 impoverished students over the next three years. Mexican youth are lagging behind their international peers in education levels, and schools like Mano Amiga are critical in closing the educational gap. The Mexican homebuilder Homex has committed to donating the land and construction of the schools, and the Mexican corporation Alfa and financial group Value are providing a portion of the funding.
As always, many thanks for your support.
Sincerely,
Luanne Zurlo
Executive Director
World Education and Development Fund
