A story of perseverance - I Am Belmaya

If you want to understand just why education is important for girls, and how hard it is for so many to get what is often taken for granted in some countries, then watch this film. "I Am Belmaya" by Sue Carpenter, will be released later this year in October. 

After our recent private screening we received really positive feedback and so many questions. We also had requests to see the film from people who missed it so Sue, the director, agreed to do an extra screening on the 22nd April for us with a live Q&A to answer questions. You can organise your own community screening too, there are details on the film's website. 


It is a rare opportunity to step into someone’s life. To witness their struggles, to connect with them and understand the reality of their situation.

 

Too often we read about the facts. We know how much further we need to go to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. But still, it is not always very real to us. It’s just information, and that makes it harder to take action and do something about it.

 

When we get the opportunity to travel with someone through their experience, we get an insight into what it actually means, and how it feels to be deprived of an education.

 

Belmaya is an inspiration. She is a fighter. She succeeds against the odds, and that encourages us all. This isn’t just a film about the importance of education for girls. It is a film about the human spirit. The desire to make a difference in the world, to lead others and show them what is possible.

 

To achieve education for all, we need determination. Belmaya illustrates what it takes, hers is a story of perseverance.


Our Chief Executive Ann Beatty shared the following message:


"A huge thank you to everyone who supported this partnership and watched I Am Belmaya. It was such a privilege to work with Sue and share this beautiful film that shows the importance of girls' education. It was so heart-warming to see Belmaya's dreams for her own daughter's future, seeing Belmaya's courage and confidence gives me hope for all girls' futures. I am certain many of us will be talking about this beautiful film for a long time."

 

The funds raised will go to our Positive Periods Campaign, to enable girls to manage their periods with dignity and pride and most importantly attend school. You are helping to make a change.

 

Belmaya’s own two short films can be seen here.

 

Educate Our Daughters (07:23)

 

Rowing Against the Flow (03:46)

 

If you’re wondering what else you can do to help the film and/or Belmaya, here are some ideas and links. If you’d like to host a watch party for your circle, Sue Carpenter would be very happy to facilitate that and can do a live Q&A on Zoom - just get in touch. 

 

If you are on social media, please do Like or Follow the film at @iambelmaya. Having a large following helps with potential international sales, and helps them reach a wide audience.

 

The film goes on general release on 11th October, the International Day of the Girl Child. You can offer your support at that time to help the film reach a wider audience.


Here is some of the feedback from people who watched the film at our last screening:

 

“Thank you for giving us the opportunity to see this inspirational film and gaining insight into the Nepali way of life.”

 

“Thank you for raising awareness of the struggle for girls' education and the desire to find out more.” 

 

“This film is so close to my own story, thank you for sharing Belmaya's determination and perseverance to achieve her dream.”

 

“This film made me so emotional and tears of joy at the end.”

 

“I loved the film so many good things about it. To see Belmaya over a number of years growing in confidence, in the sense of herself was beautiful.”


Thank you, we hope you enjoyed the film too. Please tell us what was most memorable from the film in the comments below.

Steve Sinnott • April 15, 2021

36 Bicycles. Countless Futures in The Gambia.

By Ann Beatty • May 20, 2026
How a simple act of practical solidarity is transforming the journey to school in The Gambia’s Central River Region North Policies have been written. Schools have been built. Yet for many children in The Gambia’s Central River Region North, access to education is still measured in kilometres, not opportunity. 

Education for Hope in Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous Times

By Laura Griffin • May 13, 2026
‘In a single hour vast tracts of shaded woodland became a jumble of torn trees and upturned soil, exposed to the glare of the summer sun. Such land-clearing events are rare, but forests exhibit remarkable resilience in the face of disaster. I’m told that the Chinese character for ‘catastrophe’ is the same as that which represents the word ‘opportunity’. And, the blowdown, while catastrophic, presented opportunities for many species.’ (Wall Kimmerer, 2003: 89). In the context of a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world (Stein, 2021) what kinds of education for hope might support children’s and young people’s critical engagement in local and global issues? In the spirit of exploring the possibilities of hope further, this short article focuses on the area of global citizenship and sustainabilityrelated education. It will briefly open by sharing commonalities across pedagogical approaches that take up the concept and act of hope more critically, and close by offering reflective questions for educators, with suggestions for further reading. Perhaps it is a kind of hope that is grounded in the present, in future reimagining(s), in ethical solidarity, and an acknowledgement of our deep entanglement with the living metabolism of planet earth 1 our singular home (UNESCO, 2021); a hope that engages with complex root causes and lived realities of multiple overlapping crises in critically reflexive and contextually relevant ways. As McCloskey notes, ‘Hope can fire our collective imagination and critical consciousness as a mainspring to activism and intervention in the world.’ (2025: 3). Commonalities across critical pedagogical approaches to hope include: Acknowledging the context of a ‘seamless single story of progress, development and human evolution’ (Andreotti, V.D.O., 2021b Relating to social and ecological justice and the wellbeing of people and planet Using participatory, action-orientated and inquiry-based learning processes Exploring diverse worldviews and perspectives Practising grounding in the present with opening up possibilities for change (relational, embodied, response-able 2 ) Experiencing ‘struggle’ in different forms (dialogical, selfreflexive, open-ended) Engaging individual and collective agency, action and activism Looking for lifelong and life-wide learning and unlearning. 1 See ‘Co-sensing with Radical Tenderness’, in Machado de Oliveira Andreotti. 2021a 2 See ‘Crossing Borders’ in 2 Depth Education “Depth Education and the Possibility of GCE Otherwise, 2021b. Source: Andreotti, V. 2021a & 2021b., Atif, A. (2025)., Bourn, D. 2021., Bryan. A. and Mochizuki,Y., 2024., Giroux, H.A. 2025., Meade, E. 2025. Whilst engaging in the concept and act of hope more critically reflect upon: What kinds of education for hope might you explore further and why? How might you provide generative spaces for engaging in diverse worldviews and perspectives? In what ways can you facilitate individual and collective agency? How might you support learners’ practice grounding in the present in order to relate differently? In what ways can you support learners in navigating complex root causes and lived realities of local and global issues? As Chief Ninawa Hini Kui affirms, ‘The future depends much less on the images we project ahead than on our capacity to repair relations and build relationships differently in the present.’ (Andreotti et al, 2023: 73. An invitation for further reading: Transformative Learning for a Sustainable Future . d’Abreu, C., Belgeonne, C., Bourn, D. and Hatley, J. (2025) ‘Transformative Learning for a Sustainable Future’. DERC Research Paper 24. London: UCL Institute of Education. Hospicing Modernity: facing humanity’s wrongs and the implications for social activism. Machado de Oliveira Andreotti, V. (2021a) ‘Hospicing Modernity: facing humanity’s wrongs and the implications for social activism’ , London: Penguin Random House. Development Education and Hope . McCloskey, S. (2025). (ed) ‘Development Education and Hope’. ‘Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review’ , Vol. 41, Autumn. Centre for Global Education, Belfast. Link to and download the full reference list here

I heard it said today by a friend that “You learn a language best when you use it to speak and write about things that are important to you. ”

By Susan Piper • May 6, 2026
This summed up to me about why I volunteer for the Hands Up Project. HUP is a charity trust which, through its network of volunteers, connects children around the world with young people in Palestine. By means of online interaction, drama and storytelling activities, it enables the use of creativity and selfexpression to promote mutual understanding, personal growth, and the development of English language skills. I joined HUP in 2020 during COVID. After going to Palestine in 2017, I wanted to get more involved in working with Palestinian children in schools. HUP gave me the opportunity to link up with schools in the West Bank and Gaza. Every week I’d tell them stories from all over the world, then we’d discuss it, play games and I’d get them to retell it. Sometimes we would work from their coursebook English for Palestine’ in mutual team teaching sessions with their teacher. The simple act of telling a story became much more than entertainment. It became connection, healing, and a bridge to the world beyond their immediate reality to help them improve their language skills, and to give them a platform to speak about their lives in a language that connects them to people everywhere. I loved it, every week, seeing their smiling faces on the screen and building long lasting friendships with their teachers. I even went to Gaza in 2023 and met some of the kids I’d only seen on Zoom. It was a beautiful experience and something I will never forget. As hostilities escalated, I lost contact with everyone. I thought about where the kids were and what had happened to them. As I watched schools being bombed, universities flattened, and people killed in their thousands, I thought about where the kids I’d met were and what was happening to them. I kept in contact with many of the teachers I knew and heard daily news of displacement, destruction, hunger and bombing. Recently, I’ve started to link up again with children in Gaza, and it feels wonderful to be back helping them learn after being denied an education for over two years. Connecting with children in Palestine is more than just words. When a child in Palestine confidently tells their story to someone on the other side of the world, bridges are built, empathy grows, and the world gains a fuller picture of childhood in contexts far from peace and privilege. My work with these children is rooted in the belief that education and voice are inseparable. Through storytelling and English language learning, I witness children not just learning new vocabulary, but reclaiming their narratives, believing in their potential, and finding human connection in a world they perceive has abandoned them. And more than anything, this work reminds us all that children — everywhere — deserve to learn, to speak, and to be heard. Links to HUP information, books and resources: The Hands Up Project BY SUSAN PIPER Susan Piper is currently an ESOL teacher in Oldham, Greater Manchester and has worked in education for over 30 years. She is also a volunteer for the Hands Up Project and is the International Solidarity Officer and President of her NEU district. She believes in quality education for all and aims to make her lessons creative and inclusive so that effective language learning can take place.