Under the most tumultuous of times
I completed a four-year law degree and, as many before me have done, started a new chapter... or at least tried to. On the 24th July 2020 I officially graduated from the University of Nottingham from the comfort of my parents living room via MS Teams. It wasn’t the most celebratory or self-indulgent ending to what was an extraordinary period of my life but, we are living in extraordinary times. Starting as a fundraising assistant at the Foundation, however, has granted me a huge opportunity to tip toe myself into this new world.
A few years ago, I heard about the Foundation and its work and had been captivated by the stories relayed by Ann Beatty from her travels to Sierra Leone. There was clearly an unfaltering commitment by those involved to the Foundation’s mission of achieving universal access to education and the achievement of gender equality. Reflecting on my degree award and my education journey I became aware of the privilege of the education I had been able to receive and equally, acutely aware of how far that privilege is not widely shared. It was in the knowledge of the Foundation’s sincerity and determination in their mandate that I was keen to undertake this new project and hopefully be of some help.
In order to support the longevity and success of the projects being carried out globally, the Foundation relies on the support of its generous supporters and external partners. I had previously undertaken community projects and volunteered for charities, but I had never been tasked with developing a new scheme of fundraising before. I’ll admit the task was daunting, however, I can gladly say after some months that I have learnt a lot. Attempting to encourage a group of solicitors to undertake ‘pro-bono work’ and donate the usual fee, or, at least a percentage of it, to the Foundation was always going to be a task.
However, there is nothing that can’t be achieved with an inspiring email, a conversation and the right partner. Luckily for me the Foundation has undertaken so many impressive projects, that it was easy to connect with people over shared values. In particular, the Foundation’s commitment to sustainability was a key element of discussions. The importance of designing long-term solutions that utilise local resources and engage with a variety of stakeholders is an important factor to many.
Following the uncertainty and upheaval caused by the pandemic, I have been able to see the importance of fundraising and I began to look forward to the future of the Foundation and how the Foundation might be supported beyond the work I am able to do. It was on this line of inquiry that I discovered the importance of legacy donations in supporting non-for-profit organisations. Legacy income derives from gifts left in wills and the Foundation has, to date, received two generous legacies which have already been reinvested into their projects.
Recently, as a growing number of people are focusing on settling their affairs, there has been an increase in will writing, allowing many to contemplate what is important to them and how they want to be remembered. Although, these thoughts and their impact can often be uncomfortable, it is in these times that the bigger picture can also be seen. A goodwill gesture made now has the ability to affect the future; if this is something you have never given thought to please consider thinking about it now. A gift, large or small made to the Foundation, may mean the difference to a child or children around the world in having access to education and in turn to achieving their best potential.
BY MAYA DABO – FUNDRAISING ASSISTANT
BY MAYA DABO • April 23, 2021
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.
‘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
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.
