The perfect cup of tea

The recent ‘uproar’ surrounding the book Three Cups of Tea has sparked a number of interesting blogs (and a number of rubbish ones too for that matter!) and raised a number of important points for anyone involved in charitable work. For those who have managed to avoid the scandal so far, in short a tv documentary in the US has accused the author of the book (who is also the founder of a charity working to improve access to education for young girls) of misusing funds and misleading people about various aspect of the work. If you want to read more about it take a look here (or just google the book title!).

One such blog caught my eye on the TIME magazine website. The author makes a couple of interesting comments on the whole saga and you can read the full article here. This bit in particular stuck out for me:

True or not, Greg Mortenson's books have done more to promote the cause of education in developing countries than any other organization I have come across. That said, his books, his speaking tours and his NGO, the Central Asia Institute, have overlooked the most essential part of education anywhere: good teachers.

For us articles like this are always so bittersweet! Whilst the author is completely right, good education cannot be delivered without good teachers, what the vast majority of people don’t think of when they consider what makes a good teacher is the most fundamental aspect of all: the language they use in the classroom! Just as it is possible to have the best school building without teachers, it is also possible to have the best teachers without pupils understanding.

Every day millions of children all around the world turn up at school, whether that be under a tree, in a tent, or in a newly built classroom, only to be faced by a teacher speaking a language they don’t understand. It is a tragic situation that makes a mockery of the best building projects, the best teacher training programmes, and the best curriculum development initiatives. Until the language of instruction is a language that the children can understand well, EVERYTHING ELSE is just a drop in the ocean.

That’s why we do what we do, just in case you were ever wondering…