Today’s post is about a project being initiated in Panama.
Inspired by Simon Sinek, I will start this short post with my ‘WHY’. Why am I writing about it? It is simple, ‘Because I Believe! in it’
_I believe in this great project; It is a great cause.
_I believe in helping others to achieve their dreams;
_I believe that learning takes people out of poverty;
_And most important, I believe that learning can change lives and the world as a whole! (make right choices, educated decisions and vote consciously)
_ Another reason why I am sharing this article – I know Robert and that he conducts his business with his heart and this is a wonderful opportunity to help our kids in Panama.
What is this project about: Give the opportunity for less privileged students to learn English, develop themselves and increase their value & opportunity when entering to the job market.
When Trevor told me that he was retiring in 2015, I asked ‘how about all the knowledge and great materials you have. Are you going to retire them too?’ Then the idea for this blog surfaced. We believe in sharing ideas and helping others becoming a better version of themselves. We use this blog to disseminate that and also coaching as platform.
Concerning ‘BECAUSE WE BELIEVE’ – Mi Panama – here you go little background…
Two weeks ago, I received a call from my great friend Robert Risdon who wanted to share with me his newest project ‘Because We Believe’. For Every 6/8/10 or more students that a company sponsors for a scholarship, myenglishtime will sponsor half of this amount bringing kids from poor / public schools/community in Panama. I embarked immediately as a volunteer – not knowing exactly how I could help and this post is the first step.
My family and I lived in Panama for nearly 6 years and simply fell in love for this wonderful place – not only because of its natural beauty but its people. There we made friends for life and Robert was one of them. Robert is the owner of ‘MyEnglishTime’ and who was the English Tutor of my family. Our friendship evolved and I came to learn about his missionary works.
Like Brazilians, and we are actually similar in many ways, although English is part of school grades it doesn’t go beyond the basics. Those who can afford private lessons can get ahead faster and are more confident, but less privileged kids won’t have access to good English courses or any kind of tutoring – in most cases, parents are not educated either and cannot guide their kids.
I come from a similar poor background and was lucky to have met and worked with wonderful people (like Trevor Sherman, Robert and many others – too many to list here) who have mentored me, given their time to develop me and also provided opportunities to apply what I have learned.
Many people take it for granted that have been brought up with English as mother language. We can see the positive advantage in learning English for young people wanting to emerge from a background of poverty and deprivation. Even if they don’t seek to live and work abroad, it gives them a step up in their careers and their lives in their home country. It also means they can access and be inspired by business and social literature from a much wider pool.
This is the first step (getting started in Panama) and we believe we can evolve the project further and in the future support with coaching or mentoring by helping them connecting their development, aspirations and actions to their dreams – the part I will probably be able to help more with.
Better educated kids can change their lives, avoid falling into crime or becoming bad statistics and improve the economy of the country.
Get involved… if you want to know more about it, reach out to us and help these kids to have better opportunities. Soon there will be a page but for now you can send an email to:
because_we_believe@callmedom.co.uk or info@myenglishtime.net – with ‘Because We Believe’ in the subject. We will be happy to clarify any question you may have.
