Fostering Global Partnerships through Education & Technology
Hussainatu Blake,chosen from a from a pool of more than 1,500 candidates nominated through the White House web site, was selected as a Champion of Change for the positive impact she is making in her community.
Access to a global education is essential in the 21st century. While education is key in any community, access to a global education makes a person competitive in an increasingly inter-dependent and diverse world. Unfortunately, many children around the world do not have the means to experience life abroad and are not exposed to an environment that promotes a variety of viewpoints and ideas. Focal Point Global, a non-profit youth educational organization, has a mission to give disadvantaged children in the United States and in African countries access to a global education without leaving their neighborhoods.
Focal Point Global was founded with the idea that every child who wants a global experience should have one. Focal Point Global strategically links and educates underserved and disadvantaged youth around the world using technology to create learning opportunities. Focal Point Global promotes cross-cultural discourse about pertinent global issues; this discourse fosters global partnerships, and these partnerships bring about community change.
Focal Point Global launched its pilot project, the US & Namibia HIV/AIDS Education Initiative, in February 2010. The Initiative was a virtual interactive summit that connected 10 American and Namibian youth via Skype to discuss HIV/AIDS and its effects in their communities. This exchange taught the youth involved about the effects of HIV/AIDS, educated them about the diversity of the African continent and the complexity of American culture, and helped to dispel misconceptions that both groups had about one another. This unique discourse was achieved through real-time interaction with their peers. This first Initiative was a great success and spawned a second project, the 2012 Child Trafficking Awareness Program, which deals with human trafficking and its effect on the global community.
Hussainatu Blake is the Co-Founder of Focal Point Global
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