schools
A Malapandaram School Remains Open
A new primary school in Kerala that opened in June to much fanfare for Malapandaram kids, but which was threatened in July with closing due to insufficient funds, has been kept open after all.The Hindu reported last week that the school at Attathode, located on a major road to Sabarimala, was saved due to quick […]
Lepcha Strike Resolved Peacefully
A sit-down strike begun in April by 46 Lepcha paraprofessional teachers protesting their treatment by Gorkha authorities in India’s West Bengal State ended peacefully last week when a face-saving compromise was announced. The strike by the teachers, called a dharna in India, had been in effect for 109 days. They were pleased to receive a […]
Kerala and its Peaceful Societies Part 2, the Malapandaram
The reporter for The Hindu reflected the enthusiasm of the day with his headline, which gushed, “A Day to Rejoice for Tribal Children.” The story at the beginning of June was that a new primary school had opened for tribal children at the Attathode settlement in the Pathanamthitta District of Kerala. Many of the tribal […]
Adventures in Botswana
Daniel Koehler has published three more installments in his blog about his filming adventures among the G/wi and G//ana San people of Botswana. His blog post published on April 22 described a trip he took from New Xade, the resettlement town he has been living in, out to the traditional community in the desert called […]
Schools for San Kids
Bobo Tsamkxao #Oma, Chief of the Ju/’hoansi Traditional Authority, blamed teachers and school authorities for the failures of many Ju/’hoansi kids in their schools. He decried the fact that they did little to motivate the children to do their schoolwork. The chief spoke at a public meeting along with Anna Hipondoka, the Deputy Minister of […]
Truth and Reconciliation for the Inuit
Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued a summary of its final report last week, which urged Canadians to find ways of reconciling with indigenous people who were harmed by their forced attendance at residential schools. News accounts of the unveiling of the long-anticipated report emphasized that the 94 points in the summary represent the start […]
The Lepchas Want Teachers
The Lepchas are confronting the authorities in India’s West Bengal state over their right to have their language taught in the local schools. The controversy, covered in the Indian news media over the past month, echoes the even more serious conflicts of two years ago when the Lepchas sought to dramatize the discrimination they suffered […]
The English Are Coming, the English Are Coming—Run! Hide!
The showdown began at 7:45 AM on Friday, November 19, 1965, when a school bus pulled out of Oelwein, a city in northeastern Iowa, headed for the Old Order Amish settlement a few miles away. The Amish had established two of their own schools, staffed by uncertified teachers, a violation of Iowa law at the […]
Human Trafficking in Rural Thailand
Education is the best way to prevent child trafficking in Rural Thailand, argues Mickey Choothesa, the founder of the anti-trafficking group Children of Southeast Asia (COSA). In an article published last week in the online magazine Vice.com, Mickey points out that he devotes himself to saving one kid at a time, day by day, village […]
Some Peaceful People Are Birdwatchers [a tenth anniversary reflection]
I was delighted when Jody and her husband Mark sat down at our table at the Christmas Bird Count dinner on Saturday evening, December 20th. Before we had even started eating, Jody asked what I was doing during my retirement years, so I told her about peaceful societies and this website. She expressed interest and […]
