Think Creative - Issue 2

Community Asset Mapping at Work Saint Lucia // Community, Family and Youth Resilience Youth in the Caribbean are harnessing technology to put their communities on the map, raising awareness of local resources and providing vital information to public safety initiatives. Take a closer look at the process.

Field Notes

m Economic Growth Nicaragua: Aprendo y Emprendo

Through partnerships with the private sector, Aprendo y Emprendo has been able to offer both students and educators trainings in tourism and service, wood processing, entrepreneurship andmore. Tech- nical education courses are being matched to employers’ needs, giving at-risk youth better chances of em- ployment and success on the job.

1 Mappers, often local youth, collect data on the resources and problem areas in their communities using an app or pen and paper.

L i b r a r y

“ Library ”

Education Afghanistan: Afghan Children Read

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In collaboration with the Ministry of Education, the Afghan Children Read project has distributed more than 314,070 teaching and learning materials in Pashto and Dari languages, providing some 188,500 early grade students in Afghanistan the opportunity to improve their reading skills. Ethiopia: READ II Funded by the U.S. Agency for In- ternational Development, the five- year READ II project seeks to boost the quality of literacy instruction and student support for 15 million children. It aims to better equip teachers with effective early grade reading instruction techniques and materials in seven mother-tongue languages and English. Mozambique: Vamos Ler! In partnership with the Mozam- bican government, the Let’s Read! ( Vamos Ler! in Portuguese) project has distributed more than 109,380 first grade reading books in three local languages as well as Portu- guese, equipping bilingual students to overcome learning barriers.

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The information is uploaded onto Open Street Map , an open-source mapping platform.

3 The data can be used to tailor initiatives like public safety planning and violence prevention, tapping into existing resources and identifying areas of concern.

In the process, residents also benefit from a more complete picture of their community. 4

L i b r a r y

Police Station

Youth Center

Grocery Store

Library

Infographic by Amanda Smallwood

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