Newsletters

volume 3, number 1

January 2009

Your monthly Aflatoun Talk has arrived!

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Dear Friends,

HAPPY NEW YEAR and welcome to the January edition of Aflatoun Talk!

This January we start 2009 with best new year wishes for all of those taking part in the Aflatoun Movement across the globe! Over the years Aflatoun has reached many children in their own language - today we celebrate the Aflatoun Curriculum's newest translation into Malayalam. With this addition, Aflatoun now reaches children in 12 languages!

We also feature Sahil, one of Aflatoun's implementing partners in Pakistan, and their new ICT innovation to teach children about Aflatoun via interactive learning. This January Aflatoun also announces its technology partnership with Tata Consultancy Services. January's The Aflatoun Network Talks features a quote from our partner NATCCO in The Philippines on the amount of savings accumulated (over $44,000!) and local teacher's view on learning the habit of savings through Aflatoun. And finally, we look forward to an exciting and productive new year together as the Aflatoun Movement continues to grow in 2009.

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Aflatoun Curriculum into its 12th language-Malayalam!

This month we celebrate the translation of the Aflatoun Curriculum into its 12th language - Malayalam. Language can often be a barrier to creating a global movement, but with the Aflatoun Programme contextualised into their own language, more and more children everywhere can call themselves Aflatouns. This sets the stage for an Aflatoun child in Kenya to easily identify with a child in Bangladesh. Aflatoun currently reaches children in Serbian, Maharathi, Spanish, Swahili, Arabic, Russian, Urdu, Filipino, Portuguese, Bangla, English and now Malayalam.

Sahil launches Aflatoun ICT Innovation in Pakistan!

Sahil is one of Aflatoun's partner organizations in Pakistan, implementing the Aflatoun Programme with juveniles in jail and sexually abused children in Karachi. Sahil aims to stimulate students to want to “change their lives”. Started in February 2008, Sahil's Aflatoun Programme has already secured young savings accounts for students with Bank Al-Habib. Students even have Aflatoun ID-cards to denote their participation in their Aflatoun Club. Now, Sahil plans to expand the programme to drop-in centres for children where they will introduce the first ICT component to an Aflatoun Programme ever. Their Aflatoun computer game captures Aflatoun curriculum into a fun and interactive learning experience for students. The last module in the computer game teaches students how to set up a social or financial enterprise according Aflatoun ideals.

Aflatoun announces technology partnership with TCS!

Aflatoun has partnered with Tata Consultancy Services in India to develop a partner database to track Aflatoun's global programmes and their impact. Over the previous 6 months, a team of programmers in Mumbai have been working towards creating a flexible, multilingual tool that can capture the results of all Aflatoun Programmes. Importantly, this tool will also be useful to partners who do not have regular or consistent internet access. The new database will allow the Aflatoun Quality & Impact System (AQIS) to analyse results more accurately. The project's team is led by Keyur Dhaky, with programming done by Shahid Zaman Molla and Sujit Sadhukhan. Both Vice Presidents Pankaj Baliga and Behram Sethna also provided executive level support for this project. The project falls under the Tata Consultancy Services Corporate Social Responsibility mandate and was done for the Aflatoun Network on a pro-bono basis as part of the partnership. We thank them very much for all their hard work and dedication!

The Aflatoun Network Talks!

The Philippines is one of the countries with the lowest savings rate. Through the Aflatoun Programme, children are paving the way to a more savings-conscious Philippines. Since the start of NATCCO's Aflatoun Programme in 2006, they have accumulated over $44,000 in children's savings. Today, NATCCO implements Aflatoun nationally in partnership with 5 institutions, including government, banking, and international non-profit organizations.

Ms. Villaflor, a Grade III teacher from Cordova Central School in Cebu says: “I find deep joy in being able to help my students become aware that their centavo saved everyday goes a long way. [Children] have learned the value of savings and thrift, and take responsibility in doing their small part in helping to break the cycle of poverty. The children realise that even with the meagre resources that they have, they can still find ways to save. The parents are also happy to see that little by little, every week, the children's passbooks show the growth of their own money.”

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Some Words of Thanks

This month's words of thanks are dedicated to the Aflatoun Secretariat who have committed to take Aflatoun forward from 20 countries to 53 countries by the end of 2009. We thank the Secretariat's 15 staff members for all their hard work in 2008 and wish them all the best as they continue full speed ahead through 2009!

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The Aflatoun Dream...

Our dream is the reduction of poverty through the development of socially and financially empowered children. We believe that children should be taught to understand their rights and responsibilities and strive to ensure that child financial education is viewed as a right for every child across the globe.

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Aflatoun: Every Child has the Right to Social and Financial Education.

“Separate fiction from fact, explore, think, investigate and act”