This article is from 2001:
The crisis in Afghanistan claims the most
attention at the moment. Twenty-four Unicef flight have left Copengaen
since September. While we were here, a 25th flight was loading up. But
while other countries that need emergency support are off the front
page, the continual flow of supplies to them doesn't stop.
The campaign for "awareness" goes on. With the photographer, Tom Craig,
and Alison Tilbe from Unicef UK, we are being shown the works - it's
extremely impressive. Our host is Deirdre O'Shea; her natural warmth and
enthusiasm have made us feel extremely welcome.
I know she receives many visitors and is well practised at reeling off
information and statistics. I feel a little dizzy trying to unravel
facts and figures, trying to make a picture of them. Of course, it's
very clear - all over the world, not just in Afghanistan, thousands of
children suffer and are neglected. Poverty, disease, Aids, war and
natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods are the culprits, one
often linked to another.
Ralph Fiennes in Unicef's Copenhagen warehouse, surrounded by the aid
boxes that offer hope for children. 'Somewhere, a child's ideas can
live,' he says
Unicef's education initiative does not
seek to impose, but to initiate and integrate. It does, however, aim to
address the huge bias towards education for boys at the expense of girls
in so many cultures. It begins with the "school in a box". This is a
40lb aluminium trunk containing pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers,
exercise books, slates, paper scissors and blackboard paint.
In Copenhagen, we admire a display version of the box; each costs $285.
Within an hour or so of receiving it, a teacher can turn a piece of wood
or metal into a blackboard and take the children through their first
words or sums - perhaps their first ideas. When the contents of the box
are depleted, or have run out, the teachers are supposed to replace them
with local supplies. Communities are encouraged to become independent.
After the school in a box, there is Unicef's "fun in a box". This is
more sport oriented: skittles, footballs, volleyballs, powdered chalk to
mark out a pitch. So, this time, instead of the blackboard, I imagine a
dusty piece of turf marked out for a game of football. Will the girls
join in? Are they allowed to join in? To my mind, this recreation box
has a slight male bias - but not everyone agrees.
"Girls play soccer," Deirdre insists. But she goes on to illustrate the
terrible bias against education for girls and women in so many
countries. One statistic is that two out of every three children not in
schools are girls.
http://www.ralphfiennes-jenniferlash.com/ibtcmw.htm
