Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04DJIBOUTI1487
2004-11-21 10:35:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Djibouti
Cable title:  

INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION WEEK SHORT, BUT SWEET

Tags:  PREL SCUL KPAO EINV DJ 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DJIBOUTI 001487 

SIPDIS

NAIROBI PASS TO PAMELA BELLAMY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL SCUL KPAO EINV DJ
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION WEEK SHORT, BUT SWEET

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DJIBOUTI 001487

SIPDIS

NAIROBI PASS TO PAMELA BELLAMY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL SCUL KPAO EINV DJ
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION WEEK SHORT, BUT SWEET


1. (U) SUMMARY: This year's International Education Week
(IEW) was successful, despite the fact that the Eid, paired
with the Muslim work-week, shortened observance to three and
a half days. Embassy-sponsored events included a soccer
tournament, book donations, a lecture, art exhibitions, an
Ambassadorial visit to a local school, and a lunch for
children at the Ambassador's residence. The week's showcase
was the school-to-school exchange project. END SUMMARY


2. (U) Embassy Djibouti's participation in International
Education Week (IEW) was a school exchange organized by the
Public Diplomacy Officer. One hundred and fifty Djiboutian
elementary/Middle School students from three schools drew
pictures, wrote essays and created skits to express the
theme "A Day in My Life." Three Ohio schools were identified
to do the same. The projects will be packaged and mailed to
their counterparts in each country. Photos were taken at
every event and will be burned to compact discs for each of
the six participating schools (US and Djibouti),the
Ministry of Education and the Embassy.


3. (U) The Embassy provided beads, paint, macaroni and
tissue paper to the Djiboutian schools that focused their
IEW projects on art, due to a lack of English speakers. The
Public Diplomacy Officer encouraged involvement by visiting
the classrooms of participating schools over the course of
November.


4. (U) Other Embassy-sponsored events included a book
donation to Middle School students, a panel about how to
study in the U.S. for college students and a football
tournament for high school students. The events were
exceptionally successful exchanges that stressed not only
the importance of education but also the bilateral
relationship. Post was impressed by some of the sensitive
themes explored by the students, including environmental
pollution and female genital mutilation. Ideally, the
relationship will continue between the US schools and the
Djiboutian schools throughout the year with pen pal letters
and other school-directed exchanges.


5. (U) A breakdown of IEW events, with results, follows.
Please note that all events were conducted in French, unless
otherwise noted.

On November 16:

-- IEW officially opened with banners over all of the town's
main entrances. The Public Diplomacy Officer visited each of
the schools for a project exhibition and handed out t-shirts
to every participating student and teacher with the
Department's official IEW logo (translated into French),and
the slogan "Rapprocher les systems educatifs Djibouti-Etats-
Unis D'Amerique." The Public Diplomacy Officer also met with
the Parent's Associations at some of the schools to discuss
the importance of education.

On November 17:

-- Ambassador attended an exhibition and ceremony at Charles

D. Foucault Middle School and, in conjunction with the
Minster of Education, passed out t-shirts to participating
students - who are part of an English class. She also passed
out two books in English to each student, "The Prince and
the Pauper" and "Girls Who Rocked the World." (This is the
school that did not receive a materials donation). The
ceremony was covered by the local media.

-- The Public Diplomacy Officer gave a radio interview on
the importance and goals of International Education Week.

-- The Public Diplomacy Section hosted a panel discussion at
the local university titled, "So You Want to Study in the
US." The panel consisted of a short presentation by a
representative from the International Foundation for
Education and Self Help (IFESH) and was followed by a
question and answer session. An IFESH teacher, the Djibouti
IFESH coordinator, Embassy Djibouti's Consular Officer and
Embassy Djibouti's TOEFL Administrator comprised the panel.
About 75 people attended.

On November 18:

-- Twelve students, chosen by teachers from the
participating classes for their high potential, attended a
peanut butter and jelly and chocolate chip cookie lunch at
the Ambassador's residence, followed by a tour of the
residence and Embassy grounds by the Ambassador and the
Public Diplomacy Officer.

-- The visit was followed by a tour of an exhibition set-up
in an Embassy conference room of all the student's IEW
projects, so each could see the efforts of the other
schools.

-- The first round of an IEW girl's football tournament,
organized by the Embassy for middle and high school aged
girls, took place. Eleven teams, from both Djiboutian and
French schools, took part and the number of spectators on
the first night exceeded 200 people. Each participant
received an IEW t-shirt (in different colors for each team).

On November 19:
* Tournament finals. The winning team in each division
received a trophy donated by a local vendor. A third trophy
was awarded for sportsmanship.