Dear honorable Madame Beverley Oda, I wish to add my voice to

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Dear honorable Madame Beverley Oda,
I wish to add my voice to thousands of teachers and scholars who are gravely concerned about CIDA’s
decision to reject the financing of The Canadian Teachers’ Federation, (CTF) 2010-15 Program Project
Overseas, (PO) submitted by their committed and experienced staff.
As a public school teacher in Halifax, I served with CTF in PO and wish to continue to volunteer during
my summer break in developing countries. It is my conviction and my experience that CTF Program
Overseas allows the advancement of progress, poverty reduction and sustainable development as part of
the Canadian commitment to contribute in reaching the Millennium Development Goals.
CTF is trying very hard to make Project Overseas Program a success. However, we will not make it
without the assistance and financial support of CIDA. I am writing to urge you to intervene and retain
the vitality of CTF Project Overseas Program that is free from corruption and so close to being locally
sustainable. Project Overseas Program 2011 is scheduled to have 52 Canadian teachers, including
myself assigned to volunteer in Sierra Leon, to work with 74 co-tutors to offer professional development
to 2,056 teachers. This will have a direct impact on more than 100,000 children in 12 countries and
includes a training of trainers for sustainability and replication. CIDA rejecting to fund Project Overseas
Program means that ESL teachers in Mongolia will no longer be receiving support from the English
Teaching Resource Centre, communities in Ghana, Sierra Leone will no longer be mobilized, the
Teacher Action for Girls (TAG) program in Uganda will no longer be supported by CTF and the
Caribbean training for young leaders will not continue. The women teacher networks will not have
support for their campaigns for women's rights, and the Pan African Teachers' Centre will not produce
badly needed supplementary readers written by trained African teachers.
For these crucial reasons vital to CTF Project Overseas Program worldwide, I am appealing to you to
take action, to put pressure on CIDA to ensure these valuable partnerships go forward.
Votre appui est pertinent, car c’est grâce à vous que nous continuerons le Projet Outremer (PO) 2011,
qui célèbrera cet été son 50ème anniversaire ! Les contributions de l'ACDI s'ajoutent aux fonds de
parrainage versés par les organisations Membres du PO. Les enseignants et enseignantes canadiens qui
œuvrent à faire partie intégrante du travail international au sein de la Fédération Canadienne des
Enseignants attendent avec impatience votre réponse, puisque nous partageons l’objectif commun, celui
de la coopération internationale dans les pays en développement.
I thank you in advance for your help, thousands of Canadian teachers, educators and citizens are looking
forward to hearing from you.
Avec mes remerciements, je vous prie d’accepter, Madame, l'expression de mes sentiments distingués.
Yours truly,
Rima Majaess
Nova Scotia public school teacher and CTF member
https://mail.ctf-fce.ca/exchange/bmacd/Inbox/Re:%20CTF%20International%20Cooperat... 09/02/2011