Introduction

 

This advocacy website was created by students in the Startalk Urdu Program at Kean University for the purpose of  promoting children's rights through projects created to raise awareness of the plight of children in Pakistan and to present solutions to these problems, each of which is a global issue that extends beyond the borders of Pakistan.  Projects include an anthology, a collection of poems, a documentary, a one act play, and a series of sketches focusing on issues studied in the program.

 

About the Program

 

The Startalk Urdu Program at Kean University is an innovative program that presents a new way for students to learn a language while sharing  information about important real world issues by engaging in cross-cultural interactions through video-conferencing with students of AGAL Beaconhouse School in Pakistan. During this intensive and fast-paced three week program, students with basic knowledge of Urdu learn about ongoing children’s rights issues in Pakistan, which are also issues worldwide, while improving their ability to speak, read and write in Urdu.  

 

The theme for the 2014 Startalk Program is Promoting and Protecting Children's Rights. The program focused on five major topics regarding children's rights:

 

• Child Labor

• Child Marriage

• Child Militancy

• Child Trafficking

• Children’s Right to Education

Students learned more about these issues in Pakistan through a series of activities supported by the use of technology. Students watched videos, conducted interviews, spoke with native peers and experts  and read articles on the issues online to inform the creation of multimedia presentations and the writing of stories and plays that reflect their own and other’s perspectives. The rigorous workload of this program pushed students to first learn about these topics and then to apply their knowledge to seek solutions for each issue in collaboration with their peers in our partner school, All Girls A'Level School in Islamabad.