Why.
We created Elemental Aim because we wanted to make a contribution to reduce the statistic that globally one in five children are out of school.
We believe the most effective way to achieve this is by supporting existing grassroots schools that were created by communities responding to the unique needs and challenges in their respective communities.
The schools we visited and volunteered at are extremely inspiring in their determination to support their students to access an education despite the immense barriers that prevent it. It has been an absolute privilege to meet and work with their incredible staff and students.
Who We Are.
Hi. We are Rob Morrison and Kate Fitzgerald, Australian educators from the South coast of NSW, Australia.
After getting married, we travelled to Nicaragua, Mexico, and India to work and complete our teaching degrees online: talk about romantic! While away we became aware of how many children were unable to attend school: in 2019, there were 258 million children and youth out of school. We wanted to do something to help this situation. After doing some research, we discovered fascinating, creative, and ingenious schools that were delivering education to children in innovative ways.
We then decided our initial aim would be to contribute financially to support three of these innovative schools in the long-term. We believed the best way for us to achieve this sustainably would be through making a film and accompanying unit of work for Australian schools to provide funding to our partner schools overseas. Importantly, this model also provided us with the opportunity to highlight this global issue to students in Australia.
From here we volunteered at our partner schools, filmed their amazing work, and created the unit of work which forms our educational resource package. We hope that, after watching our film, you can connect with the powerful stories of these students and their schools in the same way that we have.
Our special thanks to...
This project and the creation of our Educational Resource package would not have been possible without the support of so many generous individuals and organisations who have assisted us. Thank you!
The students and staff at Ruchika Social Services in Bhubaneswar, India, particularly Program Managers Benudhar Senapati and R. P. Dwivedy
The students and staff at Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, particularly the Founder Mohammed Rezwan
The students and staff at Del Fortin, particularly the Founder and Director Amalia Cuadra and Program Manager Karla Pacheco
Steve Sapienza - Creator of ‘A Floating Future’ for PBS - featuring the floating schools of Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha
Our volunteer translators:
Spanish: Maria Amigo, Maria de Lourdes Melo Zurita, Rebekah Antognelli, Angelina Seeto and Aaron Araneda from Latinos Australia
Oriya: Sujeet Jena and Asit from Orioz Australia
Our volunteer educational advisors, Narelle Nies, Penny Hutton and Peter Anderson
Our project advisor, Helen Zwicker
Our volunteer marketing, media and communications support from Dom Fitzgerald and Yoona Sohn
Our pro-bono legal advisor, Priscilla Blackadder
Pro-bono film editing guidance from Gregory Miller and Dr. Georgia Wallace-Crabbe from Film Projects
