Champion Awards Dinner

Champion for Education
Awards Dinner

Awards' Dinner - Friday Sept 30, 2016

Each year our Delegates join together for a special evening during our symposium to enjoy an opportunity to share a meal and visit. Our guests look forward to a wonderful evening of excellent authentic Afghan cuisine, a keynote speaker and entertainment. This year's dinner will be a unique experience held at the atrium at Ottawa City Hall.

Our special guest speaker is Dr. Louise Pascale, founder of the Afghan Children's Songbook Project.

Louise Pascale, Professor in the Creative Arts in Learning Division at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA has worked for over 25 years in the field of arts and education. Louise has a great interest in exploring the impact of singing in educational settings and changing perspectives about singers and non-singers. Motivated by her interest in preserving traditional music, and her work as a Peace Corps volunteer in Afghanistan in the late 60’s, Louise has spent the last eight years as Founder & Director of the Afghan Children’s Songbook and Literacy Project. Working with Afghan musicians and poets, Louise has published and distributed two songbooks of traditional Afghan children’s songs. Due to over twenty years of war and oppression in Afghanistan, these children’s songs all but disappeared from the culture. There are currently 50,000 songbooks along with accompanying Teacher’s Guides distributed across Afghanistan. Through the project, Louise continues to witness the project and the potential music has to unify and strengthen community, improve basic literacy skills as well as bring Afghans together in a shared experience.

Champion for Education in Afghanistan Award

During the evening, we present our Champion for Education in Afghanistan Award and celebrate the recipient's accomplishments at our symposium dinner. This award was introduced in honour of CW4WAfghan’s own champion for women and girls, Sally Armstrong. The award is presented annually to allow CW4WAfghan members to recognize an individual who has given outstanding service to the cause of supporting education for girls or women in Afghanistan. Through a nomination process, the Champion Award will help to identify and celebrate the many ‘unsung heroes’ who have demonstrated a personal commitment to the human right to education. These inspiring role models help to spotlight the challenges and opportunities for women and girls pursuing education against great odds.

For further details on the award and on each Award recipient listed below, visit our website: www.CW4WAfghan.ca ABOUT US: RECOGNITION/CHAMPION AWARD

OAKVILLE 2011