Mission

Education for underprivileged children

Edukans supports underprivileged children in developing countries in getting quality education without any discrimination on ethnicity, caste, creed or political conviction. World-wide 67 million children do not attend school. Poverty, war, physical handicaps, discrimination or HIV/aids prevent children in attending school. Edukans supports small-scale educational projects of reliable private local organisations, in situations where local authorities fail to deliver education. Edukans focuses on all kinds of general primary education up and till the age of 14 years, and vocational training up and till the age of 20 years. Edukans chooses for projects which improve the accessibility, the flexibility and the relevance of education in general for underprivileged children.

Dutch students in action

Edukans recruits students in the Netherlands to take part in development work. These students gain more in-depth knowledge about the lives of their peers in developing countries and  about longer-lasting, sustainable developments both in the Netherlands and the South. Basic principles and values for this so-called ‘global education’ are:  ‘sharing’ and ‘living together’. Sharing means having a commitment with people who are in a vulnerable position, for the poor and the sick, for people who feel excluded. Sharing also means caring for them. This process starts in one’s own environment, but it also outreaches it: taking a stand for children in developing countries.

The Netherlands and the world form a ‘global village’ with people from various cultures and beliefs.

Living together essentially means: respecting each other and trying to understand people from other cultures and religions and starting to communicate about shared ideals, values and problems)