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Visiting Cuba with the Steve Sinnott Foundation

In April this year, I had the privilege of visiting Cuba with the CEO, Ann (my grandmother). It was a great experience although I was shocked at how run down the country was in terms of buildings and facilities. However, that doesn’t seem to affect people in the way they live their daily lives and the positive attitudes they have, whether in the city or the rural areas.


I was there to assist Ann to record the various meetings and workshops and there were many. We had to travel 8 hours by bus from Havana to Santa Clara. Before that we had to travel to the bus station to get the tickets as there is not an operational online system as many Cuban people do not have internet within their homes. One of the first things I noticed in Havana is that there are no cameras on every street corner.

My biggest disappointment was the food, we have such a wide selection of cuisines in the U.K. I guess I am spoilt for choice on a daily basis. This is not the situation in Cuba as they can only obtain seasonal fruit and vegetables (which is a good thing I guess) and sometimes, they cannot transport these from the rural areas due to fuel shortages. They also have a shortage of daily staples that we take for granted like milk, bread and eggs. I would advise anyone travelling to Cuba to bring some seasonings in their suitcase to add spice to the food.

Education in Cuba is free and from what I saw it seemed good but the difficulties are with obtaining educational resources for schools for example printing books. I found that women do not have the same opportunities and I witnessed racial discrimination, which surprised me.


The projects that the Foundation support such as Positive Periods could have a much wider reach with just a little bit more financial support to enable supplies to reach the country. It feels so unfair that women and girls cannot afford periods pads and this is not just a problem in Cuba it is worldwide. I was told that when people visit that they bring western period pads into the country and hand them out but that is not sustainable. It’s like the saying goes “teach a person to fish………the same applies to this project, once a girl has learned the skill of sewing her own period pads she has that skill for life and is independent of others.




Meeting teachers in Cuba and remembering meeting Billy Jean from Haiti a few years ago, reminded me of the differences between educational opportunities in different parts of the world.


Education in the U.K. in my humble opinion is very rigid and although education is compulsory, it is not equitable as we are unable to provide creativity and artistic opportunities for all children. Not all children are academic and they need different ways of expressing themselves, such as through music and art and parents cannot always afford to pay for these lessons. Children with mental health or SEN needs are often lost in the rigid system and unable to learn and flourish.


Whilst I witnessed fantastic music lessons and vibrant learning in Cuba, I am not convinced that there are equal opportunities to learning across the world and that is why charities like this Foundation are needed to plug these gaps.


On my return I decided to raise funds to support this work and I hope you will support me


https://www.justgiving.com/page/kaylemfightingforall



Kaylem • June 26, 2024
By Ann Beatty January 1, 2025
As 2024 draws to a close, I have been reflecting on some of our achievements and some of the challenges, thankfully there have been more achievements to celebrate. We celebrated 15 years of the Foundations work and it has been heartening to reflect on how far we have come in terms of expanding our reach and supporting more partners on the ground to achieve incredible work. You can catch up on our latest news here Engage 29. We are enthused by the energy and commitment of all our partners on the ground who delivered inspirational projects in 2024, in Cuba, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Nepal, Sierra Leone and South Africa. Educators who are ensuring that colleagues are benefiting from quality CPD and are equipped to prevent gender-based violence in the classrooms and their communities and ensuring Education for All is a top priority. I am grateful for the amazing team of staff, partners, ambassadors, volunteers and our trustees who keep us going in the right direction. A special thank you to Mary Sinnott who is my mentor and keeps me grounded through the challenges. I am also extremely grateful for all of our donors and fundraisers who make our work possible, as without the funds it would be impossible. It was amazing to see how many of you bought a charity gift over the festive season for a friend or loved one and I hope you will continue to consider giving the gift of education in 2025, it can be a great gift at any time of the year. Just before Christmas I came down with a horrible bug and it was during the week of our Education for All Exhibition and Pop Up and I want to thank everyone who kept it going, whilst I rested and recovered, it made me remember how lucky I am to have such a great team supporting the Foundation. I would like to thank you all personally for being part of our community and supporting access to education for all children everywhere. You can also watch our highlights of 2024 in a short video here. I wish you and your families a peaceful, healthy and hopeful 2025. Best wishes Ann
By Jane Slatter November 10, 2024
On Friday (1st November), of conference it was dedicated to Education – the first “E” of the theme Education, Empowerment, Enable. Ann Beatty is the Chief Executive of the Steve Sinnott Foundation (SSF) and was one of the key speakers at the conference. The focus is on education as a human right for all. I’m proud to write this blog on Ann Beatty’s talk at the SIGBI Conference because Ann is a member of my Club – Soroptimist International St Albans & District . Ann spoke from the heart with warmth and passion for the work of SSF, as she always does – earning the support and engagement of this large audience of Soroptimists. Ann started by thanking Soroptimists who have already supported her and the Steve Sinnott Foundation. The reason for the link with Soroptimists is clear – United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (UN SDG 4) “to ensure that everyone has access to quality education and lifelong learning opportunities” is so important because it is the enabler for all the other SDG’s. She asked us some questions using “Slido” the interactive audience engagement tool: “How many adults lack basic literacy skills?” – answer 765 million “How many children don’t go to school?” – – answer 360 million These statistics are shocking, the impact on girls means they have no prospects and are often married off very young. UNESCO says the world needs 44 million more teachers to achieve the SDG 4 goal of universal primary and secondary education by 2030. The SSF works with educators and to prove her point Ann got us all to share positive memories of learning with the person sitting next to us – many indicated a teacher who had influenced them. The memories were written on the silhouette of the figure of a girl. The SSF connects learners across the world with technology appropriate for their location – flexibility, simplicity and affordability is essential. Ann then spoke about the Positive Periods Project https://www.stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk/projects – learning how to make reusable sanitary pads using locally sourced materials is a skill for life. The products are sustainable, affordable, comfortable and give the girls and women independence. The charity works with people on the ground – training many thousands of women now in countries like Gambia, Sierra Leone, Cuba, Haiti, Malawi, Uganda – learning how to manage periods with dignity. They are then able to train others. While the young women have been learning and making the pads, dialogue has started around violence against women and girls which has also now been built into learning programs. A message Ann was keen to get across was for people to “STOP SENDING STUFF” – always ask “what do you need?” – there is so much waste.
By Nicolet Nguyen & Becky Brace October 24, 2024
We both love London and walking, and this year, in honor of The Steve Sinnott Foundation's 15th Anniversary we have decided to embark on this journey. We planned to complete the 10KM walk along the river Thames, passing by many iconic London attractions on the way. We wanted to raise funds, and awareness, to ensure that every child worldwide, can have the opportunity to go to school, as well as adults too. It was an amazing experience and we enjoyed each other's company on luckily a very sunny day! “Since working for the Foundation I have witnessed firsthand the impact it has in supporting young people develop essential life skills by working to ensure provision of quality education for all children worldwide. The ripple effect of this education is truly remarkable as students go on to empower and educate others.” - Nicolet “I’ve been friends with Nicolet since we were kids, and I appreciate her and support her in any way that I can! She does amazing work for the Steve Sinnott Foundation and I want to be able to support her in this as well. A sponsored walk would not only be something we can accomplish together, but the fact that our efforts could go some way to making a difference for children around the world made it very worthwhile.” - Becky 
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