TED Community » sarah weldon

More About Me

I'm passionate about

scuba diving, diving medicine, traditional folk music, learning Gaelic, cob building, the Highlands of Scotland, sustainability, cetaceans, Georgian people and communities, motivating young people.

An idea worth spreading

I am currently in the process of setting up two big projects in the country of Georgia, I think they are both simple but potentially effective, and they just need a lot of love, time, and hard work to enable them to happen. The Oceans Project will use the BBC Oceans series to teach English as a foreign language whilst also raising issues related to the Black Sea, getting children to fundraise for an Earthwatch expedition, and bringing those skills back to Georgia to undertake their own conservation projects. The field studies and community centre will be run by children and offer them opportunity to learn new skills, practice English, learn self sufficiency, sustainability, and undertake environmental research projects.

Talk to me about

Bringing about change in the former Republic of Georgia, working for the Ministry of Education and Science, setting up the Oceans Project, and a Children's Centre in Georgia.

People don't know that I'm good at

I'm not good at, but people don't know that I really love singing, music, and dance. That I love painting and art, and have the potential to do something useful in life.

My TED Story

I feel like I often work tirelessly on my projects and ideas, and I'm sick of people telling me 'you'll burn out'. Often people just don't get me and its often caused me not to fit in with the social boxes in my society and gotten me into trouble for just being different. Finding TED, where so many of my best friends and people I admire are a part of the community was like suddenly being with people I could relate to and who wouldn't just write me off for being a bit non conformist. I just plod on with my projects, thinking that I am talking to myself, and every so often, someone will tell me that they were inspired by what I am doing, and its like a massive catalyst to keep on going. I know the next twelve months or so on my projects will be tough - bringing about change from the norm always is a minefield- but I hope to turn to TED particularly in those moments when the going is tough or tiring, to remind myself that there are lots of ants working hard in this ant hill, together.

Comments

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• A comment on Conversation: Is it acceptable to 'pollute' another country's culture with external values and scientific theory?

  Aug 22 2011: Paula, this is exactly what I have been thinking myself since I came here. Although there have been so many times where children have asked me questions that I would not have had an issue with in any other country, but which terrified me in answering here. They had a right to know, since they asked the question, and to fob them off would be a diservice. But boy, would the answers shake up their whole values and concepts, and would I have parents banging on my door angry at what they might see as 'corrupting' their children? And then I realised, that at the end of the day, the children were already exposed to these topics through new music and tv, and if they didn't learn how to handle this stiff now, then the big world outside of Georgia would be a massive shock and they were going to get themselves in terrible trouble. Then I would be wishing I had give them the tools to deal with whatever they faced. Probably, the most comforting thing was when discussing this with the Minister of Education, and seeing that he too felt this way and was behind us in shaping this new generation of children, even if eyebrows of elders were raised.
  
  I would love to know if others have had similar experiences whilst teaching or working abroad. Have you ever had your own cultures and values shaken up??

• A comment on Conversation: Is it acceptable to 'pollute' another country's culture with external values and scientific theory?

  Aug 21 2011: thanks.

• A comment on Conversation: Would you consider coming to my future centre for a working holiday, if so what skills would you offer, how would they impact the children?

  Aug 21 2011: Thanks so much Paula, I am new to TED, but am already finding it fantastic to speak with people and to receive input and ideas from others. I really hope I can get it up and running over the next twelve months as the children here really need something and this is my answer to what they have told me. We would love to have you as our guest once we are up and running, and cooking will be an essential element and skill to teach. Nutritious and ange of food in Georgia is fairly poor, mainly bread based, and I know the kids are really excited to try new things. It will be great to teach about healthy eating, and to improve the lives of future Georgians just through diet. Women really need empowering, as they are the backbone of Georgian society, and are very resourceful and warm. Thanks again:)

• A comment on Talk: Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids

  Aug 21 2011: I;m an adult, but your points were what I have believed in and been arguing since I was a child. Now I plan to se up my own children's centre, to be run by children, and we would love to have you as a our guest one day if you would like to come.

• A comment on Talk: Salman Khan: Let's use video to reinvent education

  Aug 21 2011: Thank you so much for posting this. I am working in the former republic of Georgia, and am trying bring education forward, especially in remote locations with minimal resources, and not always the best teachers. This could be a great way of teaching the kids, and I am wondering whether I can bring it into my new childrens field studies centre?? Sure there is a huge potential here. When I previously studied medicine, I often found that watching videos on youtube made so much more sense that what I read on a book or from my lecture, and taking that pressure away of time and looking dumb also really helped..
• +1

  A comment on Talk: Gever Tulley: Life lessons through tinkering

  Aug 21 2011: I stumbled upon your talk by accident really. I am in the process of setting up my own children's centre in the former republic of Georgia, and I was looking to see if there was anything like this in other countries, and there it was, your tinkering school!! I'm all for this, as a Brit who went to both state and Steiner school, and much preferred my Steiner school where we built tree houses and fun things like that. I now teach in Georgia, and its been a massive eye opener. No health and safety, schools patched up buildings, and kids setting fires in class, not because they are being naughty, but because thats what kids do in Georgia, they are just learning! They rarely get in trouble, and they are allowed to be noisy and to play, completely free range. Yet, they have taught me so much, and are such an inspiration. They organise things themselves, like school excursions, collect the money together, book the coach, and all without teachers. They even provide food for the teachers on the trip! The country is undergoing massive reform here, and the political side of things is slow and disorganised, but I know that the kids are progressive and eager to learn, so I decided to focus on change from a ground roots level, and that is how the idea for the school arrived. Have you any advice for me in setting this up and for my journey? And would you pay us a visit one day? Tinkering school looks fantastic. Sarah (http://zhinvalichildrenscentre.weebly.com/).

• A comment on Conversation: Would you consider coming to my future centre for a working holiday, if so what skills would you offer, how would they impact the children?

  Aug 21 2011: thanks Ed, your input sounds mazing and definitely along the ethos of the kind of centre I want to set up. Interesting about your views on cob too, its something I would love to build with at some point, but was not sure about doing it in the Georgian climate. Georgians certainly are fond of music and dance, and th polyphonic singing is also something I hope to promote at the centre.
  
  Thanks so much for your reply.