I have been thinking about what constites meaningful learning. In western society we get to eat, and education is virtually free. What if a primary school teacher could help a class create an aid program to East Timor.  the students here could a) Enlist the aid of other schools b) collect old wheelbarrows and bicycles, and put them in a sea-container together with triicale(to feed chickens) purchased c) Create teaching videos which a school in East Timor could then use to raise chickens and to teach the local people.     East Timor has a season which is called the "hungry season" it is a dry season. Most people in East Timor only eat 1 meal a day.  there are three things which could be done about this. Firstly a local primary school could keep a Rhode Island Red Rooster with 3 Rhode Island Red Hens and 7 Light Sussex Hens. The Egg Shells are different- Rhode Island Red are Deep Brown Eggshells, Light Sussex are a light salmon colour.  This cross is a sex-linked cross- the chickens from a Rhode Island Red Rooster Crossed over Light Sussex Hens hatch out light yellow with silver on the wingtips (males) and deep orange (hen chicks). At six weeks old the rooster chicks can be killed,plucked and eaten.  Japanese silky bantams are used to incubate and raise the chicks. By buying a cheap "chicken microscope" the local East Timorese children could teach local children in the highlands how to sex chickens(using the sex linked crossed chickens first)  After a primary school in Dili or a close large town learnt the techniques, they could teach a remote village, they would need another 10 light sussex  Hens and a light sussex Rooster but could easily set up 10 breeding sets for the remote villagers.  I watched an e squared program about a green exchange in Brazil.  The Govt paid the villagers with 1 kilo of food for every 4 kilos of rubbish they collected. A similiar  compost plan could give the people sweet potatoes for every 4 kilos of chrubbery they collected.  I need to ponder how to teach kids to make videos !!!!!