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Rihanna teaches math to Malawi’s poor students
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In this Feb. 12, 2017 file photo, Rihanna arrives at the 59th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Last January, Rihanna visited a school in Malawi in southeast Africa, which is one of the least developed countries in the world, to witness the struggles its children encounter in pursuing education. (Invision/AP/Jordan Strauss)
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ast January, Rihanna visited a school in Malawi in southeast Africa, which is one of the least developed countries in the world, to witness the struggles its children encounter in pursuing education.
In a touching documentary uploaded on YouTube on Wednesday, the actress-singer volunteered to teach basic math to students at Muzu primary school. She also joined an upbeat “girls, girls” chant with female students.
For her charitable endeavor in the country, Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation partnered with Global Citizen and Global Partnership for Education.
“It’s such a pity that they have to drop out because they are so smart,” Rihanna reflected in the footage. “Everybody’s learning together, and learning at the same pace it seems. It’s sad that has to end for some of them because they could probably do so much if they had the resources to continue and complete.”
Read also: Rihanna is named Harvard University Humanitarian of the Year
Despite the school’s lack of facilities, Rihanna was struck by how teachers used music in teaching subjects.
“I love that they learn in melody, that’s like my favorite thing,” she said. “Because kids [they] adopt melody really, really quickly. And so if you can use that as a learning tool, I think that’s the most brilliant, brilliant thing.”
Rihanna is drumming up a campaign to raise $3.1 billion (P153 billion) to bring quality education to over 870 million children in 89 nations between 2018 and 2020, according to Global Citizen’s website.
This article appeared on the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
