Highlights

 The Fria School in Guinea, sponsored by ISO, has been a center of innovation since it opened in 2006. The leaders of this institution have sought to diversify the curriculum, hold regular in-service training for the staff, provide alternative testing regimes for students, and encourage the students to learn another language while in school. 

 The results have been impressive. The pass rate on the national exit exams for 6th, 10th, and 13th grades is triple that of the national average. ISO’s role is to help facilitate in-service training through consultation with school administrators and our network of experts around the world, provide technical assistance in several key areas, and liaise with the larger global educational community on behalf of the school. 

 ISO is helping facilitate the creation of a music academy in a large city of northeastern Thailand. This academy will not only provide a place for musical instruction but also a venue for cultural exchange. The teaching staff is very international including nationals of Thailand, Malaysia, the US and Ecuador. ISO's hope is that the exchange of culture and music will be mutually enriching and build a foundation of global understanding for the young people involved in the programs. 

Over the past decade ISO personnel have held smoking cessation clinics in several places around the world. The Sahel regions of Africa have been the hosts of several of these “clinics” as we like to call them. Participants are instructed in the physiology of smoking, the benefits of quitting, the “how to” of quitting and are provided with the support they need to quit the habit.

Though there are powerful and wealthy people that benefit from the continued consumption of cigarettes, our personnel have met with little overt resistance in most places. At times banners and leaflets have been destroyed. Participation levels have been good at many of our events over the years from Guinea to Mauritania and beyond.