Education

Twenty-year-old Nyasha Zulu and 21-year-old Simbarashe Mudara have lived most of their lives in the dormitory town of Chitungwiza, 30 kilometers from Zimbabwe's capital, Harare. The town has no major industries to speak of, and so youths such as Nyasha and Simbarashe often spend time engaging in risky behaviour.

Vocational education students in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe who recently received start-up kits from Mercy Corps. Photo: Richard Nyamanhindi/Mercy Corps

Now, thanks to Mercy Corps — under the Non-Governmental Organisation Joint Initiative for Urban Zimbabwe (JI) — they have been able to receive vocational training to help them begin their own small businesses and make better choices about their lives.

Implemented by Mercy Corps in 2008, the vocational training programme has been assisting more than 300 youths in Chitungwiza. The youths are drawn mainly from vulnerable and poor households in the town to access vocational training opportunities.

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In a part of the country often forgotten by the central government, southern Iraq has had its share of challenges following years of conflict that began with the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. Communities need government support for projects that they identify as high priority, such as rehabilitation of hospitals, health centers and schools, construction of bridges, and battling high rates of unemployment.

Khamaeal Hussein in her beauty shop in Shatt Al Arab district, southern Iraq. Photo: Mercy Corps Iraq

A lack of opportunities is one major factor for unemployment. But an entrepreneurial spirit still exists.

Khamaeal Hussein lives in a small neighborhood in Shatt Al Arab district, in Basra governorate. She is 29 years old and participated in a Mercy Corps-funded project last year: a hairdressing and makeup training for 20 women in her district. It was a small project, lasting a month, with professional lectures and supplies provided for the participants.

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Lucia and her 16-month-old baby, Maria in Guatemala's Alta Verapaz region. They're both receiving food and health assistance through Mercy Corps' PROCOMIDA programme. Photo: Lindsay Murphy/Mercy Corps

In the northern highlands of the Alta Verapaz region of Guatemala, the signs and symptoms of malnutrition are a common sight: stunted growth, underweight bodies and visible fatigue. According to a study by the United Nations World Food Programme, Guatemala has the highest rate of malnutrition in Latin America — and Alta Verapaz ranks second in Guatemala in the number of communities at risk.

Mercy Corps is doing something to change that. Through a partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Mercy Corps is leading a new innovative approach to improving food security and nutrition in Guatemala.

The Mother-Child Community Food Diversification Programme (PROCOMIDA in Spanish) is a five-year programme that strives to prevent malnutrition before it starts and ensure that everyone in a community has access to food and health services. Through the programme, Mercy Corps distributes food rations to impoverished families and educates mothers and caregivers on the nutrition needs for children and mothers, as well as proper food handling and household sanitation.

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Dan O'Neill with Tasneem, 13, a special needs student at the Mercy Corps-sponsored girls' school in Beit Rima, West Bank. Photo: Andy Dwonch/Mercy Corps

Little 13-year-old Tasneem immediately captured my heart with her big smile.

Developmentally disabled, she is a "special needs" student at the Mercy Corps-sponsored Beit Rima girls' school. Since coming to the school, she has made enormous progress. Once locked away at home, she now joins in all school activities and smiles a lot more. She is blonde and blue-eyed — which is very unusual for Palestinians — shy and very small for her age.

The West Bank town of Beit Rima has suffered significantly amidst the heated tumult of the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With many of the men imprisoned by Israeli occupation forces, the women have been forced into bearing very heavy family and economic loads.

Mercy Corps stepped into the gap by funding and managing two boys' schools and two girls' schools. Khaled — a Mercy Corps programme leader and certified psychologist — explains that a high percentage of children suffer some form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. No surprise.

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After years spent displaced during Sudan's long civil war, 20-year-old Alfonse Pawil is now enrolled in a Mercy Corps-sponsored computer training course in Turalei, his hometown.

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After years spent displaced during Sudan's long civil war, 20-year-old Alfonse Pawil is now enrolled in a Mercy Corps-sponsored computer training course in Turalei, his hometown. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Alfonse Pawil, 20 years old, spent most of his life in a war zone. He was born in Turalei, South Sudan in the midst of the two-decade long bloody civil war that devastated his homeland.

Many families left Sudan during the war and lived as refugees in other countries that were secure, but Alfonse’s family did not have resources to move away. Instead, he spent his entire childhood running.

“I never left Sudan. I have been here from the time of war up to now,” explained Alfonse. “It was terrible. Some of my relatives were killed, but somehow I survived. I was one of the people running up and down the country during the time of war always trying to get away from the bombs.

“During the war when they were bombing, we would hide in the bush until they left the area. Sometimes I was hiding in the bush for weeks and even months waiting for it to be safe to come out.”

The war made it almost impossible to study, but Alfonse never gave up his commitment to getting an education.

“The few schools in the area could not remain open because of the fighting, so I walked for several days to reach the town of Wau where I could take my exams,” recalled Alfonse. “I completed my exams and took the Sudan certificate for my studies.”

The exterior of the Mercy Corps Civil Society Resource Centre where Alfonse studies in Turalei. Photo: Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

Today, Alfonse is living in Turalei with his family and trying to prepare to find a job as a teacher or humanitarian worker.

“Getting a job here is very hard, especially if you are like me and never left the country,” says Alfonse. “My peers who lived in Kenya and other countries had the chance to take computer classes, but people like me who stayed here during the war, have never had a chance to learn about computers.”

Alfonse has enrolled in Mercy Corps computer training programme that is offered through the Civil Society Resource Centre the organisation built in Turalei. Mercy Corps built and operates 11 Civil Society Resource Centers in Sudan that are equipped with computer labs and training, internet access, libraries and audiovisual materials. The centers are used by local organisations for outreach activities and to facilitate dialogues with the local government.

“Now I think my future will be bright because now I have the opportunity to learn about computers and prepare myself for a job and a better life,” says Alfonse.

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For 20-year-old Albana Konjuhi from Kosovo, interning paved the way to success in the future job market. Through training in basic negotiation skills, civic engagement and community mobilization, Albana’s work at the European Commission helped her develop skills crucial for a young professional emerging into a competitive job environment.

Albana Konjuhi at her new job. Photo: Blerim Cerkini/Mercy Corps

“These trainings show me there are many different ways of communication, and that communication is the key to my education, employment and career,” she explained.

Through our Supporting Kosovo’s Young Leaders (SKYL) programme, Mercy Corps supported Albana in her first internship experience at the European Commission, specifically on the Infrastructure Project Facility (IPF) in the Western Balkan region.

“When I started working in the IPF project, at the beginning I was not confident that I could do it, but the knowledge that I gained during SKYL training helped me to successfully implement programme activities,” Albana added.

Albana’s internship also provided her with knowledge and resources to help her family through difficult economic circumstances. Albana’s family struggled to make ends meet; her father’s monthly income of €212 (about £180) was hardly enough to provide for a family of five. Working as an intern at IPF, however, allowed Albana to supplement her family’s income while still continuing her education in economics.

The IPF internship eventually led Albana to a full-time job with the programme. “Albana is a big support to our project,” expressed Violeta Jakupi, Office Manager of the IPF Programme. “Her communication skills have helped us to improve our communication with clients. For her contributions to the project, our management has decided to hire her in a sub-project as regular staff.”

Albana’s experience is only one of the many success stories from the SKYL programme. SKYL training through IPF encourages Kosovo youth to actively participate in building bright, viable futures for themselves and their communities.

Editor's note: Hanife Limani, SKYL Civic Engagement Specialist for Mercy Corps Kosovo, also contributed to this story.

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Expectant mothers and mothers-in-law at a focus group discussion in Gonchi district, Tajikistan Photo: Mercy Corps Tajikistan

I’m back in Tajikistan, six months after my first visit. This time, I’m here to support our field team with the midterm evaluation being conducted for our Maternal and Child Health programme. Accompanying me is Donna Sillan, a consultant we have contracted to write the evaluation.

We spent our first two days in Khujand — in the country's northern Sughd region where most of Mercy Corps' Maternal and Child Health interventions are taking place — planning sessions with the Village District Coordinators on how to collect qualitative data to gain an understanding of the programme’s impact on improving the health of women and children in the target areas, as well as other local capacity-building initiatives. The Village District Coordinators are a mix of Tajik men and women, many of them trained doctors from the Soviet era. These people are not only knowledgeable of health issues, but genuinely care about the work they are doing in the communities.

As I saw them conduct trainings, focus group discussions and various interviews with our beneficiaries, their support came across in such a kind and nurturing manner that made me think —even if I had never met them — I would feel immediately comfortable in speaking to them about my health!

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A literacy student in Basra governorate completes a class exercise. Photo: Awatif Khalil/Mercy Corps

Across the developing world, girls and women face challenges accessing education. This could be due to economic, cultural or religious constraints, but the impacts are largely similar. When girls and women are excluded from education, it impacts them on a personal level, but also affects their access to economic opportunities, their families’ livelihoods and their communities’ development.

According to a 2008 World Bank report, “educating girls is one of the most cost-effective ways of spurring development.” And this investment can be multi-generational: women who have access to education often place a greater value on it, and encourage their daughters to attend school, too. Moreover, the impact isn’t just economic or social: countries with more gender-equitable education have lower rates of infant mortality and malnutrition.

Throughout Iraq, literacy rates are at 86 percent for men over 15; that number drops to 69 percent for women in the same age range, and this is a disparity that is seen across the Middle East.

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