After escaping Boko Haram, Nigerian girl finds hope in education

June 5, 2017

6 min read

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After escaping Boko Haram, Nigerian girl finds hope in education

By Chima Onwe and Evelyn Rupert

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For youth dealing with trauma, classes offer more than just academics

ADAMAWA, Nigeria — Hau’wa is practicing her breathing. She places her hands on her stomach, inhaling deeply, and counts to 10.

She is seated with classmates in a non-formal learning center in this northern city, where part of her education is devoted to social and emotional learning. The breathing exercise is a tool that helps students learn to control their anger.

The instruction is aimed at helping Hau’wa, 15, cope with the trauma she has already experienced, at the hands of Boko Haram.

Across five states, 1,300 similar non-formal learning centers supported by the Nigeria Education Crisis Response program are helping students like Hau’wa.

With the help of the communities, the program is increasing the availability of safe and protective learning spaces that provide instruction in core academic subjects, wrap-around services like socio-emotional support and life skills for internally displaced and out-of-school children and youth.

In northeastern Nigeria, where Boko Haram has terrorized communities for more than a decade, this programming can encourage healing and build resiliency. By focusing on the overall wellbeing of students, the non-formal learning centers aim to help children regain a sense of normalcy and community and foster educational success.

The program is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Creative Associates International in partnership with the International Rescue Committee and more than 30 Nigerian organizations.

A childhood and education interrupted

Hau’wa reads and watches over her twin daughters at a non-formal learning center in northern Nigeria. Photos by Chima Onwe.

“From when she was very small, Hau’wa always wanted to go to school,” Hau’wa’s step-mother Aisha says.

Aisha says that from a very young age, Hau’wa would eagerly watch older children return home from classes in their uniforms. Hau’wa went on to become a dedicated student and hoped to be a teacher herself someday.

But in August 2014, Hau’wa’s life was upended when she and her classmates heard gunshots and screams ring out from their town as they walked home from school.

As people fled, Hau’wa ran toward a group of men in uniforms, believing they were members of the Nigerian military. Instead, she found Boko Haram insurgents.

Hau’wa, then 12 years old, was among dozens of school-aged girls and women kidnapped that day by Boko Haram. The group attacked and laid claim to several villages in the area, overrunning local security, killing civilians and burning property. She was captured along with her mother and three sisters, who are all still in captivity.

Boko Haram has ravaged northern Nigeria and nearby regions with attacks on military and police, churches and schools. Hau’wa is one of hundreds of girls and women who have been kidnapped.

Hau’wa says she was held in the Sambisa Forest for close to two years and was forced to marry one of the Boko Haram men. She recently gave birth to twins.

“Throughout this period, I missed my mother. It was difficult to stay away from my family. I also missed going to school,” Hau’wa recalls. “I spent many nights crying and refusing to eat anything while the man I stayed with kept shouting and threatening to beat me if I kept talking about going back to school.”

Hau’wa and six other girls eventually escaped the forest with the help of an elderly man.

A way back through learning

Once free, Hau’wa had the chance to go back to school. She enrolled in a non-formal learning center for adolescent girls established by the Nigeria Education Crisis Response program in October 2016.

Launched in 2014, the project seeks to expand access to quality and protective non-formal and alternative education opportunities for out-of-school children ages 6 to 17.

It currently focuses on the northeastern states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe and Yobe and is aimed at bolstering local and state governments’ education capabilities. According to the U.S. State Department, that region has the lowest rate of primary school attendance in the country, at 45 percent.

Education challenges have been exacerbated by Boko Haram. Recent figures from the International Organization for Migration estimate that 1.8 million people are displaced in northeastern states, more than half of them children. Fearing attacks, many schools in the region have been closed.

To date, the Nigeria Education Crisis Response program has reached more than 88,000 children in 1,300 non-formal learning centers and 139 formal schools in the five northern Nigeria states.

Healing in the classroom

With so many children affected by conflict, the Nigeria Education Crisis Response program weaves in social emotional learning activities aimed at strengthening resilience and promoting healing, which in turn can help students succeed in school.

Learning facilitators – using International Rescue Committee’s “Healing Classrooms” model – are trained to guide students on how to understand and handle their emotions, empathize with others, establish healthy relationships, and make constructive choices.

Hau’wa participates in class at a non-formal learning center for adolescent girls, where the curriculum includes social-emotional learning.

“These games and recreational activities helped to calm these children down and to stay focused in class,” says Hafsat, an instructor in Hau’wa’s class.

Hafsat says she has seen progress in Hau’wa, who has attended classes regularly and become friendlier with her classmates and teachers.

“Hau’wa was withdrawn and very aggressive to other learners when she joined the center initially. She did not speak with anyone at first and would scream at her classmates over little disagreements. I noticed she was displaying signs of trauma,” Hafsat says.

In the program-supported non-formal learning centers, social emotional learning is infused into every aspect of education. In addition to social emotional-specific lessons and activities, instructors incorporate the same ideas into the broader curricula. Teachers and administrators are trained on how to foster a positive and structured learning environment to promote positive relationships and a sense of normalcy.

Julia Finder, Technical Manager for the Education in Conflict Practice Area and a social emotional learning expert at Creative Associates International, says such programs are vital in northern Nigeria given the vast number of children who have been negatively affected by Boko Haram.

“Many children have had their education disrupted and have lost out on opportunities to develop both academic and social skills, which are essential to developing life skills needed so children can positively contribute to their communities, especially as they are being rebuilt,” she says.

Finder says a young person like Hau’wa will benefit from the incorporation of social emotional learning into her education.

“She will have the opportunity to develop essential coping mechanisms, form positive relationships, and identify techniques for self-regulating behavior and responsible decision making,” Finder says.

The holistic, multi-tiered framework provides for students at varying degrees of risk. All students in the Education Crisis Response program receive universal support from social emotional programming in schools. Based on risk assessments, certain students can then receive targeted or intensive interventions for additional support based on their behaviors and experiences.

After the birth of her twin girls, Hau’wa quickly returned to the center, which she says has helped her move forward.

“My [learning facilitator] taught me how to control my anger and how to play with other children. Although memories of my bad experience at Sambisa Forest come to my mind occasionally, I try to play with other girls and read my books to forget the past,” she says.

Hau’wa says she has also picked up vocational skills like sewing, which she can use to make clothes for her daughters.

“I am thankful for the opportunity to come and learn in this center,” Hau’wa says. “I am very grateful.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][list_category_posts_widget title=”Related Stories:” cat_cur=”yes” order_by=”date” numberposts=”3″ excerpt=”yes” excerpt_size=”15″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Communities rally support for education in remote Nigerian villages

May 9, 2017

By Boco Abdul

4 min read

In a remote village in northern Nigeria, the opening of new non-formal learning centers is sparking further investment in children’s education from within the local community.

Residents of Walai village, located in the Itas Gadau area of this northern state, welcomed the establishment of non-formal learning centers to serve young girls and boys who had largely been exposed to only Islamic education. The center is part of the Northern Education Initiative Plus project, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

Walai is far removed from any city center, and children have to trek several miles to get to traditional schools.

The five-year project, implemented by Creative Associates International, supported the opening of 800 non-formal learning centers in disadvantaged communities in Bauchi and Sokoto states, where many children have been disenfranchised from the education system.

Learning facilitators were trained to teach about 36,000 students literacy, math, life and vocational skills for a minimum of six hours every week.

Two such centers were set up in the village of Walai.

“We were very happy when the learning centers were opened here because we visit the hospital with our wives and they are attended to by male doctors. We really began to desire a change. We wanted our girls too to be educated,” says Salihu Adamu, who runs one of the non-formal learning centers.

News of children’s success in the classes quickly spread within the community. Within a few months, a philanthropist from the local government decided to support the education effort with his own funds.

Choosing to remain anonymous, he donated money to Adamu through a family member to build a block of four classrooms at the center, where children had been having lessons outside under the trees.

“The philanthropist said he had heard that children were learning to read and write and wanted them to do so in a safe and conducive environment,” says Adamu. “We are very grateful to the initiative for starting something good in this community.”

Now, construction of the new classroom spaces is almost complete and will accommodate 180 students in the next enrollment period beginning in July.

Mobilizing the community

The initiative will strengthen communities’ ability to provide quality education by focusing on building programmatic ownership and commitment to learning among federal, state and local governments.

Thousands of local committees, called Center Based Management Committees, will be trained on how to advocate for improved education within their communities.

Ahmad Abubakar Dinawa, Committee Chairman for the Islamiya Garufe Dinawa Non-Formal Learning Center in the Wurno area of Sokoto, returned from a January training to mobilize fellow members.

The committee agreed to embark on small projects to improve the center’s learning environment.

“The committee fenced the center, constructed two classrooms and two toilets. We also bought a container to store drinking water and bought bags for the children to store their books. The children were happy coming because they were learning but now they are happier learning in a more conducive environment,” Dinawa says.

Dinawa says the local government also decided to pitch in to hire more instructors to teach children who could not be officially enrolled in the program but who were equally interested in learning.

“Initially we were donating voluntarily to pay the facilitators, but the Local Government Authority heard and decided to take that responsibility,” Dinawa says.

Dinawa says improved education for children can lift up the entire community.

“There was a time when someone from another community was elected as councilor because there was no one who could run for that office here. We can only stop that from happening if we educate our children,” he says.

Taking action for girls’ education

In addition to basic literacy and math skills, communities have coalesced around improved access to vocational training at learning centers specifically for girls.

Young girls who attend the Mashema Arewa Adolescent Girls Learning Center in Itas Gadau in Bauchi now have the opportunity to learn skills like bead-making, knitting and sewing.

Azimi Abba was troubled by the number of girls in the community who had dropped out of school. With help from the Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria, a partner in the project, Abba has converted her own home into a place for girls to learn.

“We mobilized traditional leaders and community members to talk to parents to allow 45 girls to come and learn at the center. With the bead making they have learned to make earrings, necklaces and bracelets and they have learned to sew gowns, wraps and blouses. They also knit sweaters for children to wear during the cold,” says Abba.

The leadership committee managing the center provided the necessary materials, and the proceeds from selling the girls’ products will be invested back into the center.

“Our children were roaming the streets but now they are learning to read and write and also have a skill that could possibly become a business,” says Committee Chairman Magaji Abubakar. “They could use it to support their families.”

In Nigeria, creating pathways to financial success for adolescent girls

April 26, 2017

By Natalie Lovenburg and Chima Onwe

4 min read

Sitting on the ground in a circle surrounded by fellow adolescent girls, 16-year-old Hadiza Modu carefully weaves locally sourced plastic strands to produce decorative and functional hand fans of varied sizes and vibrant colors.

“I can create any design of hand fan I see,” she proudly says.

Modu is taking her future into the palm of her hands and turning a harsh reality into a positive opportunity.

Six years ago, Modu and her family fled her village after Boko Harm insurgents attacked her community of Buni Yadi, Gujba in Yobe state. Tragically, many of their neighbors were killed and injured.

After enrolling in the Nigeria Education Crisis Response program’s Adolescent Girls Program Center in her new village of Fika in Yobe state, Modu learned numeracy and literacy skills and how to make traditional Nigerian fans. The program is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Creative Associates.

“In Northern Nigeria, we have had many years of limited access to girls’ education, low enrollment, and the Boko Haram insurgency made this problem even worse with the attacks on schools and abduction of girls,” says Helen John, Gombe State Team Leader of the Nigeria Education Crisis Response.

With the help of the communities, the program is increasing availability of safe and protective learning spaces that provide core academic subjects, wrap-around services like socio-emotional support and life skills for internally displaced out-of-school adolescent girls–as well as boys–in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe and Yobe states.

To date, the program has reached 88,653 children in 1,300 non-formal learning centers and 139 formal schools in the five northern Nigeria states.

John, who leads the gender empowerment initiative of the program, says, “After gaining basic education skills, the girls at the Adolescent Girls Program Centers are being empowered and taught marketable skills appropriate for the local context.”

Since most of the families lost everything, children want to find a way to contribute. Engaging experienced local artisans to train the girls on low-cost vocational skills, they learn income-generating activities to help support their families and buy school supplies for themselves. Along with weaving local hand fans, the adolescent girls are taught how to knit, embroider, make pomade and soap, and extract groundnut oil.

Modu perfected her fan-weaving skills, after the end of a nine-month non-formal education program. With the extra earnings, she covered the expense of her school uniform and purchased her own books.

“More than 4,200 girls have been mainstreamed through the program,” says John. “Enrollment in the Adolescent Girls Program Centers is up 56 percent.”

Engaging families to advance girls’ empowerment

Modu’s entrepreneurial spirit has been an essential part of her–even at a young age.

When she wasn’t assisting her family with farm duties in her former village, she joined her peers to sell cookies along the street to make extra money to support her parents and eight siblings.

However, when the family migrated to an overstretched village with many others internally displaced persons, accessing educational and financial opportunities in the community was severely limited.

“One day, I heard from a friend that children were enrolling into learning centers and community people are leading the program,” says Modu. “I informed my father and he supported me by finding out where the enrollment was taking place.”

During the vocational skill training at the Adolescent Girls Program Center, Modu says she became interested in producing hand fans.

“My village used to be very hot during Harmattan [a season of a dry, dusty, strong wind on the West African coast] and people often use whatever they can find to fan themselves, this was why I was interested in producing hand fans,” she explains.

Her father, Modu Abdullahi, says he is grateful to the program for not only providing education to his child, but also vocational skills that guarantees her financial independence.

With initial support from her father, Modu says she procured raw material and began producing and selling the hand fans in the local market, making a profit of between 500 Naira and 1,000 Naira ($1.58 and $3.17) weekly.

“The skills that she has acquired are a blessing not only to her but also the entire family, because she no longer requires money from me for her little demands,” says Abdullahi. “She also supports the needs of our family.”

Now as a trainer at the Adolescent Girls Learning Center, she’s sharing her fan-making skills with other young learners–empowering even more girls to be financial independent and boosting their confidence.

“Having the opportunity to teach the adolescent girls is highly cherished by my family and the community,” she says. “I will ensure I leave a legacy by providing these adequate skills with the girls before they graduate–so that they feel empowered and self-reliant.”

Housing crisis places Lagos at crossroads between fragility and resilience

April 20, 2017

By Maggie Proctor

5 min read

Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos is a model of urban resilience but one facing serious threats of fragility – that is, vulnerability to conflict, violence, and human suffering.

These dynamics are clearly displayed in the city’s ongoing efforts to address economic growth, overcrowding and physical expansion. How state and local governments resolve that challenge will have wide-ranging effects not only on Lagos’ pathway toward greater resilience, or deeper fragility, but on Nigeria’s future as well.

Despite being in a recession, Nigeria remains one of the largest economies on the continent. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and Lagos is its largest and richest metropolitan area—a megacity with a population of approximately 21 million people.

Housing disparities heighten tensions

With real estate at a premium the cost of housing has risen to the point that most Lagosians cannot afford their own homes or are being pushed out of the humble ones they live in.

The city is restricted by its physical limits—it centers largely around three main islands and settlers are expanding into the mainland, while the state is dredging into the sea to create Dubai-like luxury estates, such as Eko Atlantic. Meanwhile, there are limited options for affordable housing and a large portion of the city’s poor live in unsanitary floating shanties.

Lagos’ government, however, has begun destroying these waterfront slums in recent months. On Nov. 10, 2016, bulldozers destroyed part of the Otodo Gbame neighborhood. Through a series of clashes, 15 died and approximately 30,000 people were left homeless. A court injunction halted the demolition in January – but despite the ruling more demolitions occurred on March 17 and April 9.

This is not unusual, as Lagos slum dwellers have been cast aside before. What is striking about the recent moves is that they are occurring at the same time that super-rich properties are being built, underscoring the growing gaps between the rich and poor in very stark terms.

Risks of fragility rise

This conflict presents many risk factors that may increase Lagos’ fragility.

Grievances are on the rise; the residents of Otodo Gbame were given no compensation for the destruction of their property, and those who have not been able to rebuild have been left homeless.

Lagos’ government’s approach to slum-clearance risks undermining the state’s political legitimacy in the eyes of dislocated citizens. Elected officials have developed a reputation for relative effectiveness and probity in the last several decades, which has helped them build trust with citizens. While the authorities’ claim that the evictions were a “security measure in the overall interest of all Lagosians,” the governments’ actions appear to prioritize interests of developers over the welfare of their most vulnerable constituents.

In addition, new developments like Eko Atlantic are creating environmental hazards. The sea wall built to protect Eko Atlantic from flooding and erosion may require huge costs to maintain, while at the same time it will increase the risks of flooding in adjacent poor neighborhoods.

With these factors, in addition to the ongoing economic recession, Lagos is increasing the risks of fragility in the name of development.

Leveraging sources of resilience

However, Lagos has considerable assets that its leaders could use to build resilience and mitigate those risk factors.

The government could leverage the trust it has previously built with citizens to collaboratively develop responses to the overcrowding problems with a better balance between the rights of residents and the need to foster economic development. If the government is determined to clear the slums, consulting the residents about relocation and compensation before demolition would considerably reduce citizen grievances.

Lagos could engage some of the city’s many entrepreneurs to develop innovative solutions for low-income housing and more reliable and cheaper services, such as clean water, sanitation, and electricity.

Addressing the immediate problems with housing will help Lagos reduce fragility, but becoming resilient – that is, not only returning to the status quo after a crisis, but continuing to improve and strengthen the community – has a longer-term effort.

The key to building greater resilience rests in the political legitimacy of Lagos’ leadership.

The state government can continue to build trust with citizens if it improves public services and the quality of life of its poorest as well as its richest citizens, enforces the rule of law, fosters inclusive economic growth and reduces inequality between rich and poor, while working to fundamentally improve its responsiveness and accountability to all the city’s residents.

The most volatile issue in the mix will be how the government manages the land issue—which land will be developed, for what purpose, and for whom?

Reducing economic inequality will be key to Lagos’ future resilience. Although more multi-millionaires are making their home in Lagos, the majority of the city remains very poor. As the class disparity increases, grievances will grow.

Lagos must also take proactive steps to address ecological and climate issues, particularly the storm surges that traditionally threaten the low-lying coastal areas of the city, made more threatening with the building of the sea wall around the new Eko Atlantic development.

This, too, is likely to exacerbate this ecology of the city as well as feed into group grievances – the sea wall may keep the wealthy residents of Eko Atlantic safe, but put poorer neighborhood at risk for worse flooding.

Land disposition will be a bellwether of whether Lagos fulfills its aspiration to be a model city of the 21st century that serves as a stable anchor of development for its residents and a dynamic engine of growth for the country as a whole, or a or a source of group division, marginalization and possible violence..

It is a community, in short, that contains the seeds of its own success or its own decline. Every effort needs to be made at this critical juncture to use Lagos’ considerable assets to tip the balance in favor of the former.

Maggie Proctor is a Technical Manager in the Governance and Community Resilience Practice Area at Creative Associates International.

Pauline Baker is Senior Governance Advisor at Creative Associates International and President Emeritus of the Fund for Peace.

Reading expert shares the power of illustrations to encourage literacy

April 14, 2017

5 min read

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Reading expert shares the power of illustrations to encourage literacy

By Natalie Lovenburg

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With experience implementing education projects in Afghanistan, Yemen and Nigeria, Joy du Plessis has supported learning and teaching material development with Ministries of Education in crisis-affected environments confronting challenges of educational access and quality.

More than 30 percent of school-aged children in Northern Nigeria do not have access to basic education.

Creative Associates International’s Senior Reading Specialist, Joy du Plessis, discusses the important role mother-tongue language and story illustrations in learning and teaching materials play to improve literacy education for all children, like those living amidst conflict and crises in northern Nigeria.

She is currently working with the Nigeria Northern Education Initiative Plus. Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Creative, the program supports three Northern states to improve the quality of education–especially for girls, orphans and vulnerable children. Working both in public schools and non-formal learning centers one of the program’s key objectives to improve children’s early literacy skills in Bauchi and Sokoto states.

The program recently rolled out a new Hausa early grade reading curriculum series, called “Mu Karanta! Let’s Read!” for students in first to third grades, with a transition to English in fourth grade.

What do the Hausa Mu Karanta! (Let’s Read in English) story illustrations aim to communicate?

du Plessis: Mustapha Bulama is a well-known artist and illustrator in Nigeria who has drawn for many publications including children’s story books. Hausa children and parents know his work very well, as many of his books focus on morals and the cultural context. You really need to have someone who understand the Hausa context to be able to capture the nuances, and he did very well.

We spent a lot of time selecting just the right illustration for the cover for each pupil’s book. We wanted to make them interesting and exciting for children, to draw them into the books. The illustrations are directly related to the curriculum themes in Hausa and reflect the northern Nigeria context.

We aimed to reflect strong, curious, lively and active girls and boys, especially girls. The drawings communicate cooperation, independence, curiosity, friendship, cultural norms and problem solving–all the socio-cultural-emotional lessons that the Nigerian developers wanted kids to learn in early grades. The images show boys and girls being equal, as well as how to use technology. The illustrations and the stories encourage the students to become critical thinkers and to question, predict, infer and analyze. We think they are enjoying learning to read because we see it in classrooms every day.

How were the Mu Karanta! learning materials developed?

du Plessis: This was a massive undertaking because we have 30 individual books including teacher guides and student books with 750 lessons. The biggest challenge was not being able to anticipate how much the design and development process was going to take–from the sheer quantity of the materials we needed to making sure there were zero mistakes.

It took about 11 months from the first meetings about the materials until the last book went to the printers. The initial stage was to get the stakeholders like the curriculum department and state actors involved in discussing who should participate.

Then, we held a series of workshops in Abuja which took about eight weeks. We brought together Hausa specialists, learning and teaching materials specialists, English specialists, teachers and storywriters.

The Northern Education Initiative Plus developed Mu Karanta! (Let’s Read!) materials that are based on global best practices in teaching children to learn to read in the early grades.

The design of the books really helps move students along gaining reading skills in primary first to third grades, with cumulative and sequential skill building leading to reading with understanding. By the end of third grade, students are reading text that is much longer, font is smaller and words are bigger, and the vocabulary is more difficult. There is also a lot of strategic repetition that gives children opportunities to practice and learn.

I think we have a great design. We benefited from a pilot program that tested out a model and some stories in 100 schools. My colleague, Fathi El- Ashry, Creative’s Senior Associate in Instructional Systems, provided further innovative aspects to the design and built on Creative’s existing reading models.

The whole process involves capacity building and so we stopped, reflected and discussed along the way with the Ministry of Education curriculum team about the theories and practices behind early grade reading and then went into the work with more depth and commitment. We also took time to talk about and include conflict-sensitivity, inclusiveness, and gender equity into the materials.

Finally, we engaged one English and three Hausa professors to ensure Standard Hausa was used and the language was acceptable. Because of all of these factors, the materials are quite scalable and can be used more widely outside of the states we are currently working in.

How did the parents and other community members react to the illustrations and stories included in the learning materials?

du Plessis: We’ve seen how the community is very happy with the illustrations and how they represent the culture. We also had validation of the materials with the community. Before the materials were printed, we tested them in the field with a large group of stakeholders to make sure they were socially and culturally relevant and acceptable.

There’s nothing for these students to read at home. The learning materials were designed in such a way for the students to easily take them back and forth from home to school every day, so they can practice reading aloud on their own, write in their books and answer comprehension questions. Parents make little book bags out of scrap materials and cloth so the kids can keep the books protected while going to and from school.

Since these little books are going home with kids, we have observed how enrollment has increased quite a lot in both states. Parents start seeing the materials in the community and start sending their children to school. The books are designed in such a way that even illiterate parents can see what’s going on and get a general understanding of the lessons, and even help their children with homework.

What inspires you to continue to work in countries facing crisis with challenging education environments like northern Nigeria?

du Plessis: In Nigeria, it’s a dream to engage with teachers, Ministry of Education officials and Creative’s staff. They are truly committed to the success of the NEI plus’s goal of improving education. I’ve seen how people have grown and how they work hard to make this program successful. Creative’s team brings a unique level of technical expertise and excellence and it feels like such a privilege to work with them.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

In Nigeria, 36,000 out-of-school children get a chance to learn

March 28, 2017

By Boco Abdul

4 min read

In Northern Nigeria’s Sokoto and Bauchi states, more than 36,000 children who were out-of-school now have the opportunity to pursue basic education through community non-formal learning centers.

As part of the Northern Education Initiative Plus project, 800 community non-formal learning centers have opened, bringing quality education to thousands of children who otherwise would not have access to schooling.

Barau Ishaq, a community leader in Sokoto, is celebrating one of the new learning facilities where children and youth will learn literacy and math. Ishaq says the non-formal learning center is a needed addition to the community, which is a long distance from a school.

“We have been forgotten for such a long time. In other places, children go to school but for us, our children have to walk several miles to go to school,” he says. “We dreamed that one day we will have something similar within the community and now our prayers have been answered.”

The Northern Education Initiative Plus project, which is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Creative, seeks to improve access and quality of education for more than 2 million school-aged children and youth in formal and non-formal schools.

At the non-formal learning centers, children between ages 5 to 18 attend classes for a minimum of six hours every week, receive textbooks and are taught literacy, numeracy and life skills to prepare them to be self-reliant in the future.

These centers thrive in communities where many children are disenfranchised from formal education. They run a flexible curriculum and provide opportunities for children without basic education to learn basic skills to do better as artisans, farmers or in business.

Bringing the school to the students

Sokoto’s Attakwanyo, where Ishaq lives, is the largest community in the Gwadabawa local government area. But despite its large size, it only has one primary school.

Operating since 1922, it is arguably the oldest school in the state. Classes take place about four times a year—or whenever the teacher shows up.

In Attakwanyo, very few youth transition to secondary school after primary school and an even smaller number actually graduate.

Many parents in Northern Nigeria simply can’t afford to send their children to school, considering the costs of supplies and uniforms. Compounding the problem, many cannot pursue an education because their help is needed at home or to contribute to the household income, often by working on the farm.

With little or no access to education, many children and youth rely only on Qur’anic schools, where they memorize and recite the holy book. Unfortunately, they do not learn the math, literacy and life skills needed to function effectively in today’s world.

In light of these challenges, the non-formal learning center is a very welcome addition to the community, explains Ishaq, who is partnering with other community members and leaders to sustain the non-formal learning centers and empower even more children and youth to receive a basic education.

“We are rallying together as a community to sustain this center even when the project ends. We want a future for our children,” he says.

Reaching vulnerable students, sparking a passion for learning

In Nigeria’s northern states, it is not a rare sight to see a large group of students sitting in an open area under the trees, and listening attentively to the learning facilitator teach them to pronounce and use vowels.

A similar scene at a new learning center in Attakwanyo is playing out, with more than 60 children and youth have gathered together to learn.

Although the Northern Education Initiative Plus project’s learning centers can accommodate a maximum of 45 students, the class session has moved outdoors, under the shade of a nearby tree, to make room for even more children.

Not formally enrolled in the learning center, the 15 additional children were willing to sit on the ground to listen to lessons and soak up new knowledge.

Nine-year old Bilyaminu Ismaila is one of the 45 students enrolled at the new non-formal learning center in Sokoto. For a child who has never attended school, in just two short months he is thriving as a new learner.

“I never dreamed of going to school. I am so excited. I like my books, and I like my teachers,” says Ismaila, who can now count from 1 to 100, as well as combine consonants and vowels to form words in the Hausa language.

The project’s learning and teaching materials have been edited by Nigeria’s best Hausa and English experts to ensure that Standard Hausa is used and that the materials are embedded in the local culture and traditions.

In Bauchi’s Misau local government area, Aishat Sa’adu is experiencing a similar learning transformation. Sa’adu, who attends classes at a learning center for adolescent girls, can now recognize the letters in the alphabet and can count from 1 to 100.

Sa’adu—who dropped out of school before, got married and was divorced by the age of 16—is immensely proud of these major learning achievements.

The learning center has rekindled her desire for education, she says.

At home, she practices with other children, pairing consonants and vowels together and pronouncing the sounds loudly. She is determined to continue to study hard.

Putting the past behind her and forging ahead to a promising future, Sa’adu proudly explains, “I will complete the program at the center and hopefully further my education.”

‘All hands on deck’ to strengthen education in Northern Nigeria, say experts at CIES

March 13, 2017

By Natalie Lovenburg

5 min read

More than 30 percent of school-aged children in Northern Nigeria do not have access to basic education. Attacks by the Boko Haram insurgency in the region compound the problem; more than 1 million school-aged children have been forced to flee their homes.

In crisis-affected environments like this, strengthening education systems and enrollment in secure learning environments is critical. Yet reform cannot succeed and be sustained unless all key stakeholders take clear ownership of their respective roles, said experts on a panel at the Comparative and International Education Society conference on March 7.

“A close collaborative working relationship between all of the partners—the project implementers, USAID and the state government is imperative,” said Croshelle Harris-Hussein, Director of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Education Office in Nigeria.

Opening the panel session called “System Strengthening for Improved Reading Outcomes and Increased Access in Northern Nigeria: Perspectives and Practices from the USAID Northern Education Initiative Plus Program,” Harris-Hussein said that when thinking about system strengthening in education, certain factors should inform the design of the project—such as governance, transparency and accountability. These are necessary to reach the ultimate goal of creating safe learning spaces for all beneficiaries.

Establishing strong local and state governmental systems can result in improved service delivery for teacher training, curriculum development and delivery of instructional materials, she added.

With these best practices in mind, USAID has launched the Nigeria Education Initiative Plus project to rebuild and strengthen the education system and increase access to quality education in Nigeria’s Sokoto and Bauchi states. It is implemented by Creative Associates International.

The project is building program ownership among federal, state and local government education authorities, as well as ensuring commitment to quality early grade reading instruction and access to education.

Early assessments map challenges and guide project design

In Sokoto state, the Northern Education Initiative Plus supports 10 out of the 23 local government areas. Sokoto’s Commissioner of Basic and Secondary Education, Muhammed Jabbi Kilgori, Ph.D, partners with the project to oversee basic education in the targeted schools.

On the panel, Kilgori discussed pre-existing challenges to the education system in Sokoto and Bauchi. “We discovered weak implementation of policy, inadequate political will and lack of proper budgetary allocation and fund release for basic education,” he said.

He also noted several other systemic challenges in both states, such as no existing reading policy and a lack of teaching quality and motivation among teachers—all resulting in low student performance.

A 2011 Early Grade Reading Assessment conducted in Sokoto and Bauchi revealed that more than 80 percent of Sokoto students and 70 percent of Bauchi students assessed scored zero on the oral reading fluency subtask.

The findings from this early grade reading assessment— the first in Nigeria’s Hausa language—have helped inform and shape project priorities such as delivering basic education focused on reading skills, training and managing teachers, budgeting and ensuring school governance is sufficient.

Kilgori added that poor school facilities and a lack of community and parental participation, such as Parent Teacher Associations, are additional challenge for the education system to address.

Given the quality of education offered, Kilgori said families in poverty carefully weigh the cost of keeping their children at home to contribute to the household income versus spending hours traveling back and forth to school and sitting in a classroom all day.

“Parents see no point in bringing their child to school when the classroom isn’t operational and the children go back home knowing nothing,” said Kilgori.

To begin to address these challenges and bring quality education to Sokoto and Bauchi states, stakeholders came together as a cohesive group to establish a strategic plan of action.

“Basic education in Sokoto and Bauchi requires all hands on deck,” said Kilgori. “That means that everyone must work together to address the challenges on the ground.”

Kilgori noted progress is being made in the targeted areas and learning competencies–especially with girls–have improved through the various project interventions.

Rethinking existing basic education policies

Despite the challenges, the coalition of partners working on the Nigeria Education Initiative Plus are optimistic about what their sustained and collaborative efforts to strengthen the system can achieve.

“Education is the most viable platform to empower people,” said Muhammed Bello Yusuf, Nigeria Education Initiative Plus Reading Officer. “The partners are committed, motivated and have the political will to fix problems and to transform Nigeria’s education system.”

All of the partners meet monthly for joint planning and to review the project’s progress and tackle issues that arise. Timely measurement and monitoring of these activities, as well as regularly communicating success and challenges with all of the stakeholders, helps to address issues quickly, explained Yusuf.

Recognizing that states need support to effectively implement these sustainable and systemic education reforms, the project uses an integrated approach to strengthen the education system. The project partners with states to assess in-depth institution capacity; establish Technical Working Groups and Education Steering Committees; strengthens the policy environment; and leverage the expertise of multilevel stakeholders.

The integrated model is essential to the project’s goals, said Musa Salami, Nigeria Education Initiative Plus System Strengthening Specialist.

“To reach the project’s education objectives, bringing all of these key aspects together has been important to articulate why there is a need for education policy reform and how it contributes to state GDP gains,” he said.

Early project achievements are moving in the right direction, he noted.

The two supported states have committed over 20 percent of their annual state budgets to education. They have taken steps to improve systems for book allocation, distribution and utilization, and have enrolled more than 35,000 learners in non-formal learning centers.

This renewed state commitment, along with the support of communities, donors and other partners, is critical to improving quality basic education in the two states, said Garba Gandu, Deputy Director of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council.

“To be sustainable, education system strengthening in the North is everybody’s business– from the local community to government officials,” he said.

Applying behavioral insights leads to targeted solutions, say experts at CIES

March 9, 2017

By Natalie Lovenburg

5 min read

Combining behavioral insights with social emotional learning are essential to improved student achievements for school-aged children in conflict and crisis environments, according to experts on a panel at the Comparative and International Education Society conference on March 7.

Panelists at the session called “Using Behavioral Insights to Improve Learning and School Safety in Humanitarian and Development Contexts: Preliminary Findings and Potential New Directions” point to case studies from India, Kenya, Lebanon, Morocco, Nigeria and Timor-Leste, among other countries, that are leveraging behavior insights to reach education program targets.

Behavior insights—the emerging science that goes beyond traditional economics that analyzes how people make decisions and take actions—can play a role in complimenting existing programming, shaping effective policy and addressing future issues in the classroom, said panel experts.

“Why does the science of behavior matter?” asked Josh Martin, Vice President of Ideas42, an organization that applies behavioral science research to tackle complex social problems. “Addressing challenges and applying targeted low-cost interventions requires understanding psychological barriers that can have a detrimental impact on learning outcomes.”

While education is the foundation of the Nigeria Education Crisis Response project, children traumatized by conflict and upheaval can only learn when their fears are also addressed.

Exposure to conflict can result in deep psychological trauma that can have long-lasting effects on children’s mental health and cognitive abilities. Many of these children are fleeing violence, having witnessed the destruction of their homes and even the killing of family members.

“When considering refugees in the humanitarian context and the extreme challenges they face that creates cognitive depletion, behavior insights are going to be extremely important to the kind of problems and solutions we are able to provide,” said Martin.

Integrating behavior insights in education programming design allows the development of effective and tailored intervention strategies to support students with specific psychosocial needs.

With more than 263 million children and youth out-of-school worldwide, analyzing barriers to education is needed. In conflict-affected countries, children face significant challenges in receiving a quality education–or an education at all. Lack of school infrastructure and sufficient learning materials, as well as ongoing safety and security concerns, keep the most vulnerable students out of the classroom.

Natan Last, Innovation Strategist on the Research and Development team at International Rescue Committee (IRC)’s Airbel Center, works closely with IRC technical units in health, education, among others, to spur innovation in humanitarian aid. By bringing together field staff, designers, strategists, researchers and technical experts, the Airbel Center aims to uncover innovative ideas that make positive impact.

“We need the spur of innovation now more than ever,” said Last. “To demonstrate higher impact but to help solve enormous global challenges in delivering interventions, like the increasing urgency of the humanitarian crisis–especially in education.”

“Through better design, we can gain a clearer understanding of behavior in context that has the potential to lead to promising interventions and solutions,” said Last. “And lean from failure to success.”

Innovative education interventions leveraging social emotional learning

Julia Finder, Technical Manager, Education in Conflict at Creative Associates International, presented a framework that Creative developed to provide at-risk youth in both humanitarian and development contexts with support needed to positively change social behaviors.

“Context is extremely important when examining how to best support social emotional learning and social behavior change,” said Finder.

To demonstrate the framework, she provided case studies based on Creative’s projects in Nigeria, Honduras, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste and Morocco, among other countries.

Creative’s Julia Finder, Technical Manager in Education in Conflict, presented on a CIES panel called ““Using Behavioral Insights to Improve Learning and School Safety in Humanitarian and Development Contexts: Preliminary Findings and Potential New Directions.”

To properly address social behavior change, understanding what impacts children and youth is essential.

“When designing a new project, there are several key technical questions Creative aims to address,” she said.

Among the technical issues Creative seeks to address are:

What are the behaviors are we seeking to change?
What conditions in the school environment lead to positive and also negative social behavior?
What type of support is realistic, given the context?
Who can deliver these interventions?
How will this be sustainable one the project ends?

Targeted interventions in the school, the community and home all play a role in supporting social emotional learning.

Creative applies a “whole child, whole teacher, whole school, and whole system approach,” to address critical supply and demand factors that affect learning, teaching, management, parental participation and responsiveness to children’s needs.

“Each entity play’s a critical role in providing holistic support and they must all interact together to be effective in changing social behavior,” according to Finder.

Creative applies a multi-tiered approach in design, where the least at-risk learners are at the top and the most at-risk learners are at the bottom. This approach helps assess and identify individual need and tailors intervention to encourage stability, learning and growth.

Finder demonstrated how this approach works by applying it to the Nigeria Education Crisis Response project, which is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Creative, IRC and local partners.

In Northern Nigeria, more than 2.2 million people—including more than 1 million school-aged children—have been displaced from their homes due to the Boko Haram insurgency.

In addition to psychosocial support, the project has established non-formal learning centers that provide literacy and math education and, for older youth, livelihoods training as many families have been uprooted from their homes and sources of income.

“Once we apply the framework and assess individual needs, we then devise a plan,” said Finder. “Depending on the changes we’re observing with the students, we then change the dosage and frequency of support.”

Looking through the multi-tiered approach lens helps to tailor specific interventions.

When applying the multi-tiered approach in the targeted schools, findings emerged that female students were not staying in school and not completing their education.

Creative provided additional support and training for the girls in order to achieve the same outcomes as their male peers.

Moving forward, Finder emphasized the need for additional research to promote behavior change.

“We need to build a further understanding on what support is available and how we can effectively design measurement tools to isolate specific interventions to determine their individual impact,” said Finder. “And we want to support communities in identifying what skills they need to ensure they can provide continual support to at-risk children and youth.”

Tech can help bridge education gaps in crisis, say experts at CIES

March 9, 2017

By Jillian Slutzker

5 min read

Children and youth in conflict-affected countries are more than twice as likely to be out-of-school than their peers in non-conflict countries, reports UNESCO.

Schools that manage to retain students during conflict face other challenges—including insecurity, a lack of materials and limited support for teachers.

Technology-based solutions may help to remedy some of these education challenges in crisis, but only when tailored to the specific conflict context, said project implementers and Information Communications Technology experts speaking on “Conflict Sensitivity in ICT for Education in Crisis and Conflict Programming” at the Comparative and International Education Society conference on March 8.

Working on education in Nigeria’s northern states of Bauchi and Sokoto, where the terrorist group Boko Haram has attempted to take control, Daniel Fwanshishak has seen firsthand the strains on an education system in the midst of conflict, as well as the benefits of targeted technology solutions.

“Every time Northern Nigeria is mentioned of course we think about the conflict going on now,” said Fwanshishak, Teacher Education Officer for the Northern Education Initiative Plus. The project is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Creative Associates International.

Fwanshishak said that conflict in the region compounds pre-existing problems facing students and teachers, such as limited access to education, a lack of resources, deteriorated infrastructure and poor teacher professional development and training.

“What we are doing with the project in Nigeria is trying to bridge the gap that already exists and is already complicated because of the conflict situation, so we are emphasizing access and supporting the system to provide that,” he said, noting that the project works hand-in-hand with Ministry of Education to shore up a sustainable system, even through insecurity.

The project has developed three ICT-based solutions.

To pay teachers, many of whom do not have formal bank accounts and cannot risk their own safety traveling with large cash payments, the project implemented a mobile payment system benefiting 200 teachers in Bauchi and Sokoto states.

To help ensure teachers had the resources they needed to teach students, the project jumpstarted a mobile supply-chain tracking system, by which the state governments, local education offices and then the schools are all notified at each subsequent stage of materials shipment. Schools confirm delivery, which helps to hold education authorities at the state and local level accountable.

Lastly, to motivate teachers working in isolated or insecure environments, with poor training and little support, the project initiated a mobile coaching system through which they could stay connected and receive ongoing support.

As with all interventions in conflict, adaptability is an asset in a shifting security landscape, Fwanshishak added.

“Because of an absence of a very good working environment, sometimes the systems fail, but we take that into consideration…We make it as open as possible and as flexible as possible.”

Tech can supplement, not replace holistic and interactive programming

Technology can provide targeted solutions to specific obstacles in conflict, such as paying teachers where banks are inaccessible, but it is not a substitute for a holistic, conflict-sensitive program, noted panelists.

“The ICT doesn’t work alone. It is embedded in a larger system and it’s not there to replace the human interaction, but there to support it,” said discussant Lisa Hartenberger Toby, Senior International Technical Advisor at Education Development Center.

One example of such a program is the Learning and Empowerment for Adolescent Refugees in Neighborhood program, which aimed to provide learning opportunities for out-of-school Syrian refugee adolescents in Gazientep, Turkey. It was implemented by Mercy Corps, until its operations were closed on March 7 by Turkish authorities.

The program’s intention was to address the unique situations of out-of-school adolescent refugees, including social isolation, especially for girls, nontraditional schedules due to work to support family and misinformation about educational opportunities available to them.

It combined a blended learning model of individual sessions with an instructor, self-study using tablets, peer group sessions with the same instructor and parental awareness sessions.

This blended approach offered an on-ramp to education for students displaced and out-of-school for potentially years, explained Karen Scriven, Senior Director of Strategic Programs at Mercy Corps.

“The tablets allow [the youth] the flexibility of being able to get back into an educational routine without having to risk going out,” she said, especially for young women who may be more restricted in their mobility

Meanwhile, by adding the in-person blended learning components, the programs aimed to prepare adolescents for their unique goals: whether rejoining formal schooling, passing exams, continuing non-formal learning or entering the workforce, said Scriven.

“There’s a lot of different paths these adolescents can take, and we want to be sure that this blended learning program can help them with any of these outcomes.”

Critical considerations for ICT design in conflict settings

Today, more than 65 million people around the world are displaced due to conflict or persecution, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. For technology for development designers, this means business can no longer operate as usual.

“The reality is that more and more people across the world and more and more people we work with and partners we work with are working in conflict settings, so that changes a lot concerning what we can do and how we can access our participants and beneficiaries, wherever that might be,” said Ben Donahue, Senior Business Development Manager at technology for development organization Souktel.

In particular, said Donahue, implementers introducing technology solutions into conflict settings must work to ensure safety and security of data and personnel; for example, by sending survey data collected immediately to a server and wiping it from mobile devices to protect survey enumerators from harm.

He said that implementers will also need to understand people’s levels of access to and familiarity with various types of technology, as access can often be limited in conflict-settings and well-intentioned tools may fall flat if they don’t resonate with the intended users and beneficiaries.

“There’s an increasing realization that ICT has a lot of capacity but it needs to be appropriate to the context, especially if you’re working in a conflict setting,” he said.

A last critical piece to using ICT in conflict settings, noted Donahue, is to build relationships with local and trusted partners form the start.

He cited a project designed to use SMS with built-in translation to allow Syrian refugees in Turkey to communicate with and get legal advice from Turkish lawyers.

The app failed to catch on, however, due to the refugees’ hesitation. They did not know or trust the lawyers on the other end of the message. It was only when the tool was paired with well-known and trusted refugee service agencies, as part of a broader array of supports, that the messaging service gained users.

Ultimately, panelists agreed, that should be the driving force behind any ICT solution form design to implementation and revision: developing a tool that works for and supports the intended beneficiaries to reach their optimal outcomes.

And that requires understanding the conflict context, partner and beneficiary needs and sensitivities around the technology itself, concluded Donahue.

“The technology itself is just the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

Creative celebrates partnerships, success & future in Nigeria

February 28, 2017

1 min read

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Creative celebrates partnerships, success & future in Nigeria

By Jillian Slutzker

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]On Feb. 23 in Abuja, Creative convened key partners, friends, donors and staff to celebrate important achievements and partnerships through Creative-implemented projects in Nigeria. Creative’s Africa Strategy for development was also an important topic of discussion.

The reception, held at the Transcorp Hilton, was attended by more than 130 key stakeholders, including DFID Education Advisor Esohe Eigbike and Bappah Aliyu, head of the National Commission for Colleges of Education, among other Nigerian government officials and international development practitioners.

Representing the company from Washington, D.C. were CEO Charito Kruvant, Director of Executive Operations Tim Kernan and Senior Advisor of Global Operations Charlie Alliman, among others. Also in attendance were staff from Creative’s three USAID-funded projects in the country: Northern Education Initiative Plus, Nigeria Education Crisis Response Program, and the Nigeria Regional Transition Initiative.

Photos by Erick Gibson.

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300,000 textbooks distributed to children in northern Nigeria

February 6, 2017

By Boco Abdul

3 min read

More than 300,000 textbooks were delivered to students and teachers in January through Northern Education Initiative Plus, a U.S. Agency for International Development funded project that improves the early grade reading skills of children in nearly 900 primary schools in Sokoto state.

At a ceremonial delivery of the new textbooks, representatives of the state government and USAID remarked on the importance of quality, locally focused reading materials for students.

USAID Mission Director Michael Harvey told attendees: “Every child deserves quality basic education. The United States is proud to partner with the Government of Sokoto state to provide more opportunities for children to not just go to school but learn to read and write.”

USAID was joined by Sokoto Gov. Aminu Tambuwal and Commissioner of Education Dr. Muhammad Kilgori, among other elected officials and community leaders, on Jan. 24 to kick off the distribution of the books in a ceremony at Buhari Model Primary school in the Tambuwal local government area.

“We remain committed to investing in the future of our children through education and the U.S government is a worthy partner in this vision,” said the Education Commissioner. “It is important that every child in school learns to read and this is why we are cascading the reading program of the Northern Education Initiative Plus to all schools in Sokoto state.”

Sokoto Gov. Tambuwal reiterated the government’s commitment to improving the quality of basic education in schools so more children acquire basic literacy skills.

USAID’s Mission Director agreed: “We will continue to meet the yearnings of parents for quality early grade reading instruction for their children. Our education efforts in Sokoto is an investment in the future of children who will grow to contribute positively to their communities.”

Increasing access to quality education in local language

Based on global best practices in teaching young students, the Northern Education Initiative Plus program materials promote education quality, access, conflict sensitivity and particularly early grade reading. The program teaches children to read early, while building their socio-emotional and cognitive skills.

The 300,000 textbooks distributed to schools and are coupled with providing teachers in Sokoto with skills and tools to support early grade reading in Hausa, which is one of the most common languages in Northern Nigeria. The students will transition to English later in the program.

Developed by more than 100 local and international experts, the program’s learning and teaching materials contain illustrative pictures and local stories promoting social values that are attractive to children. The materials have been edited by Nigeria’s best Hausa and English experts to ensure that local language use is correct and that they are embedded in the local culture and traditions.

The five-year, Nigerian government-led Northern Education Initiative Plus program aims to improve reading outcomes of more than 2 million primary grade learners in 6,868 schools and 11,129 non-formal learning centers in the Bauchi and Sokoto states.

The program will train and equip around 45,000 teachers and learning facilitators who can reach children in schools and non-formal learning centers.

Last October, the Northern Education Initiative Plus program distributed 1 million textbooks in Nigeria’s Bauchi state, empowering even more teachers and students in the northern states to reach their full potential.

NIGERIA: Fresh starts, new skills for internally displaced children

November 7, 2016

2 min read

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NIGERIA:

Fresh starts, new skills for internally displaced children

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]For thousands of displaced children and youth across Northern Nigeria, a long and perilous journey is finally giving way to hope and healing. In partnership with USAID’s Education Crisis Response program, host communities are providing these traumatized youth with shelter, psychosocial support, education and skills to regain stability and chart a brighter future.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]

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FOR NIGERIAN CHILDREN, BACK TO SCHOOL MEANS BACK TO NORMAL

When Boko Haram attacked, 14-year-old Lillian and her family fled. For out-of-school, displaced and traumatized children like Lillian, the Education Crisis Response Program offers a chance to resume their educations and ultimately return to formal school.

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NEW SKILLS MEAN NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR DISPLACED NIGERIAN TEENS

Sixteen-year-old Muhammed learned how to make little jars of scented lotion through an after-class program. For internally displaced teens like him, having a trade helps them regain stability and chart a future.

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NIGERIAN ORGANIZATIONS STEP IN TO SUPPORT DISPLACED CHILDREN AMONG THEM

Violence in Northern Nigeria has forced more than 2 million people to flee their homes. Many of them have sought support and shelter in host communities that are stepping up in cooperation with USAID.

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IN REMOTE NIGERIAN VILLAGES, EDUCATION BUILDS COMMUNITY FOR DISPLACED STUDENTS

In the remote village of Lauki, USAID and local residents are finding ways to create greater access to quality education for displaced school-aged children. A community-built school is benefiting local and displaced children alike.

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