1 million textbooks delivered to children in Northern Nigeria

October 6, 2016

4 min read

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1 million textbooks delivered to children in Northern Nigeria

By Boco Edet Abdul

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Caption: Governor of Bauchi State Mohammed Abubakar presents the Northern Education Initiative textbooks to a student during the kickoff event. Photo by Boco Edet Abdul. — Governor of Bauchi State Mohammed Abubakar presents the Northern Education Initiative textbooks to a student during the kickoff event. Photo by Boco Edet Abdul.

BAUCHI — More than 200 elected officials and community leaders kicked off the distribution of 1 million textbooks developed by the Northern Education Initiative Plus to children in the this northern state.

Northern Education Initiative Plus, a project supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development, distributed books to more than 1,750 primary schools and 400 non-formal learning centers. The event also launched a program on improve the early grade teaching methodology for 6,000 teachers.

Bauchi Gov. Mohammed Abubakar told attendees: “Our goal is to use education to reduce poverty, illiteracy and improve access to information translating all these to tools for peaceful coexistence and harmonious relationships in our state.”

Bauchi state is making renewed investments towards the education sector. It recently accessed a $5 million fund from the federal government to improve basic education in the state. In 2016, the state allocated 20 percent of its annual budget to education.

Gov. Abdullahi commended the Northern Education Initiative Plus for improving the capacity of the Ministry of Education, agencies and local government authorities to address barriers to school participation in the state.

“This project has given us the impetus to meet our goal of improving quality and standard of education,” Gov. Abdullahi said.

James Statman, who leads the Northern Education Initiative Plus program, highlighted the close collaboration of everyone involved in early grade reading program.

“We rely on Bauchi state to continue to provide the leadership and expertise to drive this project. We want children to learn to read so they stay longer in school translating to better lives for themselves,” Statman said.

Teacher professional development

A teacher from Tudunwada Primary School, Toro local government area in Bauchi state, learns new methods to teach reading through the Early Grade Reading training program. Photo by Boco Edet Abdul.

As part of a multi-level training program in Bauchi state, 18 leading education experts called “Master Trainers” have trained 220 school managers as “Trainers-of-Teachers,” who in turn are now preparing and supporting teachers to implement the early grade reading program in schools.

In the non-formal learning centers, 10 Master Trainers have trained 80 Mentor Facilitators to coach and mentor 400 learning facilitators to deliver a learner-friendly curriculum to children.

Teacher professional development is a priority of the government of Bauchi state.

Chairman of the Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board, Prof. Yahya Yero, applauds the program’s focus on building the skills of teachers.

“No education system can rise above the quality of its teachers and this invariably affects the performance of its pupils and students. The Northern Education Initiative Plus investment in teachers is very timely,” said Yero.

Global approach to reading

The inability of children to read and write in their mother tongue is a global problem. Early Grade Reading Assessments conducted in Northern Nigeria in 2014 showed that in Bauchi 84 percent of children in third grade could not read a single word in Hausa.

The Northern Education Initiative Plus aims to address this challenge in Bauchi state with its early grade reading program by teaching children to read early while building their socio-emotional and cognitive skills.

Senior Reading Specialist of the Initiative, Joy du Plessis, emphasized the need for early grade reading.

“Learning to read at an early age is one of the great equalizers,” she said. “With good teachers and materials and support to parents, even those who are unable to read and write, all children have a better chance at being successful in school, not just children from well-off families who may have books at home and promote reading to their children.”

World-class teaching and learning materials

The new reading textbooks will be distributed to more than 1,750 primary schools and 400 non-formal learning centers. Photo by David Snyder.

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 materials were developed by more than 100 local experts from Bauchi and Sokoto states’ University and Colleges of Education, State Universal Basic Education Boards, Federal Ministry of Education, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, National Commission for Colleges of Education supported by globally recognized international reading experts from the Northern Education Initiative Plus.

The Mu Karanta! materials have been edited by Nigeria’s best Hausa and English experts to ensure that Standard Hausa is used, language use is correct, and that the materials are embedded in the local culture and traditions. They are reviewed and validated in Bauchi state by a wide range of stakeholders.

“They were also produced at a cost that is affordable for the state, without sacrificing quality,” said du Plessis. “Working with relevant authorities and community structures, the Initiative is also helping to train parents on how they can support their child’s reading at home, get them to school every day and on time and support the school and community in promoting a reading culture.”

The five-year, Nigerian government-led Northern Education Initiative Plus is funded by the U.S Agency for International Development and aims to improve reading outcomes of more than 2 million primary grade learners in 6,868 schools and 11,129 non-formal learning centers.

The program is implemented by Creative Associates International.

Partnering with Creative are three U.S.-based international organizations—Education Development Center (EDC), Florida State University (FSU), Overseas Strategic Consulting (OSC)—and four local organizations—Value Minds, Association for Education Development Options (AEDO), Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA) and the Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN).[/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]

In remote Nigerian villages, education builds community for displaced students

October 3, 2016

By Jennifer Brookland

5 min read

The Northern Nigerian village of Lauki is far away. It is far from the state capital of Bauchi, far from hospitals, far from schools. It is a 45-minute rough, dusty drive from the main paved road.

And yet Lauki has become a destination for hundreds of Nigerians who were forced from their homes by Boko Haram and are trying to rebuild their lives in this remote village.

Reaching displaced children can be challenging as their families move around or settle in far-flung places recommended by family members, former neighbors and friends. And sometimes, getting host communities to welcome and accept new additions can take convincing.

That is not the case in Lauki, where the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Education Crisis Response Program is finding ways to create greater access to quality education for displaced school-aged children. While the program has brought training and resources to the community, it is residents who stepped up to actually build a school.

“This is where you see the community come together to say, ‘This project has shown to us that you can actually come together and build a small center that will allow our children to have access to education.’ And they went ahead and did that,” says Ayo Oladini, the Program Director.

“That is huge,” he says. “And it’s inspirational.”

USAID’s Education Crisis Response program is implemented by Creative Associates International, the International Rescue Committee, state governments and local organizations.

A community contribution

The Education Crisis Response program works in Bauchi and four other Northern Nigerian states to bring literacy and basic math courses and psychosocial support to more than 54,000 students through more than 1,100 non-formal learning centers.

USAID’s program is designed to reach displaced children who have scattered across Northern Nigeria, whose educations have been disrupted and futures put on hold.

But in remote places like Lauki, bringing new opportunities for learning benefits host and displaced children alike. School-aged children and youth from Lauki were walking up to five kilometers each way to class. With no nearby options, many families chose not to send their children to school at all.

“We understand we were backward educationally,” says Alhaji Musa Galadima, Lauki’s Village Chief. “The schools around us are far; whenever we asked children to go to school, they are discouraged…by the distance.”

When Education Crisis Response program came to Lauki, it connected community groups into coalitions, and advised them on education advocacy and coalition building.

“The ownership of the non-formal learning centers can only be realized if you allow [communities] to be involved and to participate in…the process,” says Oladini.

A committee of residents and local leaders always determines the learning center locations. And community coalitions comprised of local organizations make action plans to support education for internally displaced students.

Brought together by the program and informed about the power of collective action, these community coalitions also identify people to be trained as facilitators, take responsibility for protecting internally displaced children from abuse or stigmatization and mobilize the community to support the center with school materials.

Members of 42 such coalitions in the three states learned about “Do No Harm” principles that could help guide them as they shape the experience of displaced children in the new non-formal learning centers.

Master trainers selected and prepared by the program and its state and local partners will also help them think through the Community Action Cycle—an approach that empowers the community to identify both problems and solutions.

We can all see its results

Mohammed Fawa serves as the Chairman of the Community Coalition. He says the members received in-depth training on the importance of coming together and supporting those in need, especially internally displaced persons.

But with about 50 young students trying to learn under the shade of a tree, the coalition realized they could contribute to a much more effective learning environment.

Coalition members visited with traditional leaders and advocated across the community for building a non-formal learning center that would benefit host and displaced children alike.

“What encouraged us was [that] right from the beginning when the school started there was no structure. Yet, [the program] came and established schools; identified and trained teachers; provided teaching and learning materials; and the children were provided with meals,” Fawa says. “If somebody could come from far away country to give you these huge supports, courtesy demands you do something to show your appreciation. This was why we thought to do something as a community’s contribution.”

On top of the advocacy and community sensitization, coalition members pitched in on the actual construction of the center.

“There was difficulty in having total class control when we were studying under tree shades,” says Dahim Mahmoud, a Facilitator in Lauki’s non-formal learning center. Now, Mahmoud says he has the children’s full attention.

Now that classes are up and running, community coalition members continue to visit the school and meet with facilitators to see what other help they can provide.

The community coalition’s work, and the program’s inclusive and effective curriculum, has already achieved what Fawa calls a “major victory”: For the first time, 30 students from Lauki’s primary school took the upper basic exams. All of them passed and enrolled.

“This impresses me and gives me pleasure and assurance that our work has been a success,” Fawa says.

For now, these students will have to travel each day to get to an upper basic school. But Fawa points out that the community intentionally built Lauki’s new learning center much larger than it needed to be for the program’s purposes.

“You might have noticed the size of the structure is big,” he says. “This is because we do not know what will happen next.”

If this community has its way, they will continue to advocate for education for children who are new to Lauki and for children who never left home. They hope to turn the school into an upper basic or even secondary school—allowing children from the far-flung town to continue their education in a way never before possible.

“We do not want the schooling to come to an end, even after the project,” Fawa says. “My call to our people is, let them consider what we did as a lesson. Because it is only a meager amount, yet we can all see its impact.”

Reported from Nigeria by Michael J. Zamba and Aishatu Aminu.

Nigerian organizations step in to support displaced children among them

September 26, 2016

By Jennifer Brookland

6 min read

Violence in Northern Nigeria has forced more than 2 million people to flee their homes—often with little more than the clothes on their backs. Only a handful of traditional camps have been established for these internally displaced persons, and instead they have sought support and even shelter in communities throughout Nigeria.

“There is a culture of philanthropy in northern Nigeria, and let me say Africa in general,” says Ayo Oladini, Program Director of the Nigeria Education Crisis Response program. “These are our brothers. And if they are brothers, then we need to help. And that’s where a lot of it starts from.”

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s Education Crisis Response program is helping to combine this local support with U.S. government funds to better serve the internally displaced school-aged children. USAID’s program is implemented by Creative Associates International, the International Rescue Committee and dozens of local organizations.

It is setting up more than 1,100 non-formal learning centers that provide educational opportunities to more than 54,000 school-aged boys and girls whose education has been disrupted as their lives have been uprooted.

Instead of viewing U.S. support as a stand-in for their own contributions, Nigerians see the assistance as inspiration to rise to the challenge.

Government organizations, religious groups, nongovernmental organizations and philanthropies are now coming forward with clothing, food, money and supplies in a way that makes the Education Crisis Response program more effective and more sustainable channel for the displaced school-aged children and youth.

This center belongs to us

Families who escaped Boko Haram’s violence often assumed that they could go home relatively soon.

Days, months and in some cases even years have passed. At the non-formal learning centers, they receive essential educational support—as well blankets, uniforms, chalk, school supplies and even food from Nigerian organizations that want to show their support.

Lami I. Hassam from the Christian ministry Aglow International describes spending her own money and carting four or five boxes of books and pencils back from the market, “to show our own support to these displaced children.”

The results were immediate. Children who have clothes to wear, pencils to write with and breakfast to eat are showing up eager and able to learn again.

The Federation of Muslim Women’s Association of Nigeria, which works on women and youth development in all of Nigeria’s 36 states, has consistently made education a key component of its efforts. For its members, supporting displaced children’s educational needs was a natural calling for them.

“From what we have seen, there is a great change in [the displaced children] because the support, no matter how little, [that] you happen to give them, definitely you will see the impact in them,” says Fadhimahi Usman of the Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations of Nigeria.

Representatives of the Federation met with officials and displaced people in Gombe state to find out what their needs were and started providing school supplies, clothing and food.

Seeing how much its support benefits the kids is encouraging them to keep going, and keep giving.

The Federation plans to open two skill acquisition centers in areas with a high volume of displaced women and children to provide training that could set them on a path toward reconstructing their livelihoods.

“At the end of the day, they will be able to help themselves,” says Usman. “They will be able to find something tangible for themselves.”

As non-formal learning centers funded by the program look to organizations like these for material and other support, they find that the burden of caring for and educating displaced children also reinforces their sense of ownership.

Community members are the ones approaching education agencies and Nigerian philanthropies explaining what they need and why it matters.

“They say, ‘Look, we have this center. We need this we need that,” says Oladini. “And they provide all this for them. So you see that in totality, this community, the institutions, the government…are already [putting] their minds towards saying, ‘This center belongs to us,’ and they are working all for that.”

Their efforts are paying dividends: Successful advocacy by program partners including the Federation of Muslim Women’s Association of Nigeria convinced the Emir of Gombe to provide 1,000 displaced kids with school uniforms and books. Another philanthropist in that state donated the equivalent of $212,000 to support more than 3,000 children.

Taking care of our children

At Alheri Model High School in Gombe state, children have never been turned away for not being able to pay.

Principal Henry Pundi says that sort of institutional compassion is part of the social responsibility it wants to give back. So he views USAID’s Education Crisis Response program as a vehicle to extend its reach in assisting children who need help.

The school uses its own fees to donate supplies such as books, instructional materials and pens to internally displaced children enrolled in the program, with administrators dipping into their own pockets to buy them.

At the Zion Pilgrims Christ School in Bauchi state, School Director Joel Jijingi feels a similar obligation to students who he says he wants to “make smile again.”

Jijingi and his wife set up a non-formal learning center that piggybacks on the traditional school and offers three hours of education three times a week to displaced students.

The Education Crisis Response program asked Jijingi to run a class for 50 displaced primary school students. He decided to run two classes and accommodate 100 in both primary and secondary levels for free.

“There are so many children in the community,” he says. “And our desire it that [this] is not just the work for USAID. This is not just the work for the good people of America. This is our work. They’re our children. So we should take care of them.”

Jijingi says seeing USAID’s commitment to Nigerian children made him eager to do his part.

“One of the reasons why I was motivated is because if the good people of America come all the way from America to take care of our children. That was a very big challenge to me,” says Jijingi.

“We had the resources. We have the structures on the ground. So let’s help them more.”

Why the willingness to reach a hand into an already stretched thin pocket? Jijingi has a simple answer.

“We want the community to know that we love these children,” he says.

We will continue with this project

Jijingi hopes that they can return home in due time. But when they go, he wants them to leave better educated and with the knowledge and skills they need to develop their own communities. He’s going to do whatever he can to make that possible.

That kind of personal commitment, replicated across northern Nigeria, bodes well for children who will rely on these kinds of educational opportunities after the program ends.

“We’ve always known that the support coming from the United States Agency for International Development, it’s kind of something to facilitate other support to come,” says Oladini. “It’s something that is very important and without which the sustainability we’re talking about and the ownership which we are talking about can never be achieved.”

When Nigerians commit to supporting these children’s futures however they can, the goal of sustainability appears attainable despite the ever-present challenges.

“When the good people of American have withdrawn,” says Jijingi, “we will continue with this project until the last child has the basic understanding, basic knowledge of education, so that he can be useful in his community.”

Reported from Nigeria by Michael. Zamba.

New skills mean new opportunities for displaced Nigerian teens

September 22, 2016

4 min read

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New skills mean new opportunities for displaced Nigerian teens

By Jennifer Brookland

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With support from the Education Crisis Response program, Muhammed Shehu learned how to make lotion, which he sells to help support himself and his family. Photo by David Snyder.

Muhammed Shehu starts by making a fire. Once the flames are high he puts a pot over them, and when the pot is hot he adds a candle. To the melted wax he adds oil, mixes it until the concoction is smooth, removes the pot from the heat and adds liquid oil and fragrance, then waits for it to cool before pressing it into pots.

Sixteen-year-old Muhammed learned how to make these little jars of scented lotion through an after-class program organized by the Nigeria Education Crisis Response Program, which targets internally displaced school-aged children and teens like him.

Funded through the U.S. Agency for International Development, the program is working with Northern Nigerian communities, civil society organizations and state governments to forge a safety net for more than 54,000 youth displaced by violence.

Implemented by Creative Associates International, the International Rescue Committee and dozens of Nigerian groups, USAID’s Education Crisis Response program organizes communities to create non-formal learning centers that provide specialized classes in literacy and basic math, along with much-needed psychosocial support. The goal is to give them enough accelerated learning that they can make up for lost time and eventually mainstream back into Nigeria’s formal school system or join the labor market.

But numbers shape the reality of older children like Muhammed, who are often counted on to contribute to the family income. For households that lost their primary sources of income due to displacement, death or instability, the need to bring in money can overwhelm the desire to keep learning.

“A good number of these kids have been traumatized, and the means of livelihood of their parents has been completely wiped off,” says Ayo Oladini, Project Director. “You heard of so many farms destroyed… (and) everything they could use for their income gone.”

Oladini knows that giving northern Nigerian youth the best education in the world won’t matter if they cannot not afford to be there. And he knows that once these youth move on from school, it is essential that they have a skill to fall back on.

Benefits to the community

The Education Crisis Response program has identified displaced teens ages 13 to 17 who could benefit from learning a trade like making lotion. Photo by David Snyder.

The Nigeria Education Crisis Response Program has identified internally displaced students from ages 13 to 17 who could benefit from learning a trade and has developed courses to teach them knitting, soap-making, tire repair, baking, batik and sewing all required by the labor market.

The teens learn skills that are simple and easy to learn in just a few hours of training per week. Local artisans or workers—who have seen the benefits of giving the displaced teens a productive skill—volunteer their time to teach them the crafts.

Moreover, the products they learn to make have been identified as marketable and in demand within their communities. Batik cloths are used for newborn babies, girls enrolling in school need new hijabs and everyone wants to look and smell nice on the weekends, Oladini explains.

“We are looking at what could give them a means of livelihood, a kind of economic independence,” he says.

Having that productive outlet is also a protective factor for teens who might otherwise have a lot of empty time on their hands. “You teach a young youth who probably has a lot of energy that could have been directed to a lot of negative things on simple skill like vulcanizing,” says Oladini, “and he earns some little money. And he becomes a little more confident about his future.”

Low skill, high yield

Sixteen-year-old Maryam Habibu displays a basic literacy certificate she earned through the program, which provides teens like her with non-formal learning opportunities in addition to livelihoods skills training. Photo by David Snyder.

Oladini describes the jobs teens take on as low-skill, high-yield.

Maryam Habibu, who left Chad with her family a year ago, learned to knit at one of the program’s centers in Gombe. She knits up to two caps and two table spreads for sale each week. Each cap earns her 150 Nigerian Naira and the spreads, about 300—or about $4.50 per week.

This money makes a difference. After using her profits to replenish her supplies, it enables her to pay the fees of the Islamic school she’s enrolled in and to assist her parents.

“A lot of girls who probably would have been roaming the streets or who would have become prey to sexual abuse have taken off with…little skill and begun to realize the potential of the economic opportunity within them,” says Oladini.

He says the program gave careful thought to what skills would give youth like Maryam valuable business opportunities in a short time-frame and then let them choose based on their interests which to focus on.

Muhammed says he started learning many skills at the non-formal education center set up by the Education Crisis Response program, but decided for himself to go into the lotion business. He sells his larger cans for 90 Naira and small ones for 30—about the equivalent of 45 cents for the larger cans and 15 cents for the small. He can produce around 12 cans each week, which he sells in the marketplace every Saturday and Sunday.

The profits seem meager—but they are enough to fuel his dreams of becoming a medical doctor. The earnings Muhammed brings home from his small business are enough to pay for his school supplies, books and shoes.

Muhammed has been in Gombe for three years, since his family left the town of Biu in Borno State when he was 13 years old. With his father recently deceased, every Naira counts.

“It really helps me,” he says.

Reported from Nigeria by Michael. Zamba.[/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]

New training program launches to support 3,000 teachers in Nigeria

September 1, 2016

By Boco Abdul

3 min read

An in-depth training program to prepare more than 3,000 teachers to improve literacy skills of pupils in first to third grades kicked off in this Northern Nigerian state.

More than 100 elected officials and community leaders attended the Aug. 29 launch of the program that will train educators on global, best approaches to early grade reading in Hausa, which is one of the most common languages in Northern Nigeria, and the transition to English.

The Northern Education Initiative Plus, working closely with key federal and state government partners, developed the Mu Karanta! Let’s Read! titles of student books in Hausa and English for use in more than 800 schools in 10 local government areas in Sokoto state.

To institutionalize the teacher training program in Sokoto state, the project earlier trained 16 leading education experts as master trainers, who in turn are training 180 selected school managers as trainers-of-teachers. School managers are then responsible for training the 3,000 teachers to use teacher guides in line with the pupil books.

“Sokoto state government is committed to repositioning its education sector and will continue to partner with the Initiative to achieve this objective,” said Governor Aminu Tambuwal at the launch. “This teacher professional development program is the beginning of a milestone in education for us as people.”

Making commitments

Children face many challenges trying to access quality education in Northern Nigeria, the Governor noted.

“Low enrollment, retention and completion of school and poor early-grade reading opportunities” are serious impediments to the education sector according to Governor Tambuwal.

Sokoto state is making efforts to increase education opportunities for children that offer quality education. Through the Northern Education Initiative Plus, more than 150,000 students in first to third grades will benefit from its early grade reading program in 10 local governments in the first year.

Recognizing its potential to improve children’s reading skills, the state has committed to scaling up the program to all pupils in this category and teachers throughout Sokoto in the next two years.

Director of the Northern Education Initiative Plus program, James Statman said: “With the state taking the lead on the project, there will be more young children able to read and working towards securing a better future for themselves.”

Improving teachers’ skills

The project will train about 45,000 teachers and learning facilitators during a five-year period. These teachers will be equipped with a full set of instructional skills to teach reading for a direct and positive impact on their pupils’ learning outcomes.

Teachers will be trained using a curriculum that is age-appropriate for children, gender-inclusive, culturally sensitive and replicable by state governments.

Mu Karanta! Let’s Read! pupils’ books introduce the most frequently used letters and syllables in Hausa to instruct children.

To aid listening comprehension, locally developed and traditional stories have also been included in every lesson. This ensures that reading skills and vocabulary learned in Hausa will support the transition from Hausa to English.

The five-year, Nigerian government-led Northern Education Initiative Plus is funded by the U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) and aims to improve reading outcomes of more than 2 million primary grade learners in 6,868 schools and 11,129 non-formal learning centers.

The Initiative is implemented by Creative Associates International and other partners.

For Nigerian children, back to school means back to normal

August 24, 2016

By Jennifer Brookland

7 min read

Boko Haram violence has displaced more than 1 million school-age children and youth. The USAID Education Crisis Response Program offers these children a chance to resume their educations at learning centers set up especially for internally displaced children and ultimately to return to formal schooling.

Lillian lived with her sister and parents in Yobe State when the Boko Haram attacks began. They escaped to Adamawa, and 14 year-old Lillian enrolled in boarding school. Just a few days later, insurgents assaulted.

“We ran out, not knowing where we are going until late evening,” Lillian remembers. “When we realized we were in the bush, we wandered around until we found a convenient place and we slept there. The following morning, we kept trekking until we reached a major road, where we were given a lift back home.”

Attacks on the next two schools Lillian attended sent her running again and again. When her family finally decided to escape the area entirely, she was forced to abandon her education.

Violence stalks the children of northern Nigeria. They flee attacks on their villages, their homes, their schools. As they run, they leave behind belongings. Friends. Hope. Boko Haram violence has displaced more than 1 million school-age children and youth.

A program funded through the U.S. Agency for International Development is trying to restore these children’s academic futures. The Education Crisis Response Program offers northern Nigerian children like Lillian a chance to resume their educations at learning centers set up especially for internally displaced children. USAID’s project is implemented by Creative Associates International, International Rescue Committee and more than two dozen Nigerian organizations.

When they successfully complete the curriculum there, they can be “mainstreamed,” which means they are eligible to go back into the formal school system. Out of 14,000 displaced children who enrolled in the non-formal learning centers, 10,000 of them passed state-administered educational exams that are required before they are mainstreamed.

The program also identifies schools that can accept students transitioning back and trains teachers there on how to receive them.

“They’re already traumatized,” Project Director Ayo Oladini tells educators at schools about to take in program graduates. “They need more love. They need more hope.”

For children like Lillian, who completed the Education Crisis Response’s curriculum and won a spot at a formal school this year, going back to regular classes means more than a way to rejoin mainstream society. It means reclaiming a piece of normalcy in a scary, uncertain world. It means finding a path back to a childhood that seemed abruptly snatched away and renewing a hope that the future will be worth dreaming about.

Making up for lost time

After fleeing attacks on her village by Boko Haram, Lillian (above) enrolled in a non-formal learning center and recently earned a place at a formal school. Photo by: David Snyder

Although state and federal government knew about the problem of displaced children who were not attending school, they had no plans in place to address something so pernicious as the Boko Haram insurgency.

“Until our program…came in, nobody had a clue on how to provide education for this group of people,” says Oladini.

So in collaboration with government, civil society and communities in Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states, the Education Crisis Response program will establish more than 1,100 non-formal learning centers. There, displaced children receive three years of basic literacy and math crunched into a nine-month curriculum.

Many of these children have already been out of school for two years by the time they enroll at one of the centers.

“The program is not only reading and numeracy,” says Oladini. “It’s talking about [the] social and emotional life skills of the kids—how to form friends, how to relate, how to plan for their future and so on.”

The displaced children come to the center three times a week for three hours a day. Teachers who impart the lessons have received special training on friendly and effective classroom methods that often put the centers a step above Nigeria’s existing schools: Local kids in their school uniforms show up at the non-formal learning centers begging to come to class there instead.

“They’ve seen a lot of difference between the three hour per day of our class and that of a formal school,” says Oladini. “When you attend a three hour program in a day in a non-formal learning center, it’s activity-based, it’s intensive, it’s involving, it’s rewarding for the kids.”

Still, the chance to graduate from one of Nigeria’s formal schools with a degree in hand is something displaced children hold dear. Those who are mainstreamed back into the system feel a renewed sense of purpose and optimism.

“Many of them never thought they would go to school again,” says Joel Jijingi, Director of the Zion Pilgrims’ Christ School in Bauchi state. “So an opportunity to go to school was so exciting to them. They felt so happy.”

Turning displaced children back into students

When Joel Jijingi founded the Zion Pilgrims’ Christ School in 1999, he wanted it to serve the children with some of the greatest needs: the orphans, the vulnerable and others who could not afford to pay the fees to attend distant, private schools—at that time the only option.

One day, after Boko Haram’s violence had already scattered hundreds of thousands of school-aged children around northern Nigeria, Joel Jijingi’s wife Eleojo Jijingi noticed children running around in a neighbor’s compound. The neighbor told her that the nine children staying with her were displaced.

“‘How do you take care of them?’” Eleojo Jijingi asked her neighbor. “‘How do you feed them?’ She said it is God that is helping them.”

When Eleojo Jijingi found out the children were not enrolled in school, she knew she and her husband had to reach out. She told her neighbor to spread the word: internally displaced children would be welcomed at Zion Pilgrims’ Christ School.

In addition to the 780 children enrolled in the school, the Jijingis set up the non-formal Kagadama learning center, where displaced children could come to resume their studies and try to maintain a forward trajectory and a childhood.

The center linked up with USAID’s Education Crisis Response Program, which provided training for its specialized teachers, organized community coalitions, connections to the appropriate state authorities and even organizations that could donate supplies like chalkboards and textbooks.

Students at the non-formal learning center at Zion Pilgrims’ Christ School (above) learn life skills and receive psychosocial support to help them overcome trauma, in addition to traditional academic lessons. Photo by: David Snyder

The program also works with the non-formal learning centers and state governments to identify formal schools that will accept students who complete the curriculum and perform well.

“I just believe that inside some of these children, among them, they are going to be great people tomorrow,” says Joel Jijingi. “I’m looking forward to seeing one of them that will take us to one of the farthest stars. And the only way to do that is to give them education.”

In 2015, 100 displaced children came to Kagadama, where Eleojo Jijingi serves as facilitator, relying on 30 teachers to volunteer extra classroom time. They learn to read, write and deal with the social and emotional trauma of their experiences.

One child told Joel Jijingi that arriving at Kagadama was like going to heaven. The school is well organized, has rudimentary equipment and a very caring staff. More than anything, it feels safe and calm. And for these children, that is paradise.

Finding new focus for education

Lillian was one of those children Eleojo Jijingi noticed hanging out in her neighbor’s compound, out of school and unsure if she would ever get the chance to complete her education.

After completing the nine-month curriculum at Kagadama, she was one of 12 students who received a scholarship to mainstream into Zion Pilgrim’s Christ School.

Many more qualify to mainstream but have not, since it is the local government’s responsibility to complete the process. Of the 10,000 students who passed the tests, about 4,000 have matriculated at formal schools so far.

“It’s the right of every Nigerian child to be educated,” says Oladini. “Our hope is to work with government to facilitate…the process of bringing them back from [a] state of no education back to school and for government to take that on.”

Oladini says next year communities and governments will likely be better prepared to step up these efforts.

Children who do find out they have a slot in a formal school are often thrilled. When Joel Jijingi gave one family the good news that their children would be starting classes at Zion Pilgrims’ Church School on scholarship, they told him they were too excited to sleep all weekend.

Lillian says just feeling safe is helping her enjoy school more and do better.

“While we were in previous schools, there was no peace,” Lillian says. She couldn’t concentrate on the lessons or pay much attention in class, which of course made it hard to understand the material.

“It was like I was out of my senses,” she says. “Thank God we are now concentrating and understanding what is being taught.”

Lillian says she studies hard so that she can one day achieve her dream of becoming a nurse. She has made friends at school. They read together, play together.

“We do not fight,” Lillian says.

Like her, many of them were not sure they’d ever step inside a classroom again. According to Joel Jijingi, their relief at being back in school lends these children much greater focus. As he says, “They saw this as an opportunity they cannot just take for granted.”

Reported from Nigeria by Michael J. Zamba and Aishatu Aminu.

Nigeria: For displaced children, back to school means back to normal

August 24, 2016

1 min read

Nigeria: Not giving up on the nation’s girls

August 23, 2016

1 min read

When Rabia Eshak noticed girls disappearing out of Nigerian classroom as they aged, she decided to take action to provide equal educational opportunities to children. Now, Rabia works tirelessly to help girls overcome poverty, marriage and religious traditions that keep them out of school.

Mutual gains as Creative and Atlas Corps join forces for global development

August 18, 2016

By Karen Ives

4 min read

On June 23, Luther Jeke published his final blog post as an Atlas Corps Fellow at Creative Associates International, finishing up an 18-month stay in Washington, D.C., before heading back to his home country of Liberia

“Before I came to Creative,” writes Jeke, “I was just a typical young Tech4Dev enthusiast, inward-looking and unaware of the scale of the impact that technology can create globally… But joining Creative was a game changer.”

During Jeke’s 18 months in the program, he developed apps, attended workshops and even traveled to Nigeria to conduct training on the CreativeMapper. In fact, he worked so closely with Creative’s team that even Creative staff members occasionally forgot that he was actually an Atlas Corps Fellow.

Every year, rising leaders in social change from around the world compete for Atlas Corps Fellowships and a chance to bring their unique skills to and learn from social change organizations in the United States.

While participants are able to advance their knowledge and job training, the organizations they work with get the benefit of the skilled professionals with connections and invaluable experiences on the ground in their countries. Fellows also receive stipends through the program to cover living expenses.

Creative has hosted six Atlas Corps Fellows during the past two years.

“With these kind of international fellowships, there’s always the debate around who stands to gain more – the fellow or the hosts,” says Sean Carroll, Director of the Creative Development Lab, which has hosted three fellows. “Well, we can’t do a good job on international development without a variety of international perspectives and know-how, so I’d say Creative has definitely benefited. I hope and believe the Atlas Corps fellows have too.”

Exchanging ideas, innovation and experiences

The Atlas Corps Fellows at Creative bring diverse educational, regional and technical expertise.

Jeke had come to Creative from an innovation lab called iLab Liberia, which serves as an incubation center to train government employees, private citizens and employees of international institutions who want to use information and communications technology to be more effective.

Eyitayo Ogunmola, who is from Lagos, Nigeria, arrived from a workforce development and venture creation organization he started in 2012, which focuses on developing the capacities of the young people for the labor market and helping them start new businesses.

“It’s amazing the social business model the company has built and how it uses for profit structure to achieve social goods. I joined Creative Associates because I considered it an opportunity to improve my social entrepreneurship capacity, learn from global and industry leaders and ultimately be a part of the global movement for change. It’s been an awesome experience.”

Now at Creative, Ogunmola, is part of the business development team, exploring new opportunities for the organization’s Development Lab and other teams.

“It’s been very interesting because I’ve been learning business development at the bigger scale, at the high level,” explains Ogunmola.

One of the newest Atlas Corps Fellows at Creative, Khurram Kazi from Pakistan, has an impressive resume of work experience, including his recent position with the Peace and Development Program of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) where he implemented projects in southern Kyrgyzstan.

“Not all Atlas Corps fellows are lucky enough to be placed with host organizations that are relevant to their academic qualifications and past experiences,” says Kazi. “Creative is the best fit for me as the countering violent extremism work not only relates to my past work on peacebuilding with UNICEF, UNDP and Search for Common Ground but it also relates to my academic expertise in Peace and Conflict Studies.”

The current and past Fellows have each been placed in divisions and programs where their unique talents and perspectives add to the work Creative does around the world.

Gaining experience and taking lessons home

While their impressive backgrounds contribute to Creative’s mission of positive change, the Fellows also benefit personally and professionally from the program.

For Khurram Kazi, one of Creative’s newest Fellows who is supporting the team focusing on countering violent extremism, this opportunity gives him broader insight, beyond a particular country or issue.

At Creative “we are not only concentrated on one particular country, we are implementing programs in various countries and different regions…. And each and every region has its own challenges and success stories,” he explains.

When he wraps up his fellowship next year, Kazi predicts he will be heading home with new ideas and best practices

“I’ll be going back with a lot of knowledge, with a lot of experience, and also with the satisfaction that I have given this small contribution to [countering violent extremism] efforts,” he says.

For Ogunmola, this experience is enhancing his expertise as an entrepreneur.

“It’s been a very rewarding experience for me because I consider myself an entrepreneur. And the only way you can… get more opportunities is if you know where those opportunities are. Being with Creative has really given me an opportunity to… learn business development at that level.”

For Jeke, the change is profound: as a young person from a country that experienced 14 years of civil war, he sees a lot of his own experience in the work Creative is doing. The ability to exchange ideas with people from across the world, to learn about their experiences, and the ability to share his own has been “a life changing experience.”

The fellowship, he says, is an opportunity “to get a bunch of experiences and then take those experiences home … to help other young people in my country to be better at what they do.”

Mobile mapping & global goals: What’s in it for Liberian youth?

August 12, 2016

By Rachel Azafrani

4 min read

For the first time in the memory of my generation, youth have been actively included in the implementation of the United Nations’ agenda for world prosperity. Through networks like Sustainable Development Solutions Network-Youth, people in that age group now interface with global leaders.

But these connections rely on resources, access and knowledge about the global development agenda—things many young people lack.

For example, in Liberia—where I surveyed young people about the Global Goals—youth volunteer their time to enhance their communities and work and learn for peace, but they do not reference their work in terms of lofty global frameworks. Less than 5 percent of the nearly 200 young Liberians I met were aware of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs or Global Goals) or Liberia’s own Agenda for Transformation, and fewer were aware that those frameworks included youth.

Mobilizing young people to act on their critical position requires a new forum that connects them to the Global Goals and puts them in the lead. If not, countries risk further excluding youth and falling short of the SDGs.

Through increasingly ubiquitous mobile infrastructure, governments and global development organizations are informing their constituents about the Global Goals. They are mobilizing youth action with tools like Creative Associates International’s SDG Youth Action Mapper—a mobile app and online mapping tool allowing users to map, make, and measure progress towards the Global Goals.

The SDG Youth Action Mapper

Interviewing youth organizations, government ministries and UN country offices in Monrovia, I investigated how the SDG Youth Action Mapper could support both young people in their endeavors and the communities in which they live.

The app allows young people to find action opportunities on the SDGs around them, from supporting education to enhancing sustainable consumption, and map their own opportunities for others to see. It collects data on the details of projects, like the names and locations of organizations working on Global Goal-relevant projects, and how such work contributes to the SDGs.

During trainings at the University of Liberia, the YMCA and the Youth Crime Watch, I gathered feedback on functionalities of the SDG Youth Action Mapper app from people and community leaders ages 14 to 34. Their responses highlighted how access to leaders and skill-building opportunities would make the app stand out in a sea of Facebooks and Instagrams, and mobilize them to act to improve their communities.

Keeping decision-makers accountable

Information about the SDGs is not widely available in Liberia. However, new organizations like the Sustainable Development Network-Liberia are cropping up to close the knowledge gap, and the SDG Youth Action Mapper could accelerate that progress.

In a climate where development and youth-focused projects come and go, SDG initiatives must create a clear interface between youth and decision-makers to gain legitimacy. Initiatives like the SDG Youth Action Mapper have the potential to become tools for accountability by increasing the visibility of youth initiatives, and could mobilize “social networks” around SDG action as users share opportunities and communicate with each other.

Young people already devise entrepreneurial community-based solutions from health to the environment, and they want these solutions to affect great change. In order for their ideas to be acted upon and scaled up, robust data about their activities must be collected and escalated to decision-makers.

As governments determine which SDGs are most relevant to them, youth could become data collectors, and gather information on country-specific indicators. To make that happen, relevant government agencies like the Liberian Institute for Statistics and Geo-Information Services and the Liberian Ministry of Youth & Sports should be part of the conversation.

A skill-builder for youth

The SDGs offer countless possibilities for young people, whether it be gaining leadership experience or technical skills, and those benefits must be emphasized by the UN, governments, and international organizations to mobilize youth to take and lead action toward achieving the Global Goals.

In a globally competitive job market with limited educational opportunities, youth need to know that their involvement in SDG action, through tools like the SDG Youth Action Mapper, will benefit both themselves and their communities. Participation in projects that allow young people to gain a skillset, like Python coding or project management, could give young people credentials for employment.

Initiatives like the Youth Action Mapper can show the public the astounding work of young people everywhere, and the broader inclusion of youth in SDG implementation—advantageous to every country—will come from this whole-of-society approach that gives young people the tools and trust to make their communities, and the world, a better place.

Rachel Azafrani is a student at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. With support from the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown’s Office of Fellowships and Research, the Social Innovation and Public Service Fund and the Georgetown International Relations Association, Inc., she conducted a needs assessment, partnership building and alpha roll-out of Creative’s SDG Youth Action Mapper in Liberia.

Northern Nigerian groups trained to support 36,000 out-of-school children

August 3, 2016

By Boco Abdul

3 min read

Leaders from more than 40 local civil society organizations graduated from specialized, intensive trainings that will enable them to provide early grade and adolescent education to 36,000 children who are out of school in two Nigerian states.

Organized and managed by the USAID-supported Northern Education Initiative Plus, the participants successfully mastered the course’s topics—ranging from promoting basic reading in key communities to resource mobilization—which are required before they receive grants that will enable them to enroll these and other vulnerable children into 800 non-formal learning centers in Bauchi and Sokoto states.

John Abu Yusuf, Executive Director of African Community and Environmental Health Initiative, was one of the 82 participants in the one-week training in Bauchi to learn how to open and eventually expand the non-formal learning centers. A second, similar training session was conducted in Sokoto with 21 organizations at the end of July.

“The training has been most educative and informative,” says Yusuf, who attended the training in July. “I have found the training on leadership and also project management tools to be very useful. Personally, I wish I had this information earlier. This will help my organization plan, implement and monitor projects effectively.”

The five-year, Nigerian government-led Northern Education Initiative Plus seeks to improve access and quality of education for more than 2 million school-aged children and youth in three northern states.

Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the program will enhance the states’ ability to provide quality education—especially for girls, orphans and children enrolled in nontraditional schools—and improve children’s reading skills. The Initiative will be implemented in Bauchi and Sokoto states. A third state will be announced.

In addition, the participants learned how to develop and manage organizations that are essential to the educational initiative. These include: Center Based Management Committees that support the non-formal learning centers; School Based Management Committees that support formal schools; Parents Teachers Associations; and Women Groups and Community Coalitions that advocate for school improvement plans.

Yusuf sees how community engagement in general and these organizations in particular are critical to the ongoing success of the non-formal learning centers.

“Knowing we are working with these community structures, we will definitely build their capacity to be sustainable and effective,” Yusuf says. “We want them to be able to utilize these tools so that at the close out of the project, they are able to stand on their own and have a greater impact on their communities.”

Changing lives through education

Through the Northern Education Initiative Plus, each of the 20 local government areas supported by the project in Bauchi and Sokoto states will have 30 non-formal learning centers, five youth learning centers and five adolescent girls’ centers.

Students at these centers will learn literacy, basic math and vocational skills and, at the end of the program, receive a certificate that provides the opportunity to further their education in a formal school.

Classes will be led by facilitators who are chosen by the communities and trained by the project to deliver a learner-centered curriculum.

Loveth Ibrahim, a staff member of Reproductive Health Initiative and Support Association, who participated in the training is particularly passionate about girls having access to education.

“I want to see more girls get a chance at education and that journey starts with these new skills I have now acquired,” said Ibrahim, who was joined at the training by her one-year-old daughter. “I realize that the knowledge I have acquired here will not end with me but in the community.”

The training was informed by Creative’s Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool—an interactive capacity self-assessment tool that assists organizations in identifying strengths and weaknesses and developing improvement plans to build capacity.

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers advance Creative’s mission

August 2, 2016

By Karen Ives

5 min read

When Monnie Heminthavong was 7 years old, she and her family fled Laos in 1979 and traveled across the globe to Yorkville, Ill. Though they had never heard of Yorkville, she immediately felt at home in the small town.

The community, and particularly the local Unitarian churchwomen, helped her family resettle, providing support and opportunities.

Heminthavong decided she wanted to return that generosity and in 1993 joined the U.S. Peace Corps as a way of “getting back to give back.” She served as an Agroforestry volunteer in Cameroon from 1993 to 1997 and the experience left an indelible mark on her.

“It was one of the most gratifying and satisfying things I’ve ever done,” she says.

For Heminthavong and returned volunteers like her, Peace Corps service prompted a lifelong passion for development.

Established in 1961 by President Kennedy, the Peace Corps fosters positive relationships and friendship around the world by providing developing countries with skilled labor that can train the workforce, share U.S. culture and learn about the host countries in which they work and live.

At that time, President Kennedy probably did not realize that it would create a cadre of well-trained, culturally aligned returned volunteers who could work on some of today’s toughest development challenges.

Heminthavong, who now serves as a Contracts Administrator at Creative Associates International, is one of nearly a dozen returned Peace Corps Volunteers on staff. For the company, these returned volunteers bring a commitment to service that aligns strongly with Creative’s mission to support people around the world to realize the positive change they seek.

“Our Creative community is richer and our technical work is stronger because of the diverse experiences of our staff,” says Leland Kruvant, President of Creative. “Peace Corps Volunteers bring a community-oriented approach and cross-cultural communication skills that help us live out Creative’s mission and values.”

During a two-year assignment, Peace Corps volunteers gain experience in a community-driven style of development. They apply skills in appreciative inquiry to identify local needs and conditions and apply an understanding of the importance of language and local culture to of cross-cultural communication.

Jeffrey Coupe, who was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo from 1982 to 1984, is now a Senior Associate in Creative’s Education Division. He says the Peace Corps experience carries over to all facets of development.

“It was a life changing experience—for me anyway,” says Coupe. “I continued working in development and I enjoyed working on a USAID project as part of my Peace Corps experience and I think that helped in many ways because I had professional responsibility and I had to report on my activities.”

A broader perspective on complex development

With hands-on experience working on education initiatives in The Gambia, Creative’s Technical Manager Jake Thomsen says he better understands the key role community plays in supporting education, especially in conflict zone like Northern Nigeria (pictured above). Photo by David S

In addition to building skills like collaboration, flexibility and language ability, Peace Corps Volunteers experience firsthand the complexities of a country and region and understand how complicated and politicized those contexts can be. This is a key perspective for implementing development projects, particularly in the conflict and crisis-affected environments where Creative works.

When political unrest erupted in Burkino Faso in 2015, David Newstead—a Data Analyst at Creative and returned Peace Corps Volunteer who had served in neighboring Togo—recognized something familiar about the rebels who raided the presidential residence.

“They’re the same type of guys who used to wait at the taxi stands in Togo,” he says.

Young, unemployed and disenfranchised. Newstead had seen men like this in Togo. To him, these men weren’t just rebels, but a population who had been marginalized and down-trodden by a host of other factors, including economic and societal.

Through their experiences, many of Creative’s returned Peace Corps Volunteers say they learned the value of engaging the community in every step of a project to ensure that it achieves it goals and serves the intended target population. Community engagement is key to accountability.

As Peace Corps Volunteer in The Gambia, Jake Thomsen, currently a Technical Manager in the Education in Conflict Practice Area at Creative, helped the headmaster at an elementary school apply for and win a grant to build a library. It was a significant achievement his early days in development—and the library was to become a critical tool for the community.

Thomsen also helped the library procure several boxes of donated books. Unfortunately, because of some of the funds were siphoned by a school official, there wasn’t enough money to buy furniture, Thomsen says. By the time Thomsen left The Gambia, the books were still in boxes and the library was still not operational.

Nonetheless, Thomsen says it was a learning experience for him.

“To me, that was a powerful example of the need to be careful to involve the community, to make sure one person isn’t running the show and making dubious decisions,” says Thomsen.

Creative’s returned Peace Corps Volunteers also report that their experiences gave them a richer understanding of cross-cultural communication and better insight into the beneficiaries’ perspectives. Volunteers say they learned to build personal relationships across cultures and understand how these relationships can lead to positive change in the lives of individuals.

Peace Corps “gives you the perspective of a beneficiary that you wouldn’t get unless you lived with them for an extended period of time,” says Meaghan Buksas, a Proposal Manger at Creative who served with Peace Corps in Ecuador.

She says her service helped her develop the ability to observe critically in order to better understand people, situations and opportunities.

Bringing the experience home to Creative

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers are applying their experiences to the work they do at Creative. Because of their experiences abroad, they bring practical knowledge and a down-to-earth approach to development.

Peace Corps Volunteers “bring practical knowledge to the work we conceptualize,” explains Heminthavong. “Being in the field helps put context into what we do”

While it can be a big transition to go from working at the grass roots level to working at the headquarters level with an established international development organization, the returned Peace Corps Volunteers at Creative are up to the challenge.

“To me, it’s a way of coming full circle,” says Newstead. “In Peace Corps, you’re really in the weeds while at development organizations like Creative you get a birds-eye view.”

This birds-eye view often means working in development capacities most Peace Corps Volunteers haven’t encountered during their service, including work at the policy level.

“Here we deal a lot with policy,” says Thomsen. “We’re working with governments to help them perhaps develop their policy or improve their education policy or implement and operationalize their policy, but it’s a learning experience.”

For Creative, these returned Peace Corps volunteers help advance the organization’s mission with their insight into on-the-ground implementation and fierce dedication to the communities Creative partners with and serves.

The Peace Corps “made me a stronger and better person,” says Heminthavong. “I want to continue to provide service and uplift the way I have been uplifted.”