By Anne Smiley and Nurudeen Lawal, FHI 360
In Northern Nigeria, the vast majority of third-grade pupils cannot read a single word in any language. Teaching materials are few and far between, and most teachers receive little training or support. But in Katsina and Zamfara states, communities are excited to see kids starting to learn how to read in Hausa, a language that almost everyone can speak and understand. Learning to read is the first step to learning across all...
Guest Blogger
By Meg Brindle, Light Years IP
I was at a conference in Kenya when I first met a member of the Maasai, a group of people who live in East Africa. He had a question for me – and the answers could have the potential to dramatically impact poverty for millions of low-income farmers, producers and others.
You’d recognize the Maasai from photos. Many are tall, elegant and very distinctively dressed. Often, when a generic image is used of Africans in...
Story and photos by Ray Mwareya Nancy Chandala, 13, sits in a classroom at Joel Community School in rural Zambia, fixated on a small computer screen. “I wish all my textbooks were loaded on the tablet,” she says. “I would read even when out in the maize fields at home. No carrying of heavy books.” Students at Joel Community School in rural Zambia. Nancy is one of more than 2,000 children from rural areas who are benefiting...
By Imogen Calderwood, Street Child
For many families in Sierra Leone, education is out of reach for one reason: poverty.
Thousands of children are kept out of school simply because their parents don’t earn enough money so, instead of going to school, these young children have to generate income – often in dangerous work environments out on the streets.
This tragic pattern, unless broken, has the potential to repeat itself endlessly and trap families in poverty for generations.
But with a small helping...
Story and photos by Ray Mwareya
Rudo Mazhande, 32, stands smiling in a warehouse among several hundred huge bars of green soap. A crisp, clean scent wafts through the air. This is Rudo’s factory, where she now employs seven people. And once you hear her story, it’s easy to see why she might be happy.
Despite being a trained chemical engineer, Rudo struggled for years to use her skills. “I have never got a job in my field,” she says. “Because...
Story and photos by Cooper Inveen.
It’s a sunny afternoon on Freetown’s sandy beachfront, and 11-year-old Fatima Morenike is eating ice cream with Agnes Mimi Bengali, a Sierra Leonean biologist. Over the last year, Fatima and Agnes have met twice a month to touch base and talk science.
Fatima is one of two girls put forward by her school to take part in a mentorship program designed by STEM Women Sierra Leone – a local collective of 58 women in the...
This interview was conducted by Mario Calabresi, Lola Huete-Machado, and Thorsten Jungholt and originally appeared in WELT, La Republicca, Le Figaro, and El País, all of the Leading European Newspaper Alliance, or LENA.
One is wearing a tie and a suit, the other one a black t-shirt, boots, and earrings. One is the richest entrepreneur in the world, the other a rock superstar. They are sitting next to another; Bill Gates is drinking a Diet Coke and Bono a plain...
By Aaron Benavot, director of the GEM Report, UNESCO
One answer: poverty.
Despite every government in the world promising free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education to everyone, 130 million girls are out of school today. It’s difficult to comprehend what that means for each one of the one hundred and thirty million girl children and adolescents, but a new blog from the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report released for International Women’s Day helps to break down that number...
For girls and women, the opportunity to access any information anytime and anywhere is critical to expanding career opportunities.
Ending violence against women and girls is a critical step to extending human rights around the world.