The 13-month education project funded by EU Humanitarian Aid targets 4,000 crisis-affected children in the Bakool region of Southwest State in Somalia.
A new education project addresses the challenges of thousands of children to access integrated and inclusive education in crisis-affected areas of Somalia.
FCA partners with local organisation GREDO to rehabilitate schools, provide school supplies and train teachers in Hudur district, a hard-to-reach area in the Bakool region of Southwest State where many internally displaced people (IDPs) live.
The project is funded with a grant of 750,000 euros by EU Humanitarian Aid (ECHO).
The Education in Emergencies intervention will primarily focus on quality primary education for IDP school-aged children and an Accelerated Basic Education (ABE) programme for children and youth who are out of school or never attended school.
Children from the local communities in Hudur district that hosts IDPs are also supported, as they also have minimal access to learning opportunities in the region.
Insecurity, conflict and natural disasters cause displacement
Hudur lies some 373 kilometres west of the capital Mogadishu and has faced significant access constraints due to high presence of militant groups in its outskirts.
Hudur has a population of around 100,437 inhabitants of which an estimated 42,504 are IDPs (24,322 males and 36,482 females) residing in 26 settlements across the district.
“Years of devastating insecurity and conflict as well as natural disasters such as drought and floods have led to massive displacement, interrupting the lives of ordinary Somalis and preventing children from going to school. And with the outbreak of COVID-19, EU Humanitarian Aid is committed to supporting education for children caught in crisis and giving displaced children the chances in life they deserve,” said Morten Petersen, Technical Assistant for EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid in Somalia.
Renovation of school facilities and training of teachers
An assessment conducted by FCA in 2019 revealed that a lack of classrooms and safe learning spaces in addition to limited awareness and information have contributed to this education deficit. The children are denied the chance to education due to lack of opportunities and insecurity. Classrooms have not been renovated for over 30 years and are missing furniture and supplies. IDP settlements lack learning facilities.
With EU Humanitarian Aid’s support, FCA and GREDO will rehabilitate 15 classrooms and establish 40 new Temporary Learning Spaces in five schools and 30 gender-sensitive water and sanitation facilities. The project also provides training for 80 teachers in inclusive pedagogy while strengthening the capacity of community education committees, school administration and district education personnel to ensure quality and inclusive education.
Education Minister of South West State of Somalia, Mr Mohamed Yusuf Hassan hailed EU Humanitarian Aid’s support to Somalia through FCA and GREDO.
“This is an ample opportunity for the education of Somalia’s children in Hudur, where many children are out of school owing to limited opportunities and insecurity in the region. We appreciate this incredible support to the education of our children especially during the COVID-19 pandemic which has caused disruption of schools and education in the world, hence exposing children to abuse and risk”, he said.
In 2020, New Fangak saw its first primary school leaving exams since the war that started in 2013. A new project component strengthened the livelihoods of parents, enabling more girls from vulnerable families to join school.
Finn Church Aid (FCA) opened its office in New Fangak, Jonglei State in 2016 and began with an EU Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) funded project by constructing schools and attracting learners.
Currently, the support reaches 16 schools in Fangak County in four villages. Field Team Leader Dhuor Deng Kuony says that the idea of a child’s right to education has grown stronger during the past four years. New school structures, teacher training and involving the community have been vital.
“I’m personally proud when I see children coming to school and the support they get from their parents, the community and the government that runs the education affairs”, Deng says.
“The community has taken ownership of the schools. They have built the structures and parents are strongly involved in their children’s education through Parent-Teacher Associations.”
A total of 130 teachers has received training within the project, and more than 7,000 pupils can access learning spaces and materials. With awareness-campaigns included, the project has reached more than 20,000 direct beneficiaries and an estimated 60,000 indirect beneficiaries.
Et ole hyväksynyt markkinoinnin evästeitä nähdäksesi videon.
Supporting livelihoods of vulnerable families increase enrolment
When the initial project started in 2016, there were no schools. The education that took place was given under trees by teachers who barely had completed their primary education.
Teacher training has been an essential part of the project from the start. Qualified teachers equal quality education, and families become more motivated when they see their children not only attending school but actually learning.
Nyaluak Maker, 15, is in class 2 in William Chuol Primary School and says that teachers are now punctual, and listen and interact with learners. She describes them as friendly and motivating
“I now feel very comfortable with asking my teacher about things I did not understand during the lecture. They will come to me individually, and explain patiently until I understand”, she says.
Nyaluak Maker, 15, says that her mother encourages her to focus on her learning. Photo: Maria de la Guardia / FCA
One of the challenges in Fangak County is convincing parents to send both boys and girls to school. In pastoralist communities, parents do not traditionally send their children to school, and particularly girls are the last to access education. They are often forced to marry at an early age.
“Women role models are powerful in convincing parents. We want to show that their girls can earn a living in the future, and for instance, female teachers are good examples”, Deng says.
But even more important is responding to the immediate needs of vulnerable families. In an area prone to floods and drought, food shortages are common, and poverty widespread. Many need their children to support the daily survival of their families through cooking or working.
This is why cash transfers and livelihoods support were added to the project, with funding by EU Humanitarian Aid. Parents that farm received seeds and training and the cash transfers have enabled single-parent households particularly to establish businesses at the market.
Nyadeng Chan and Wal Diew are both widows, and they combined their cash transfers of 6,050 South Sudanese Pounds (35 euros) each to establish a shop for tea and the local bread kisra.
“We decided to use the cash for something that keeps us going in the future instead of spending all on food. That would have soon taken us back to square one”, Wal says.
Business women Diew Wal and Nyaldeng Chan in front of the restaurant they co-own and run in New Fangak, South Sudan on 8 March 2020. Parents of school-going children receive cash distributions that help them start businesses to generate an income for their families. Photo: Maria de la Guardia / FCA
First primary leaving exams since 2013
The project reached a crucial milestone in early 2020 when 43 pupils sat, and 28 passed the first primary school leaving exams in New Fangak since the war started. This makes the youth eligible to continue their education journey on a national level.
17-year-old George Juang was one of the first to complete the exams in February.
“My teachers helped me prepare well. When I passed, many people I know are more eager to join the school because they also want to pass like me”, George says.
George now dreams of an opportunity to enrol in secondary education, which is not currently available in the whole of Fangak County. Despite a physical disability as a result of polio, he is determined to become an accountant.
“School teaches you to take care of yourself, and it exposes you to different cultures. You know how to protect yourself and how to pursue your dreams.”
George Juang is one of the first in New Fangak to have sat and passed his Primary 8 exams. Photo: Maria de la Guardia / FCA
Read more about this project funded by EU Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) in our photo story.
Millions of girls and women living in refugee camps urgently need feminine hygiene products. They also desperately hope for access to clean water, soap and functioning door locks.
At present, roughly 30 million girls and women around the world are living as refugees, and many of them face the same question every month: how will I cope with my period this time?
Taking care of menstrual hygiene in a refugee camp setting is not easy. No proper sanitary pads are available. Or if there are, they are far too expensive to buy, at least in sufficient amounts.
The girls and women living in refugee camps in different parts of the world also have to fear for their safety. Privacy is another real problem in settings where women have to use communal toilets that are rarely even equipped with locks.
Feminine hygiene is difficult to maintain when there is no clean water for washing up. The cultural stigmatization of women as impure during menstruation also makes girls and women feel ashamed of their bodies. At worst, women and girls have to isolate themselves from their community or even their own family during their periods.
Girls attending Yoyo primary school going to classes at Bidibidi refugee settlement.
Youth learn about menstruation in school
”Not having sanitary pads, for example, has a direct impact on girls’ education,” says Project Manager Lilian Musoki from Uganda.
Musoki was involved in organising the distribution of hygiene kits in Bidibidi refugee settlement. Bidibidi has a population of 270,000 people and is one of the world’s largest refugee settlements. A city unto itself, its inhabitants have mainly fled the civil war in Uganda’s northern neighbour South Sudan.
Although menstruation and access to education may seem to have little connection, according to Musoki, they go hand in hand.
“Girls stay out of school every time they have their period. Without proper sanitary pads and school facilities for taking care of their menstrual hygiene in private, girls cannot make the most of their education.”
The problem is that their absence from school cause girls to fall behind in their studies, making it difficult for them to complete their education.
In Bidibidi refugee settlement, proper sanitary towels are hard to come by or they are too expensive for the women and girls living as refugees. That’s why women and girls often make do with whatever is on hand. In practice, it means that they resort to making pads themselves, for example, from pieces of fabric cut from old cloths.
These makeshift pads sometimes leak and lead to odours, causing embarrassment and shame for the girls. This is why the hygiene kits distributed by FCA also contain sanitary pads. A total of 19,850 girls in Bidibidi were able to obtain the FCA hygiene kit in 2019.
On Menstrual Hygiene Day last year, Finn Church Aid distributed 19 850 hygiene kits to girls in Bidibidi refugee settlement in Uganda.
According to Lilian Musoki, girls often lack menstrual knowledge.
“In our culture, talking openly about menstruation is off-limits, even between mothers and daughters. It is culturally unacceptable”, Musoki says.
Mothers also have their hands full with keeping up with housework and earning a livelihood. In FCA’s projects in refugee settlements, information has been shared, and schools also provide menstrual education.
In school, girls learn the facts about menstruation and how to maintain good hygiene. They can also turn to a designated female teacher if their period starts in the middle of the school day. Musoki says that they can ask the teacher for a sanitary pad so that they can continue with their school day.
Lilian Musoki.
“When the girls get accurate information, the shame associated with menstruation and the changes in their own bodies disappears,” Musoki insists.
For environmental reasons, some of the sanitary pads FCA provides can be washed and reused. Soap bars for washing them are included in the hygiene kits distributed in refugee settlements. Hygiene kits also include panties.
According to Musoki, FCA is providing pads because other products, such as tampons and menstrual cups, would prove too costly for local people. A tampon pack worth three US dollars is a luxury no one can afford.
Safety equals a door with a lock
For menstrual hygiene, girls need to have their own toilets where they can change their sanitary pads in private, without any fear of harassment.
The safe spaces for women and girls have also been vital to girls and women living on the other side of the world in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, in the world’s largest refugee camp. There, in partnership with DanChurchAid (DCA), FCA supports safe spaces for the Rohingya women and girls who have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh.
In the safe spaces, women and girls can use clean and safe toilets with hand-washing stations and soap. In addition, they get sanitary pads that enable them to participate in the literacy and numeracy lessons offered by FCA and DCA, also during their periods.
Why are the toilets in safe spaces so important? Kaji Shahin Akter who works as the Programme Manager for Gender-Based Violence in Cox’s Bazar, says that the taboos surrounding menstruation expose women to violence.
“Traditionally, Rohingya women have used rags cut from worn-out garments as their sanitary towels. Women need to wash these either early in the morning or late at night, been conditioned by the culture to regard menstruation and menstruating women as polluted,” she says.
Such notions compel women and girls to go to the camp’s water stations after dark, exposing them to sexual or other forms of violence. Even toilets designated for women can be dangerous when inadequately monitored.
In Cox’s Bazar Bangladesh, the world’s largest refugee settlement, Finn Church Aid and Dan Church Aid have built safe spaces for women and girls.
Cox’s Bazar Education Programme Manager Margaret Goll from DCA says that even the disposable sanitary pads are problematic. They add to the issue of waste in the massive refugee camp.
“There are many kinds of problems related to menstruation in Cox’s Bazar, actually every problem you can imagine,” Goll says.
Men also need menstrual information
Menstruation puts even further limits to girls’ lives, as many Rohingya girls stop attending school after they get their first period, on average at the age of 14.
“In Rohingya culture, when a girl starts menstruating, she can only spend time with the men and boys of her own family. Many girls are also married off when they start menstruating,” says Goll.
In Cox’s Bazar refugee camp, women and girls have their own safe spaces where they are able to study and get information on menstrual health and hygiene as well as other important issues in their own lives.
Rohingyas believe that a girl or a woman is impure during menstruation and can therefore not participate in normal life. According to Margaret Goll and Kaji Shahin Akter, these attitudes are also addressed. Getting the community’s men involved in the conversations is essential.
”We have provided boys and men not only with information on menstruation but also on positive body image and positive fatherhood. In the beginning, this was difficult, and the men and boys were reluctant to join in because all of us working for the project are women,” says Kaji Shahin Akter.
Eventually, progress was made when religious leaders, such as imams, started taking part in the project.
One way to make menstruation more visible has been the annual World Menstruation Hygiene Day on 28 May.
“It has been a big event in Cox’s Bazar in previous years. This year, however, we may have to limit public gatherings,” says Goll.
For children and young people, school is much more than attending classes. Schools provide safety and protection from abuse and violence.
The coronavirus has created an unprecedented situation in which most of the world’s children and young people are out of school. According to UNESCO, school closures affect already 91 percent of the world’s pupils.
Out of these 1.54 billion children and young people, just under half, 743 million, are girls. More than 111 million of these girls live in the least developed countries, where having access to education was difficult even before the crisis.
In addition, nine out of ten of the 1.8 billion young people in the world live in developing countries, where opportunities for long-distance education are scarce.
When schools close, children and young people no longer spend their days with their peers or under the supervision of their teachers. Without going to school, many are also left without school meals and healthcare.
No one knows how long the pandemic will continue. Instead of weeks, it is likely a matter of months.
What did we learn from Ebola?
During the Ebola epidemic, schools in West Africa remained closed for 6–8 months. During this time, the number of teen pregnancies went up, in parts of Sierra Leone by up to 65 percent. Countries afflicted by the epidemic also saw increases in domestic violence and maternal mortality.
Several international studies have looked into the experiences of children and young people during Ebola. When children were interviewed for the studies, a direct link between schools closing and an increase in child labour was found. The children described having to take more responsibility for providing a livelihood at home once their families’ means of subsistence weakened.
When the children and young people were asked what they were most worried about during the Ebola epidemic, their primary concern turned out to be schools closing and the effects this would have on their future. The children were afraid to go back to school because they were worried about Ebola still spreading in them. The same risk exists in the current situation with the coronavirus.
Long-distance studying was rare in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, which where the countries that suffered the most from Ebola. Just 30–40 percent of children said they studied at home during the epidemic. Their studies mainly consisted of going through old notes. Most parents cannot read or write, so they were unable to support their children in their long-distance studies.
Schools can prepare for distance learning by printing learning materials for students to take home.
In the regions affected by Ebola, some long-distance studying was organised over the radio. However, this proved ineffective at times. Not all parents could afford to buy a radio or the batteries for it, and the restrictions around gatherings made it impossible for several children in the neighbourhood to gather around one radio.
School closures due to the coronavirus came as a surprise in many countries, and there was no time to make preparations. The lower the level of income in a country, the harder it is to organise long-distance learning.
Learning must continue even though schools close
Long-distance education can be of high quality as long as it is carefully prepared. In low-income countries, all methods of long-distance learning that require using the internet are difficult for learners to reach, and are often expensive and complicated to use.
However, it is important to support learning at home in order to keep the number of school dropouts as low as possible. Radio broadcasts remain the most cost-effective long-distance education solution that reaches the biggest possible number of children and young people. Keeping in mind the lessons learned from the time of Ebola, it is important to make sure as many families as possible have a radio at home. Finn Church Aid (FCA) distributes solar-powered radios to families, in order to give the children access to long-distance education.
Maintaining a connection with school is important in order to ensure schooling to continue after the crisis is over. The longer children and young people are out of school, the more likely it is that they will not return.
WhatsApp to assist in training teachers
During the state of emergency, it is important to stay connected with not only the pupils but also the teachers. This helps prepare for the reopening of schools once the crisis is over.
In Bangladesh, FCA trains teachers during the pandemic via WhatsApp. Long-distance education enables teachers to develop their expertise, stay motivated, and keep in touch with one another.
WhatsApp is also used to share information about how to stop the virus from spreading. The teachers can then share this information further in their own communities.
It is important to start looking forward and prepare for the children and youth to return to school. Once the schools have re-opened, it may be necessary to speed up teaching and revise learning content, as well as offer psychosocial support for the learners.
Education, even in the form of long-distance, gives hope of a better future during crisis, which is especially important for children and young people. Now, learning – as well as hand-washing – must continue.
Minna Peltola
Senior Education Specialist
Elina Kostiainen
Communications Specialist
Translation: Leena Vuolteenaho
Photos: Jari Kivelä
Read more: New COVID -19 advocacy brief Learning must go on by Finn Church Aid, Unicef, Save the Children UK and partners.
A career counselling project completely changed the atmosphere in Hlain Tharyar School. Teachers say that there is hardly any bullying anymore, and a parent’s evening changed the pupils’ future.
Primary education normally takes nine years in Myanmar – unless a child has to repeat a grade. The ninth grade is offered only in government-run schools, and families have to cover school fees for enrolling their children in them.
Some cannot afford to pay. These families can access free education in monastic schools, available for children in grades 1–8. There are 1,600 monastic schools in Myanmar. They follow the national curriculum but are funded with donations and by regional councils.
Although monastic schools are cost-free, they cannot offer a primary school completion certificate. Many children never get a chance to complete the ninth grade.
But careful planning is required to get children even to that point. Dropping out of school is common in Myanmar. When families move, their children’s education is interrupted and may even end altogether. Poverty is the main reason: children are often needed to contribute to their family’s livelihood. About 70 per cent of children complete primary school grades 1 to 5.
A large number of students spend more than five years in primary school, which means that there are pupils of varying ages in the final grades of primary school and in middle school.
Pupils and teachers have to leave their shoes outside the classroom.
Amidst these challenges, there is much demand for career counselling professionals. They have been educated in Myanmar since January 2018 when Finn Church Aid’s (FCA) project began. The objective is to include career counselling in Myanmar’s national curriculum.
The career counselling and guidance project involves three monastic schools and two government schools in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar.
Career counsellors gained the trust of pupils
The Hlain Tharyar School on the west side of Yangon has 445 students and 18 teachers. Two of the teachers have been trained as career counsellors. All in all, the project has trained 17 teachers as career counsellors in Myanmar
In addition to training days, the career counsellors received mentoring from volunteers of the Teachers Without Borders network. To further support their work, they will receive a guidebook in the Burmese language with a wide range of concrete guidelines, classroom activities, and useful information.
Career counsellors give group lessons for pupils in grades 5 to 8, four times a month, on top of the teachers’ other lessons. There is also private counselling, even for younger pupils. Career counselling and guidance is not yet in the curriculum.
Impressed with the benefits of the program, the school administration has allocated a space especially for confidential discussions between the career counsellor and the pupil.
Acting Principal U Zaw Min Oo and grade teacher Daw Thidar Aung both provide career counselling. They say that thanks to career counselling, five students who were dropping out of school last term decided to stay. Their classmates also had an influence on getting one of them to return to school.
U Zaw Min, the Acting Principal of Hlain Tharyar School, gives career guidance and counselling lessons four times per month to students in grades 5 to 8.
The career counsellors have shared the skills they acquired during the training with other teachers. These skills include positive methods in group management, student-centred teaching methods and agency for team spirit.
According to them, there have been attempts to improve the atmosphere of the school before but this work has brought about real change.
“We used to experience things like bullying and disruptive behaviour at school. Now we have a calm environment, which makes learning easier and enables teachers to concentrate on teaching,” teachers Daw Wah Wah Khaing and Daw Su Su Hlaing say.
Involving parents is a crucial step for the youth’s future
Supported by the training from FCA’s project, the career counsellors U Zaw Min Oo and Daw Thidar Aung organised a parents’ evening for the parents of eighth-graders. The principal of the school, chief abbot Venerable Sandarwara, held the key position as the convener of the event.
The pupils had prepared their own statements, expressing their hopes to be able to attend a government school for grade nine, the final school year. At the parents’ evening, the parents were asked to show their support for the continuation of their children’s education by taking a step forward in the school hall – nearly all of the parents gave their permission.
This means that their children are allowed to finish primary school and secure themselves an opportunity for a better future.
Text and photos: Hanna Päivärinta
The writer worked as a Teachers Without Borders volunteer in spring 2020.
Finn Church Aid has ongoing CGC projects in Cambodia and Myanmar. The implementation of the project is supported by the volunteers of the Teachers Without Borders network.
Finn Church Aid (FCA) has granted 100,000 euros to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in South Sudan, Somalia and Uganda, in addition to 50,000 euros previously allocated to Kenya.
Vulnerable communities across the world are bracing for the impact of a potential spread of the coronavirus.
An essential part of slowing down the pandemic is maintaining sufficient hand hygiene and avoiding human contact but the measures are not easy to apply in for instance refugee contexts. Camps and settlements are densely populated, and people even lack access to soap.
Uganda hosts the largest number of refugees in Africa. FCA partners with the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR in the education sector and the work includes the two largest refugee settlements: Bidibidi in the north and Kyaka in the southwest of Uganda. They are home to over 250,000 refugees.
Uganda has closed schools across the country to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. By early April, Uganda had recorded 44 cases of the COVID-19 disease. The actual number might be higher.
FCA raises awareness on necessary hygiene practices and measures among school children, their families, and teachers. The information is shared through the radio, text messages and posters. FCA also distributes soap and other hygiene products to families and increases handwashing facilities. Within communities, mobilisers also share information through megaphones.
The work is financed with 50,000 euros from FCA’s disaster fund.
If schools remain closed, children from vulnerable families risk severe consequences. Many have access to clean water, food and emotional support only at school. They face a greater risk of violence, child labour, harassment, pregnancy and child marriage when they are out of school.
FCA’s Country Director Wycliffe Nsheka says that FCA also implements precautionary measures to allow schools to open safely when the time comes.
“We are adding handwashing facilities, disinfectants and maintaining facilities, and we prepare to train teaches in psychosocial support”, he says.
A lack of water and a fragile administration increase Somalia’s vulnerability
In Somalia, FCA starts awareness-raising initiatives in its six schools in Baidoa. The town hosts the second largest population of internally displaced people in Somalia. FCA granted 15,000 euros to the intervention.
Somalia had recorded five cases of COVID-19 by early April. The actual number might be higher.
Somalia has also closed all schools. FCA can reach around 3,200 school children and their families through school committees and teachers. Country Director Mika Jokivuori says that FCA arranges campaigns with the help of community mobilisers, distributes posters, gives guidance on hand hygiene and provides families with soap.
“The Baidoa area is particularly vulnerable because of a fragile administration, and a lack of healthcare and water. Schools cannot provide clean water to pupils on a daily basis”, Jokivuori adds.
FCA’s community mobilisers demonstrate handwashing practices and other precautions in Baidoa, Somalia in March 2020. Photo: FCA
Children in the Baidoa area do not have smartphones and connections that allow distance learning. School closures thus further restrict the learning opportunities and well-being of children and youth that are already in a vulnerable position.
When schools reopen in Somalia, FCA will continue its awareness-raising by training teachers and pupils, establish school hygiene clubs and campaign for a safe return to school
Urgent need for precautionary measures in conflict-affected South Sudan
South Sudan’s government has also closed the country’s schools for at least a month, starting March 20th. The country has not recorded a single case of COVID-19 by early April, but the risks are high due to a fragile healthcare system and a challenging humanitarian situation.
Around 1,5 million people live internally displaced within South Sudan following years of conflict, and before the coronavirus pandemic, 7,5 million were already in need of humanitarian assistance. Malaria and diarrhoea are already common diseases, and a spread of the coronavirus would result in unprecedented consequences.
FCA has supported education for over 25,000 children and youth in Mingkaman, Fangak and Tonga, which are located in Lakes State, Jonglei State and Upper Nile State.
Although there are no recorded cases of COVID-19 in South Sudan at this point, there is a desperate need to have interventions in place, says FCA’s Country Director Berhanu Haile.
A group of volunteer teachers participated in FCA’s teacher training in New Fangak, South Sudan in March 2020. Now FCA begins to distribute information on the coronavirus and hygiene practices in schools through teachers. Photo: Maria de la Guardia / FCA.
South Sudan’s government is working with humanitarian aid agencies to support the fight against COVID-19 through awareness-raising and mass sensitization, including people living in internally displaced people camps.
“We must ensure that parents, children, teachers and the wider communities are sensitized and supported with essential lifesaving utilities like soap to prevent the spread of the looming pandemic if cases are recorded at a later stage. Prevention is better than cure”, Haile says.
FCA’s intervention reaches over 21,000 children, teachers and parents. Soap is distributed to 1,500 families. FCA’s disaster fund supports the actions with 35,000 euros.
Preparing for reconstruction after the corona crisis
The number of coronavirus cases and restrictions to contain the outbreak change quickly in different countries. FCA is prepared to modify and adapt its operations according to needs and circumstances, says Eija Alajarva, Head of Humanitarian Assistance.
FCA monitors developments in its countries of operation. Alajarva emphasises that despite the current chaos, we also have to look into the future.
“When the pandemic slows down and restrictions are removed, we have to support particularly children and youth returning to school”, she says.
Children and youth might need psychosocial support and remedial classes because their learning was disrupted
Entrepreneurs in developing countries also need support after the crisis. Movement restrictions threaten the income within the service sector, and the income of farmers usually depends on access to markets.
“Although our programme countries have yet the worst ahead of them, it is vital to prepare for reconstruction to ensure that there are no delays for it when the time comes”, Alajarva says.
Al Jarir is one of the biggest refugee camps in the city of Hassakeh, located in northeast Syria. The camp started to fill up after Turkey launched its military operation in northeast Syria in October, forcing 200,000 people to leave their homes.
To many people, the word “refugee camp”, conjures an endless row of tents. At Al Jarir, the building serving as a refugee centre used to be a school. Because of the war, children in many parts of Syria have been unable to attend school for years, but at least the school building itself can now provide internally displaced people with walls around them.
Some of the families in the camp have fled several times. Nine years of war is a long time.
It is winter in northeast Syria as well. As the sun sets, the rooms get cooler. When the temperature outside nears zero degrees Celsius, the inside of the building is a cold place to sleep in, even though the families with an average of seven members live in close quarters.
”My only dream is to have a room with heating. That is enough. I don’t have any more dreams left. I’m tired of this cruel war,” says Maryam Al Saleh, 32.
The classroom floors are covered with thin mattresses meant for emergency housing, blankets, and cardboard boxes from aid organisations. Some families share their room with another family.
Maryam Al Saleh’s family fled to Hassakeh from the city of Ras al-Ayin shelled by Turkey in October.
”We left everything behind”
In early October, the Turkish troops started shelling Al Saleh’s hometown Ras al-Ayin, located right on the border between Syria and Turkey. The family of seven ran for their lives.
”We left everything behind; clothes, canned food, everything we own. I didn’t even receive my last salary,” Al Saleh tells.
When the shelling and air raids began, youngsters passing by on motorcycles helped the family escape, transporting Al Saleh along with her husband, four daughters and son to within a safe distance from the city. They travelled the rest of the way to Hassakeh onboard a lorry.
Finn Church Aid (FCA) has granted 100 000 euros from its relief fund to support humanitarian operations in northeast Syria.
According to Maryam Al Issa, 41, what is hard about being a refugee, in addition to losing your home, is not receiving help to process the trauma caused by the war. Since October, the family of seven has been living at the Ismael Toqan refugee centre in the city of Hassakeh, northeast Syria.
Nearly 80,000 people still waiting to return home
The stories of the families who have ended up in the Hassakeh refugee camps are very similar: the air strike in October, along with other military operations, hit their home, forcing them to leave so quickly they did not have time to take anything with them.
The situation in northeast Syria is still very unstable, even though a truce was declared in the region at the end of October. This is why tens of thousands of people are still unable to return home. They may not even have anything to retrieve or to return to waiting back home.
The need for humanitarian aid is enormous.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), around 80,000 people are still living as internally displaced people in northeast Syria, even though more than half of those who fled in October already have been able to return home.
Elina Yli-Hakala first experienced wanderlust as a child when she climbed to the top of a big pine. Today she is an experienced volunteer worker, who never stopped exploring.
This November Elina, soon to turn 70, heads for Cambodia for six months to improve the quality of basic education. This is her third assignment with Teachers Without Borders.
Elina has 33 years of experience as a language teacher in secondary school in the Finnish cities of Kerava and Espoo. After retiring in 2011, Elina was already climbing a mountain in Nepal.
”My grandchildren have learned to trust that their grandma can manage when she’s abroad,” Elina laughs.
Throughout her adult life, Elina has been driven to travel around the world by her endless zest for life and her passion for marathons. She especially remembers the Jerusalem marathon in the late 1990s. On the starting line, Elina noticed that she was one of only two women to participate in the race.
”She was so glad to see me that she walked up to me and hugged me. As the finish line approached, we already knew a lot about each other’s lives.”
From the top of the pine into the wide world
Now living in Järvenpää, Elina is originally from “the backwoods of Kainuu region”, as she puts it.
”Once I made my way out of there, there was no stopping me”, Elina says.
She comes from a family of ten children whose games were rather wild. Keeping up with her brothers required creative thinking. At school, Elina became curious about life outside Kainuu. However, the school could provide the eager pupil with regrettably little information.
One childhood memory from when she was around seven years old remains particularly strong in her mind.
”I climbed to the top of a big pine. The forest and the blue sky seemed to go on forever. That’s when I thought that the wide world was out there, and that one day I would be there too”, she says.
Volunteering here and there, sometimes via Whatsapp
In 2016, Elina volunteered with Teachers Without Borders for the first time, taking part in the Dream School project in the Cambodian province of Battambang. The project’s aim is to raise the quality of basic education and to enhance teachers’ professional competence.
The first career counsellors in the country had just graduated, and Elina was there to train them so that they in turn can continue training future career counsellors. The upcoming trip to Cambodia will be Elina’s third. Her aim is to continue the work on education development that she started in 2016–2017.
”It feels like coming home. It is a privilege to see the results, particularly because you saw how it began.”
Elina volunteers in Finland as well. She does long-distance work by mentoring Ugandan teachers via Whatsapp. Mobile mentoring is Finn Church Aid’s project that enables Finnish teachers to provide their colleagues in Uganda with long-distance support.
In Uganda, as well as in many other African countries, Whatsapp is the easiest way to stay in touch. Stepping into the shoes of a colleague facing entirely different challenges via phone requires good situational judgment.
”One teacher may be in charge of a group with nearly 200 pupils. It takes some eye for the situation to decide what kind of advice to send their way.”
Stepping out of one’s comfort zone enables personal growth
What motivates Elina to travel time and time again?
”I don’t see myself as an adventurer. I have a kind of urge to learn and to challenge myself, to teach and to be of assistance if I possibly can. That feeling is hard to turn off, with so many opportunities still available.”
Elina plans to keep travelling and doing volunteer work as long as she feels like it. The most rewarding part is the feeling after the trip when you know it was worthwhile.
”I would like to encourage everyone to widen their perspective and to take the opportunity in their own life to do things they didn’t imagine they would do. Every step out of your comfort zone inevitably changes you and allows you to grow. Reaching for your dreams gives your life an incredible sense of meaning.”
Text: Elina Kostiainen
Translation: Leena Vuolteenaho
Teacher Without Borders –network provides opportunities for education professionals to do volunteer work in Asia and Africa.
Few adults from your childhood become as memorable as encouraging teachers. A good teacher can have a life-changing influence on a young person’s future and career choice.
Learning is one of life’s most rewarding things. Have you ever wondered who create this wonderful experience? Teachers.
A proficient teacher inspires students about their subject, because a student’s enthusiasm is the prerequisite for learning. If the subject does not raise interest, there will hardly be any learning.
Teachers around the world are celebrated on October 5th. Teachers put themselves on the line in difficult conditions, sometimes working even without pay. We asked teachers involved in FCA’s projects what they think about their work and the importance of education in their community.
Et ole hyväksynyt markkinoinnin evästeitä nähdäksesi videon.
Head Teacher John Egielan’s students are like children to him. Egielan now teaches primary school learners in Turkana County, Kenya. He himself grew up in the surrounding pastoralist communities and knows how tough it is to attend school. Poverty is the greatest obstacle.
Egielan’s single mother paid his school fees by collecting firewood.
“I don’t have any children of my own, but in school I support other people’s children. I am sure that my work pays off when I see them succeeding in life.”
Et ole hyväksynyt markkinoinnin evästeitä nähdäksesi videon.
Molly Azikuru and Godfrey Nyakuta teach primary school children in Bidibidi refugee settlement, Uganda. The settlement opened three years ago when hundreds of thousands of refugees arrived from neighbouring South Sudan. Teaching overcrowded classrooms in the midst of a humanitarian crisis is anything but easy. Nevertheless, Azikuru and Nyakuta maintain their calm and do not give in to the challenges. They dedicate themselves day after day to inspire their learners.
Et ole hyväksynyt markkinoinnin evästeitä nähdäksesi videon.
Jean Lessene has himself experienced the Central African Republic’s civil war and closely followed its impact on the lives of children and their communities. Employed as Head of the Education Sector, Lessene has evaluated the destruction of schools and participated in their reconstruction. For him it is clear that without education, the Central African Republic cannot achieve peace.
“Social cohesion and the significance of peace are among the most important things that a school can teach.”
Et ole hyväksynyt markkinoinnin evästeitä nähdäksesi videon.
Marave Chhay is an experienced teacher and one of the first career counsellors trained by FCA in Cambodia. Learners attending career counselling learn valuable working life skills, such as problem solving and taking initiatives, and they are trained to identify their strengths as well as follow their dreams. You will not reach your goals without making plans.
In schools with career counselling, like Anlongvil secondary, the number of school dropouts has decreased alongside improved learning results. The teacher or career counsellor is sometimes the only adult supporting and encouraging youth at a critical moment.
