Our Dreams Thrive: a project to end child marriage through education
Nada Foundation has launched Our Dreams Thrive, the first project of its kind in Yemen. It teaches girls English and their rights as children, and gives priority to girls in camps for internally displaced people.
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Where the project works
The project currently covers the governorates of Hajjah, Dhale, the Capital Secretariat (Sana'a), Taiz, Marib, Hodeidah and Ibb. About 10,000 girls benefit from it.
How the girls learn
Girls learn English, with an emphasis on knowing their rights, understanding the harm of child marriage and combating violence against children.
80% of the time is spent practising the language, sentences and vocabulary with classmates, through activities that combine learning and training. The remaining 20% covers the theory.
Nada Foundation runs the project with the support of its head, Nada Al-Ahdal. She has given part of the proceeds of her book, published in French and Dutch, to fund it.
The project's aims
- Give girls who were deprived of education another way to learn.
- Raise awareness among girls and in the community of the danger of child marriage.
- Pay salaries to some of the teachers whose salaries were suspended, while they work on the project.
Education as the way out of war
"We launched the project because we are convinced that education is the best way to end child marriage, and the best way to make peace and to leave behind the war Yemen is caught in," said Nada Al-Ahdal. "The conflict, famine, poverty and destruction have made Yemen the worst country in the world. The latest war closed many schools in the areas of fighting, and teachers' salaries have been suspended for more than a year and a half."
"Despite the severity of the war, the insecurity and the harsh life, our foundation is determined to bring the project to every governorate of Yemen," she added. "It is a challenge: we are trying to overcome the conditions of war, poverty and famine, and to give free education to all girls aged 13 to 18, who are about 70% of those we reach. The other 30% are younger. The project will also reach boys."
She called on others to join the foundation in making the project a success, by extending it to other governorates in Yemen or by repeating it in other countries affected by war and conflict. She also urged anyone interested to become a partner in encouraging people to educate their children and change their societies.
She pointed to Japan, Germany and other European countries, which rose again after the Second World War by investing in education rather than relying on relief and aid. Aid eases suffering only for a while, she said, and its effect soon fades. Education is the most sustainable development policy, and its effect lasts.
Earlier work
Before this project, Nada Al-Ahdal ran the Safe Havens project, which helped girls fleeing violence and early marriage, and gave them support through her foundation.
She is now rallying public opinion to care for children's education. "Leave wars to the warlords and politics to the politicians. When it comes to the issues of our society, we are the makers of change, and we are responsible for it," she said. Through her Facebook and Twitter accounts, she campaigns for children and girls to go to school and get an education.