Greg Benchwick
Communications Manager, Education Cannot Wait
Worldwide, 224 million children are having their futures and their educations ripped from their hands by the converging challenges of conflict, climate change and other protracted crises. Education Cannot Wait’s Postcards From The Edge highlights the real stories of hope and redemption on the frontlines of the world’s forgotten crises in places like Bangladesh, Burkina Faso and beyond.
Hope for the Rohingya
Fleeing from persecution and violence in their homeland of Myanmar, close to 1 million Rohingya refugees now live in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Global efforts are underway to provide the girls and boys living here with safe learning environments. The global fund for education in emergencies, Education Cannot Wait, has already reached over 300,000 children by building schools, providing access to learning materials, training teachers, and creating climate-resilient pathways toward sustainable development. Zawad, 11, lives with his four sisters and two brothers in the camp. Now Zawad is back in school and dreams one day to become a teacher, because, “educated people have the knowledge to define right and wrong, which will help them lead a better life.”
Burkina Faso
In the middle of Africa, Burkina Faso experiences high levels of violence, insecurity, displacement, poverty and hunger. At the heart of this forgotten crisis are the 1 million children that are out of school. Without safe learning opportunities, they are exposed to threats of childhood marriage, recruitment into armed groups, and other grave violations against their humanity. The children of Burkina are sharing shocking stories of losing their homes only to regain hope in a series of postcards from brave and resilient children like Mariam, Darifa and Issa.
Want to make a difference in the life of a girl or boy like Zawad or Miriam, join Education Cannot Wait today by making a donation, or submit your own Postcard For My Friend, calling on world leaders to provide additional funding to ECW and its global partners. The names of children have been changed to protect their identity.
Want to make a difference in the life of a girl or boy like Zawad or Miriam, join Education Cannot Wait today by making a donation, or submit your own Postcard For My Friend, calling on world leaders to provide additional funding to ECW and its global partners.
