News
The Climate Q&A…
June 10, 2021
Can you each tell us a little about yourselves and how you became interested in child labor issues? Julie: Growing up, I always had an interest in places, cultures, languages, and people beyond the confines of my neighborhood, school, and community. I sought out opportunities to understand others’ life circumstances, which helped broaden my perspective. […]
A Mentor Girls Can Trust
June 3, 2021
Arabe Touré has built trust with girls in communities around Mali’s large Sadiola Gold Mine. Most of the girls have little knowledge of menstrual hygiene practices. In traditional Malian society, parents do not discuss such sensitive topics with their children, especially with girls. Menstrual hygiene remains very sensitive in Mali, with many girls dropping out […]
Women Empowering Girls in Kayes
May 6, 2021
Penda Traoré knows how to bring children together in Medine, a rural community in the Kayes region of Mali where agriculture and gold mining predominate. As a mentor, Penda leads weekly sessions promoting education with more than 40 girls between the ages of 10 and 19, including some who are married. Penda’s secret: She sends […]
In Mali, Girls Thrive Despite the Challenges
January 14, 2021
Growing up in rural Mali, Sali Kassogue had never been to school. That all changed in 2018 when then 11-year-old Sali started attending an accelerated schooling center (ASC) through the USAID-funded Mali Girls Leadership and Empowerment Through Education (GLEE) program. Implemented by Winrock International, Mali GLEE operates more than 300 ASCs that provide a specialized, […]
Building a House — and a Future — in Malawi
January 11, 2021
When he joined the Model Farm School as part of the Achieving Reduction of Child Labor in Support of Education (ARISE) program in Malawi at age 17, Besta Fesitala had no idea that it would change his future, that he would apply what he learned in such a direct and tangible way. ARISE, funded by […]
Educating girls, changing lives
December 17, 2019
Every weekday morning, 26-year-old teacher Fily Camara drives nearly two hours from her home in Bandiagara along dusty roads to a rural village called Tongnon. Sometimes, she admits, she’s scared. Outside the cities of this hot, arid country just south of the Sahara Desert, armed militants are known to attack or kidnap motorists as an […]
Matching Innovation to Need
December 12, 2019
Luis took a break from the virtual welding station and approached a man holding a pen and a reporter’s notebook. Luis, 50, drives a forklift on an early-morning shift, he explained, and welding could be a path to a brighter and more lucrative future. “It’s a good option for when I need a new job,” […]
Girl Power in Zambia
November 12, 2019
Like many girls in Mphunda Village, Zambia, 17-year-old Rabecca Mtonga dropped out of school at the age of 11. With no prospects for reentering school or getting vocational training, she married Bruno Nyirongo at age 15 and now has a young son. Despite dropping out of school, Mtonga still dreamed of running her own business […]
Changing the Face of Clean Water Supply in Tanzania
October 17, 2019
It’s Friday morning in Hembeti, a rural village in eastern Tanzania, and Irene Lemelo is hard at work. Members of the local community update her on their progress digging trenches for water pipes, and Lemelo answers their questions about a gravity-fed water system now under construction. When she finished her engineering degree a year ago, […]
USDA Launches $1 Million Effort to Prevent Opioid Abuse in Five Counties
August 7, 2019
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. – August 7, 2019 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing $998,834 to launch a proactive program to prevent opioid and substance abuse in north central and northeast Arkansas, a region that has high rates of opioid abuse and overdose deaths. The two-year Delta Understanding and Preventing Substance and Opioid Abuse […]