A Second Chance for Nakurchel

An ECW-funded World Vision programme is helping students impacted by climate change-induced disasters attend school for the first time in Ethiopia

By Education Cannot Wait

February 28^th, 2024

Adapted Story from the Field. Special Contribution by World Vision Ethiopia (Original).

By the age of twelve, Nakurchel had never stepped foot inside of a school – with persistent drought and ongoing conflict affecting all aspects of life in Ethiopia, including children’s education.

Just a year ago, Nakurchel would wake up early each morning and, instead of filling her backpack with books and heading off to school, begin a long day of household chores. Watching other children walk by her home with backpacks slung over their shoulders and smiles on their faces filled her with longing.

"I felt so lonely and kept asking when my time would come to go to school like other children." ~Nakurchel, 12

Nakurchel lives in a remote village in Dasenech where years of drought, exacerbated by climate change, have made survival a daily struggle for many in her community. Millions in the country have been affected by the drought, which has been attributed to a particularly bad El Niño heat wave – intensified by climate change. Nakurchel’s family constantly searched for enough food to feed everyone and feared that if Nakurchel attended school, she would go hungry. Ultimately, they decided to keep her at home where she could help with chores, causing her to fall behind in her studies.

That is, until April 2023 when everything changed for Nakurchel thanks to an Education Cannot Wait (ECW)-funded programme that gave her a second chance at an education.

Nakurchel and her peers study at the learning centre. © World Vision

In 2023, World Vision, in collaboration with UNICEF and with funding from ECW, set up an Accelerated Learning Programme in Dasenech. The programme supports children like Nakurchel, who have missed years of learning due to crises, including climate change, in catching up on their education. The ultimate goal of the Accelerated Learning Programme is to prepare these children, ages 10-17, to join their peers in formal schools.

Nakurchel was filled with excitement after learning that she’d finally be able to attend school. Seeing her backpack and exercise books for the first time made it all the more real.

Her first day in the classroom was a bit nerve-racking, but she has loved having the chance to learn new things every day.

“I have always wanted to go to school and my first day was amazing. I was both nervous and excited at the same time.”

The bright young girl has excelled in the programme, which focuses on building core skills, including literacy and numeracy. After just a few months, Nakurchel has developed considerably in these areas. Upon completion of her classes in the Accelerated Learning Programme, she will be able to join her friends in the local elementary school's third grade.

Nakurchel practices writing numbers on the blackboard in her class. © World Vision

In addition to providing an accelerated course of study so that she can catch up to her peers, the programme also provides Nakurchel with hot meals at the learning centre. Being able to eat a nutritious meal at least once a day at school keeps Nakurchel motivated and gives her energy throughout the day.

“I love the oats I eat at school. They are very tasty and keep my stomach full all day long.”

The school feeding programme allows children to focus on their studies without having to worry about their next meal. Interventions like these that address families' needs are critical for building support for formal education – particularly for families like Nakurchel’s, who suffer from food insecurity due, in large part, to the historic drought in the region. School feeding is part of ECW’s commitment to a whole-of-child approach in investments, ensuring holistic support that addresses various roadblocks to accessing inclusive, quality education.

Ethiopia hosts the third-largest refugee population in Africa. The country is also affected by internal violence, insecurity, poverty, displacement, hunger and malnutrition, all compounded by the impacts of climate change. In December of 2023, southwestern Ethiopia, including Dasenech, saw disastrous flooding that has increased food insecurity. Rising temperatures increase the risk and severity of both flooding and drought, leading to destructive cycles that ravage vulnerable communities.

These intersecting factors have left countless girls and boys vulnerable and in need of urgent support. ECW investments are enabling partners, including World Vision, UNICEF and Save the Children, to scale-up their work to increase enrolment in schools and ensure continuity of education.

Nakurchel stands outside of the facility where she attends an Accelerated Learning Programme initiated by World Vision and UNICEF, with funding from Education Cannot Wait. © World Vision

The Accelerated Learning Programme has had a profound impact on Nakurchel's life. Not only has it provided her with the opportunity she's yearned for – to learn and grow alongside her peers – but it has also given her a newfound confidence and belief in herself.

"I used to feel so worthless and left behind, but now I know that I am capable of achieving great things. Education has given me wings to fly."

Nakurchel and her classmates at the Accelerated Learning Programme are just some of the more than 324,000 children and youth in Ethiopia supported by ECW, the global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises within the United Nations system.

Since 2020, ECW investments in Ethiopia have focused on addressing the critical educational needs of internally displaced and refugee children who are out of school, and improving access to education for girls and children with disabilities. ECW’s multi-year programme in the country has funded the implementation of school feeding programmes that have reached over 60,000 vulnerable students like Nakurchel, ensuring that they are healthy and able to focus on their studies with a full stomach. In response to the ongoing drought in Ethiopia, ECW also issued a First Emergency Response grant in 2022 to provide over 85,000 children and adolescents with access to quality, inclusive and protective learning opportunities.

ECW estimates that 62 million children and adolescents affected by climate shocks are in desperate need of educational support. During COP28, ECW issued an urgent climate appeal to donors to mobilize US$150 million in new funding to scale up ECW’s response to climate change – and reach an additional two million girls and boys most impacted by the climate crisis with holistic, quality education.

In an ever-changing world, increased support for education in emergencies and protracted crises is critical so that children like Nakurchel can access a safe, inclusive education. ECW and strategic partners call on donors, the private sector, philanthropic foundations and national and international partners to step-up and fully fund this multi-year programme and ECW’s climate appeal. All children deserve a place in school.

Through collective action, we can ensure that girls and boys around the world can focus on learning, growing and building towards a better future in the safety of the classroom.

Nakurchel writes on the board in her classroom. © World Vision

Access high-resolution photos from this story and our full media library on ECW’s FLICKR.

Button Label