Melanie dreams of one day becoming a doctor.

She's a 14-year-old girl from a refugee hosting community in Cuenca, Ecuador.

She is curious to learn about the human body, as she hopes it will lead her to a career as a general practitioner. Her favorite subject is natural sciences, a field typically dominated by men. But this doesn’t stop her from dreaming, encouraged by her dad who knows how hard-working she is.

Melanie has a learning disability that makes schooling difficult. Her dad, however, always tells her that she is fully capable of continuing to push herself to learn, even if it’s hard. She is proud of the fact that her grades aren’t affected by her learning challenges. She strives to be very disciplined — staying on top of her deadlines and homework assignments.

“I love this career path but it isn’t an easy one. But like my dad always says, everything in this life is possible with hard work.” ~ Melanie

After COVID-19 halted her education, she thought she might not return to school. But with the encouragement of her father and the help of an ECW-funded programme, she’s been able to go back again. Since returning, Melanie has been happy to see her friends and teachers for the first time in many months.

ECW is committed to empowering girls like Melanie through targeted gender and disability responsive investments informed by local needs.

ECW’s Multi-Year Resilience Program (MYRP) in Ecuador has already reached 87,000 children like Melanie, including 14,000 refugees. The signature “La Educación es el Camino” (Education is the Path/Way in English) programme is being implemented by UNESCO along with UNHCR, UNICEF Ecuador, Instituto Iberoamericano de Patrimonio Natural y Cultural, in collaboration with Ecuador’s Ministry of Education.

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