In areas of Nigeria wracked by conflict, MCC partner Emergency Preparedness Response Team works to build trust and discourage discrimination between Christian and Muslim communities. For the past year MCC has supported this peace club at Wase Islamic Secondary School in Wase, Nigeria. MCC photo by Dave Klassen
In Bangladesh, preschool teacher Costantina Mandri helps Moumita Tudu with a literacy activity. Although Bengali is the national language in Bangladesh, there are some 45 different indigenous language groups. More than half of children from these groups drop out of primary school, often because of language barriers. MCC supports preschools that begin instruction in children's own languages and gradually introduce Bengali over a two-year period. MCC photo by Phoebe Chiring Marak
In Serbia, MCC supports the work of partner Bread of Life to increase educational success among the Roma, a marginalized population struggling against cycles of poverty. The program includes tutoring, activities such as this summer camp and advocacy to encourage Roma community members and leaders to value and support education. MCC photo by Damir Vrbanec
Sister Angela and Bhnam (last name withheld for privacy reasons) from St. Anne's Orphanage in Alqosh, Iraq, relax on a couch at the Daughters of Mary covenant in Ankawa, Iraq. On Aug. 6, 2014, six children and staff remaining in the orphanage fled from Alqosh because of advancing forces from the Islamic State group. Normally a two hour trip, it took seven hours of checkpoints and clogged roads. St. Anne's Orphanage is supported by MCC. MCC photo by Nathan Hershberger
On Saturdays in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, the K'ekchí Mennonite Church provides basic literacy and secondary education to youth and young adults who have not been to school or who dropped out as children. Students receive credit through a national correspondence course. MCC helps to fund teacher and supervisor salaries. MCC photo by Michael Chapman
When parents go to prison in Bolivia, children sometimes live there with them. MCC supports the work of Casa de la Amistad to provide meals and school support to children living in the prisons, and to provide scholarships for former participants in the program. In a region where drug trafficking is common, classes help students such as Jhosselin Dorado Ardaya develop skills to choose a different future. Read Dorado Ardaya's story. MCC photo by Nina Linton
MCC supports local partners to help improve the quality of education and provide new training for teachers. In the village of Mehurići, Bosnia and Herzegovina, teacher Fadil Dautbegović, trained in peacebuilding with support from MCC, leads students through an exercise where pupils take turns holding the rope and say something kind about a classmate before passing it on. MCC photo by Amra Pandžo
In Cambodia's Prey Veng Province, some families send their children to work in Phnom Penh or in a neighbouring country. MCC supports sewing and tailoring programs at three rural high schools, helping students gain skills to earn a living without leaving home. Chhi Chhinh is among 21 students in the program at her high school. “I want to learn this skill for my future,” she says. Read more about Chhinh and her drive to start her own business. MCC photo by Kong Saoroat
At Menno Kids Academy in Nairobi, Kenya, students play with a ball made of plastic bags. Members of Mathare North Mennonite Church, struck by the alarming number of neighbourhood children not in school, began the academy to provide low-cost education in this impoverished community. MCC photo by Monica Shank
