Training Center Gives Former Child Soldiers a New Start

Well-paying mining jobs used to be the bedrock of Appalachian coal country, but those jobs are increasingly hard to find. Local and national organizations are working together to help the region diversify economically by supporting local entrepreneurship with trainings and grant money.

The bloody civil war that tore through Sierra Leone for over a decade was one of the most devastating and violent in Africa's modern history. Those that suffered most were usually young woman, forced into combat, displaced, repeatedly raped and beaten. It has taken years for those who lived through the conflict to reclaim a normal life. One of the most powerful tools that many women leveraged were grassroots initiatives, funded by various NGOs, that the girls designed and led themselves, funding small businesses, support groups, and community projects.

Maria Adelaide Rescue Centre shelters girls who are escaping the practice of female genital mutilation and early marriage. The girls, who often have harrowing stories of escape, are provided a safe place to live and go to school. If possible, the Centre will work with village chiefs and family members to ensure the girls are protected and are able to get an education. The Center follows up and monitors girls’ progress and also educates community members on the dangers of FGM and child marriage.

Residents of Rivera Hernandez, Honduras are trying to improve their community in a district that’s under gang control. One such effort is a vocational school to train children and adults in electricity and solar energy. The city – subject to extreme poverty – has also received aid from the United States to fund community policing and day camps for a small number of children, although some of that money has bolstered corruption in the region.

At Lambda School, students pay nothing up front, with the understanding that they will contribute a set percentage of their future salaries to the school's operating costs. Now, Lambda is experimenting with expanding the Income Share Agreement model from its current coding focus to a broader range of disciplines, such as nursing and cybersecurity and traditional four-year college majors.

In 2011, authorities in Education City set about to combat the Naxal violence by offering education to children who have lost one or both parents to the violence. Today Education City houses 18 institutions and enrolls 5,500 students over 170 acres. In 2013 they managed to bring down the dropout rate from 50% to 13%, and the success of the school has spread excitement and inspiration throughout the city and especially in the children.

The Akilah Institute, the first all-female college in Rwanda, is empowering women to be financially independent through training in entrepreneurship, the hospitality industry and information technology.

At the Akilah Institute, the first all-women's college in Rwanda, students focus on entrepreneurship, hospitality industry, and information technology careers. The school, designed to accurately reflect the realities and needs of the private sector, recruits students from rural and urban areas, provides some financial aid, and works to dispel pervasive ideas about gender roles.

Washington D.C. struggles with the highest incarceration rates in the nation that already imprisons more people than any other country in the world. But a few determined individuals, including ex-offender Juan Reid, are working to break the cycle by empowering former inmates to join their business cooperative, Tightshift, catered specifically to those reentering the system by providing job training and paid work, as well as critical emotional healing and support.

After Nepal's 2015 earthquake, many village women were left in financial devastation and struggled to support their families. The earthquake destroyed up to 90% of small enterprises and markets, so the United Nations Development Programme trained women how to weave. As a mode of recovery, the weaving industry has helped rebuild the economic and social structures through the Panchakanya group.