Education breaks down barriers

Find out how BibleLands' overseas partners have made a real difference to people's lives...

For a printable (PDF) version of these stories, click here

Neema
Growing up in a poor Cairo family that believed education was wasted on girls, Neema never had the chance to go to school. As an adult unable to read or write, she could not apply for a birth certificate or national identity card,
and had no access to government help. Literacy classes at the Salaam Centre have empowered her to find out about her rights and to claim the support she is entitled to. At last she feels she has become a full member of society.

Joseph
Joseph, who attends the J L Schneller School in Lebanon, is from a poor family relying on a seasonal income from farm work. Joseph did not always find his
classes easy but at the age of 14 he was given the opportunity to start vocational training, and he jumped at the chance to leave the classroom and start learning
how to fix cars. He is now one of the top students in the Schneller School's Car Mechanics workshop, and will leave next year skilled in a useful trade.

Safira
Safira, who lives in a village in Upper Egypt, wanted to go to the new health awareness classes organised by DUET (Development of Upper Egypt Trust), even though her husband said it was just a place to sit around and gossip. At Safira's first class, she learnt about food hygiene and received a storage rack to enable her to keep pots off the dirt floor. Over the next few weeks the course covered basic first aid, family planning, child nutrition and the importance of vaccinations. Now she is encouraging other women to attend and find out simple but effective ways of improving their families' health.

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