Since 2005, we've helped 12,000 Iraqi women like Kifaya learn how to read and write — and to exercise their rights in a democratic Iraq. Photo: Alisha Rodriquez/Mercy Corps

November 5, 2009
Basra, Iraq

Dear Friend,

Ever since Kifaya dropped out of primary school at age 11, her life has been "nothing but housework." Today, the 36-year-old mother sees a more promising future.

Over the last four years, we've helped Kifaya and 12,000 other Iraqi women learn to read and write. We've also taught them what it means to live in a participatory democracy and how to exercise their human rights.

Recently, Kifaya was one of 60 war-weary but resolute women who'd crowded into a stifling hot classroom to attend their final class in the Mercy Corps Women's Awareness and Inclusion Program.

I asked the class: "How has this program changed your life?" A beautiful, precocious-looking teenager bounded out of her seat with her hand raised. "Before this program it was like I was blind. Everywhere I went, I didn't know what I was seeing. Now that I can read, I can see."

Someone else called out, "I can help my children with their schoolwork." A middle-aged woman stood up and said she saves money at the market because she's no longer dependent on stall owners to tell her the marked price.

These women face a constant struggle. Whether wife, widow or daughter, they bear the responsibility of running the household. Many have been denied an education. To attend these literacy classes they faced their own fears; some also faced resistant husbands, fathers and brothers.

But today, Kifaya brims with self-confidence. She says knowing her rights — political, educational, social — has emboldened her to take charge of her future. "My daughters will not be illiterate like me," she said proudly. "They will be lawyers, or doctors, or teachers — and they will do good things for Iraq."

Your gift to Mercy Corps supports our efforts to build a better tomorrow for women like Kifaya. Help give them the voice they deserve. Thank you.

Alisha Rodriquez
Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Officer
Iraq

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