Women's Leadership Kit ($90)

Dua'a's story

Photo: Alisha Rodriquez/Mercy Corps

When 17-year-old Dua’a Ali considered beginning Mercy Corps’ Women’s Inclusion Program in Iraq, she says she barely had the courage to enroll.

She had been forced to drop out of school in the fifth grade when her family became overwhelmed by financial struggles. Dua’a was required to spend her days at home, helping with household duties. Since then, she'd both forgotten how to read and write — and was nearly too embarrassed to return to any kind of school.

Mercy Corps' Women’s Inclusion Program provides Iraqi women with basic literacy education, as well as lessons in democracy and governance, human and women’s rights, and other key social issues. With more than 12,000 participants since 2005, the program aims to give Iraqi women a voice and the necessary skills to participate in the shaping of a new Iraq.

Dua'a said the literacy center was so near her house that she and her sister could not refuse the opportunity to attend.

The experience has changed her life. Before, she says, she was hopeless because she wasn’t able to imagine having a future. Now that she can read and write, she can finally envision one.

She wants to attend intermediate school and go on to a fine arts program. “I want to prove myself,” she says. “I want to complete my education so I will be able to go out and discover my talents.”

Women's Leadership Kit ($90)
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