Think Creative Issue 8

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Ethiopia READ II By Jim Huylebroek, Photographer

What immediately struck me upon arrival in Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa was the sheer number of high-rise buildings under construction. Though I have worked in Africa many times, it was my first visit to this East African country. We were in Ethiopia for a 10-day multimedia reporting trip focusing on USAID’s Read II project. On our first day of filming, we visited a reading camp where I felt a level of energy from the students and volunteer instructor that I rarely experience. The children were enthusiastically singing and reciting letters of the alphabet, and their instructor joined in with matching joy. Throughout our cross-country trip — from the internally displaced persons camps on the Somali border to the remote villages in the beautiful Rift Valley — classrooms mirrored that same energy. These encounters underlined what I have learned from working around the world. Education is key to unlocking the next generation’s true potential, especially in fast-developing countries like Ethiopia. n

In this Issue

07 Dispatches

10 p.

Behind the Mask 14 p.

Updates from around our world

08 // Creative launches Center for

Migration & Economic Stabilization

Trade Hub COVID Relief

09 // Field Notes 10 // The Trade Hub brings relief to businesses hit by COVID-19 11 // Opening doors to learning through community-based education 12 // In Focus: Global response to COVID-19 14 Cover Package Behind the Mask: Profiles of service during COVID-19

Global COVID Response

12 p.

ON THE COVER: Mariela Tax, a community facilitator working for the Peacebuilding Project in Guatemala, holds a mask made with traditional cloth. Photography by Vivian Jacobs for Think Creative .

Photos by JimHuylebroek (top left, bottom right); Aniebiet Bassey Akpanudoh (COVID response)

4 | Think Creative | Fall 2020