Think Creative Spring 2024

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Education as a life-sustaining activity in Ethiopia

READ II Education Recovery Activity

the end of the school year, he ranked third in his class. “The training enabled us to do what we could to support traumatized students in our schools,” says Abdu Yimam Seid, the school’s director. Abel’s father, Melese Abate, was moved. “I am happy not only because my son received the support he needs to recover from his trauma experience, but because of the way the director and the teachers involved the parents to make sure the students are doing well,” he says. School as a site of healing The project applied a trauma-informed approach, recognizing that the shock of conflict affects the whole community. Resuming school is also therapeutic for edu cators, families, and communities whose lives revolve around the school’s schedule. “The daily routine provides safety and a sense of confidence,” says Ilham Nasser, Ph.D., Senior Technical Advisor in Education for Develop ment at Creative’s headquarters. “Education provides a framework for thinking critically about all this trauma we went through, all of these emotions we have.” Tiruwork Seifu worked as a primary school teacher for 10 years before the conflict up turned the life of her community in Shewa Robit, Ethiopia. Seifu and her students witnessed the execution of their neighbors. After the fighting passed, they were traumatized anew by the sight of blood on the walls of houses and by the discovery of bodies buried at the school.

Trauma-informed education in Northern Ethiopia

READ II Education Recovery Activity

Adopting new practices Follow-up visits by the project team found that teachers had embraced self-care and were calm and supportive of students. Services for education in emergencies supported by READ II reached more than 700,000 students.

Robi Primary School was among the schools assisted by READ II, and Seifu received training on education in conflict and crisis. The first lesson for the teachers was self-care, recognizing they, too, had been traumatized and needed to find calm to help their students do the same. “I never thought about my own mental and emotional wellbeing,” Seifu says. “The training changed me. Now I know I must be physically and emotionally healthy to support students.” Seifu led the students in activities to practice managing their emotions. During break time, she encouraged individual students to open up about what they had experienced, listened to their stories and comforted them.

Zeki Ahmed, a student in Dessie, used artwork to help overcome the trauma of the two-year war.

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Even though the situation is really bad and challenging at the time, there is still hope in the future.” - Tassew Zewdie, Ph.D., Creative’s Chief of Party for READ II

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