NaTakallam Enables Refugees with Learning and Revenue
NaTakallam (“we speak” in Arabic) is a social enterprise that connects refugees with remote income-earning opportunities related to language and cultural exchange, providing them with economic empowerment, purpose, and re-gained dignity. Over 8,000 people have engaged in more than 30,000+ hours of NaTakallam sessions, and refugees and displaced persons have self-generated over $800,000 through their individual language tutoring, guest speaking, translation and classroom work. NaTakallam has also partnered with over two hundred schools and universities worldwide.
While the COVID-19 pandemic made most of the world draw to a halt, NaTakallam increased its impact on refugees, who saw their income increase by 30% in light of a surge in online education’s appeal to those under lockdown. Since 2015, NaTakallam has understood the power and potential of a laptop with a good internet connection. Thanks to its fully virtual model, due to the effects of the pandemic on in-person schooling at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels, NaTakallam’s education programs expanded its virtual offerings to offer not only virtual classroom sessions but also one-on-one and small group virtual options for children and young students.
According to the UNHCR, there are more than 79 million people today who have been forcibly displaced from their homes by conflict. Some of these people have been displaced within their own countries and others have been forced to flee into other countries. Many hope to be able to return home as soon as possible, but the average length of displacement is between 20 and 30 years and some will never return to their country of origin. Despite the challenges, millions of refugees and displaced people work hard to overcome struggles, preserve their culture and identity, and rebuild their lives, often in new places.
Source/ verbatim: www.natakallam.com
