Photo by Jimbere

Welcome back to Catch Up with RET! This year, we celebrate 25 years of empowering vulnerable people across the globe. We’re active in 15 countries, and each month, we use this newsletter highlight our team’s work, and the impact we’re having on local communities and on the lives of women, girls, and youth.

For our U.S. supporters, we’re a 501(c)3, and donations may be tax deductible.

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Featured Photo

This month’s featured photo comes from our team in Burundi, where we’ve been active since 2005. This is the story behind the photo:

In Rugombo, Burundi, students receiving 1,804 newly distributed schoolbooks through the KOMEZAWIGE program, funded by Education Cannot Wait and implemented by RET International and its partners. These books provide children with essential learning materials, helping them stay engaged in their studies and improve their academic performance.

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New Video: 25 Years of RET

This year, we’re celebrating 25 years of empowering communities. RET has impacted over 25 million lives since we began working, and this month, we’re releasing a short video to explain what we do and the enormous impact we’ve had across the world. We’ve helped communities become more resilient, empowered them to spur positive change, and helped eliminate dependency. Like and share to spread the word, and help us ensure we can continue working for another 25 years by making a donation today.

To stay up to date on all our work, subscribe to our YouTube channel  (and click the notification bell) to know when we post new videos.

And to support our work in communities around the world, make a donation to RET today.

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In Brief

We’re on the ground in 15 countries. Here’s what we’ve been up to in just a few of them over the last month…

• This month was celebrated the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). This harmful practice threatens the health, dignity, and futures of countless Youth and family:
  • In the Mbera refugee camp in Mauritania, RET stands at the forefront of efforts to combat FGM, working with communities to raise awareness, protect girls, and advocate for their rights. RET has organized discussion circles and capacity-building sessions as part of broader efforts to address community and family violence.
  • Read more here about how RET is committed to safeguarding the rights and well-being of Youth and family.
• On January 23-24, 2025 in Mali, RET, in collaboration with REFOR, brought together technical service representatives and master artisans in Bla for an important discussion on how best to support young trainees as they step into their careers. Read more about the session here.
• For 25 years, RET has been working in some of the most difficult and fragile places. To get an inside look at our work, as well as be the first to know about job opportunities at HQ and with our country teams, sign up to our email list today.

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Longer Reads

Here’s a roundup of a couple articles that take a deeper dive into our work.

• Last November, RET International brought hope and transformation to the schools of Kayogoro, a commune in Makamba Province, southern Burundi, near the Tanzanian border, by distributing much-needed learning materials. As part of the Education Cannot Wait (ECW) program, this initiative focused on empowering students and teachers in a region where access to quality education is often a challenge due to crises and limited resources. Read the full article here.
• RET International organized a comprehensive workshop titled “Managing Recruitment, Adaptation, and Motivation Processes” as part of the Mapping Skills and Employment Pathways in Central Anatolia project. Held in Kayseri and Aksaray, the workshop aimed to enhance the skills and capacities of HR professionals and managers from public and private sectors. By the end of the sessions, participants gained practical strategies to manage recruitment processes effectively while promoting employee motivation. Read more about the workshop.
• In Nigeria, RET is proud to announce the official launch of a transformative project aimed at improving livelihoods, strengthening food security, and fostering peaceful coexistence in the border regions of Niger and Nigeria. This initiative, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is being implemented by RET in partnership with CCDRN NIGERIA and Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (Niger). Read more about the project here.

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That’s it for this edition of Catch Up with RET, but before we close…

Help spread the word! If you’ve found our newsletter through a link, subscribe today to receive news as soon as it’s released.

You can also have a direct impact projects like ones mentioned above by making a donation today.