Mr. Emerimana, Thanks for sharing your story! I have been doing some work in Dadaab, Kenya and talking with different NGOs and learners involved in technology in the classroom and eLearning there. Many of the complaints I've heard from the students in Dadaab is that there are few opportunities to use their degrees once they complete them. What do you think about that in Kakuma? Do you feel like you're able to use your degree? I agree that access is a huge issue in refugee and displaced contexts, but what do you think could be done beyond access to education so that more students in refugee settings could use their education in their community and the world?
Thanks again! - Ally

Thanks Paul for your feedback! I would love to hear more about your perspective on the Australian system since my outsider perspective is a bit limited.

In response to your questions, the work I did in voter registration was government funded as a 501c3 (the non profit tax code in the states) but the organization I worked for was distinctly not governmental to remain non partisan.

I actually was paid a small amount, nothing extraordinary but a small stipend, as it was a full time job. However, most voter registration staff are volunteers and there are many people willing to do the work paid or unpaid. While I think individuals should be recompensed for their work, there is something to be said for the value of a volunteer to build community and foster support among disenfranchised communities.

In terms of door-to-door work, I did go door to door but that work was more of community organizing than voter registration. As community organizing can become politically motivated very easily, we did not do voter registration during those visits. However, the most productive door to door work for voter registration is in apartment buildings or other high density housing complexes (though I didn't directly work in those spaces). You're absolutely right though that door-to-door work is the best way to identify the homebound, and while we separated voter registration from organizing, the field notes from those organizing visits were valuable sources of information regarding reaching the home bound and connecting those who needed services with services provided in their community.

Hi Macy, one more thought off of these comments is the value of public recognition of a job well done. Youth (and people in general) love recognition and approval from peers so if there's a way of incentive-izing youth participants through recognition and support from a peer network, sort of like your school "currency" mentioned above, that could be a motivator outside of the small amount of money. This recognition could occur in schools or community centers and your pilot at your school might be able to show where youth would most appreciate recognition for their service.