Hope Education Project: Final Handouts for Students
At the end of our five-module anti-trafficking education journey, each student received a printed handout to take home, a simple but powerful resource designed to reinforce the key messages from the Hope Education Project schools program.
The handouts feature illustrated summaries, crosswords, games, and culturally relevant cartoons, all tailored to the realities of young people living in Tamale. Every character was carefully designed to reflect the students’ environment – predominantly Islamic, community-based, and grounded in local norms. This approach helped ensure the handouts felt familiar, relevant, and respectful to the communities we serve.
These handouts revisit the core themes covered in the classroom: children’s rights, the tactics traffickers use, how to stay safe, and the importance of speaking to a trusted adult. They’re written in clear, age-appropriate language and paired with engaging visuals, so that every student — regardless of reading level — can understand and remember what they’ve learned.
More than just a summary, the handouts act as a bridge between school and home. In focus groups held after the program, we heard that students had proudly taken their handouts home — sharing them with siblings, friends, and adults throughout their compounds. In many cases, the handouts were passed from household to household, sparking conversation and extending the reach of the program well beyond the school community.
We’ve already seen students reading aloud to younger siblings, pointing out characters in the cartoons, and proudly quoting the program slogan: “Be Smart! Be Strong! Say No When Things Feel Wrong!”
This printed resource will stay with them long after the final session ends — a reminder of what they’ve learned, and a tool they can return to again and again.
It was striking to witness the moment each class received their handouts. In all three schools, the room fell almost completely silent – the only sound was the murmur of children reading. They were absolutely gripped by the material. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with students expressing real excitement and appreciation. When we asked them where they thought the handouts had been designed and created, they answered confidently: “Tamale.” That response was a resounding success for us — confirmation that the handouts felt like they belonged to the students, their schools, and their communities.
