PEACE BY PIECE INTERNATIONAL

My journey traveling to Jordan as an IPL experience was quite enriching. I traveled to Jordan to conduct interviews with several different organizations who work with female refugees, and low-or no-income Jordanian women. I was also able to interview three Syrian refugee women who are working for an organization called the Jordan River Foundation. The objective of these interviews was to better understand female economic empowerment and how learning professional skills and life-skills can aid in bettering these women’s futures. Due to the fact that these women are now earning an income, they can help provide for their families, which also plays a role in dissuading the men and young boys in their families from joining terrorist organizations for monetary gain. By earning an income independent of their husbands or other family members, these women now have a sense of independence that they may have not felt before. 
Besides conducting my own research, I was also representing Peace by Piece International as their Partnership Manager. I was able to pose a variety of questions concerning business and operations to many of these organizations. Our hopes with these interviews was to make connections and potential partnerships with the refugee community. With the help of my research, I was able to make PbPI’s first partnership with the Palestinian refugee community, with an organization called Sitti Soap. We hope that my work in Jordan will help us with other partnerships.
I highly recommend other MIIS students to take advantage of the opportunities that MIIS offers, like IPL. Working hands-on, in the field, is a much different experience than conducting research via the internet. The opportunity to travel to Jordan for research has helped me make new personal and professional connections, where I would have otherwise, never had. 

Click to read Baleigh’s report on “Economic Empowerment: A Study on Women in War-Torn Regions”

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