Reviving my hopes

Fatima is 16 years old. She lives in a camp for Displaced Persons in Somalia. A drought killed the family’s cattle. Armed militia attacked, wanting to kidnap young girls to be child soldiers or ‘wives’. Fatima remembers:

“The situation was so hard. We did not have food and shelter. Sometimes I help my mother to do domestic work like washing
clothes and that was the daily living for the whole family.”

Fatima is one of 1,500 children in an Accelerated Learning Program you support, helping older children who have missed out on school to catch up. Students receive the school uniform you see Fatima wearing, have clean safe water (to help protect against COVID-19), school lunches, and toilets to ensure girls have privacy and are safe.

“I am very grateful for you reviving my hopes. Now I can focus on my education. I want to be a teacher – a role model and pillar for other displaced children to become teachers in hard times.”

The Australian Government supports your ALWS work in Somalia. 1,500 older students like Fatima are anxious to get back to school when COVID-19 allows. Give now