Three Generations, One Dream
How Education Is Changing
Girls' Lives in Somalia
When Fadumo saw her daughter Nuseyba in her school uniform, smiling and carrying her books, she cried.
“It was a dream I thought I would never see come true,” she said.
That moment—seemingly simple and ordinary to most of us—was the result of more than twenty years of displacement, instability, and searching. A mother who had fled her home during Somalia’s civil war, moved from village to village, and watched her children miss out on the schooling they deserved. And a daughter born with a hearing impairment, for whom even finding a classroom that would accommodate her had once seemed impossible.
Girls’ education in Somalia has long been an urgent yet overlooked challenge. Decades of civil war, widespread displacement, poverty, and deep-rooted barriers have kept generations of girls out of classrooms. But something is changing. And to understand what that change really looks like, you have to meet the families living it.
This post takes you inside two true stories from ADRA Somalia—stories of a grandmother’s unspoken hope, a mother’s relentless sacrifice, a little girl’s bright future, and a woman who turned a sewing machine into a new beginning. Together, they show what education can do when it reaches far enough, and what your support makes possible.
A Grandmother Who Never Saw a Classroom—and the Hope She Carried Anyway
Amina is 80 years old. She has never been inside a school.
Growing up in Somalia, that wasn’t unusual for girls. Life meant fetching water from long distances, tending to livestock, learning from your mother’s hands rather than from a teacher’s voice. Formal education was rare. For girls, it was almost unheard of. Amina married young, worked hard, and did what was necessary.
But she never stopped hoping that her daughters—and one day her granddaughters—would have something different.
That kind of hope is quiet. It doesn’t announce itself. It just persists, year after year, generation after generation, until one day it walks into a classroom.
When Civil War Ended the Possibility of School
When Somalia’s civil war erupted, Amina’s daughter Fadumo lost everything familiar. She was forced to flee her home and spent the next two decades moving from place to place. Displaced, unstable, searching for safety that kept slipping away.
All the while, she was raising children. Children who deserved to go to school.
But schools were hard to find. And for Fadumo’s daughter Nuseyba, who was born with a hearing impairment, finding a school that would actually include her felt nearly impossible.
“We fled from one village to another, always hoping things would change,” Fadumo recalled. “But I could not find a place where my children could go to school—especially with their disability. It felt impossible.”
The Moment Everything Changed
In 2018, Fadumo arrived in Kismayo. And through ADRA Somalia’s SEAQE 1 inclusive education project (Strengthening Equity, Access and Quality in Education), her daughter Nuseyba was enrolled at Beder School.
It wasn’t just any enrollment. Nuseyba’s teachers were trained to reach her. They used signs and visual aids to communicate. They made sure she understood. Every single day, she showed up eager and ready to learn.
And Fadumo—who had carried her children through chaos for twenty years—finally got to exhale.
“For me, seeing my daughters in school gives me peace,” she explained. “It’s like we are healing what was broken.”
Watching Nuseyba and Seynab in school, Amina felt profound pride. She remembered her own childhood — a time when education was a luxury, girls had little say over their futures, and early marriage and hard labor were simply what life demanded. She believed her sacrifices had planted seeds of hope. And now, seeing her granddaughters thrive, she felt those seeds had finally taken root.
For three generations—a grandmother who never saw a classroom, a mother who spent decades searching for one, and a child who finally sits inside one—this family’s story is a reminder that progress doesn’t happen overnight. It’s built slowly, across years of courage and sacrifice, one small act of hope at a time.
What Inclusive Education Actually Means
Here’s something that often gets lost in conversations about girls’ education in Somalia: inclusion isn’t just about gender.
It’s about making sure every child, regardless of disability, displacement, or background, has a real seat in the classroom. Not a token one. A meaningful one.
Nuseyba’s story illustrates exactly why this matters. A hearing-impaired daughter of a displaced mother, she could have fallen through every crack in the system. Most kids in her situation do. Instead, ADRA Somalia’s SEAQE 1 project made sure she didn’t—because the program was specifically designed with children like her in mind.
That means trained teachers. Adaptive tools. Schools that meet children where they are rather than requiring children to already be where they can’t reach.
That’s what your support helps build. To give toward current ADRA education initiatives, view our Gift Catalog here.
Inclusion isn’t just about gender, it’s about making sure every child, regardless of disability, displacement, or background, has a real seat in the classroom
Education Doesn't End at the Classroom Door
Nuseyba’s story is one kind of transformation. But ADRA Somalia’s education work extends well beyond children.
Meet Khadijo Hassan.
Khadijo is a mother of seven, born and raised in Jamaame. About ten years ago, increasing insecurity forced her family to flee to Kismayo. Determined to build a better life for her children, she turned to selling vegetables, a business connected to her roots. But over time, delays and disruptions in supply made it harder and harder to keep going.
“The delay in the arrival of new vegetables became a consistent challenge,” she said. “As I struggled to maintain my business, I realized I couldn’t rely on a market that was becoming erratic. The joy of selling vegetables slowly faded, and I had to quit.”
That’s when she learned about ADRA Somalia’s ASPIRE project (Action to Strengthen Partnership for Inclusion, Resilience and Education) and a flicker of hope reignited.
From Struggle to Skill
Khadijo enrolled at the Kismayo Technical Institute, where she spent six months learning tailoring. The institute’s supervisor, Mr. Bashir Abukar Maalim, described the program’s purpose plainly: “Our aim at Kismayo Technical Institute is not just to teach skills, but also to empower individuals like Khadijo to change their lives. We provide practical skills that lead to sustainable livelihoods.”
When she completed her training, ADRA provided her with a sewing machine and the materials she needed to start a home-based business.
“When I received the sewing machine and some clothing materials, it felt like a new beginning,” she said, smiling.
A Business Built on Belief
Khadijo began making clothing for young children, starting with simple Somali dresses, then expanding to different styles and patterns as her skills grew. Working from home matters to her. “I can work at home, which is essential for me as I have little kids who need my attention,” she said.
On difficult days, she earns around $4. On good days, closer to $10. “This income has allowed me to take care of my children’s needs,” she said. “And it’s a relief knowing I can provide for them.“
Her community has taken notice. “My community has been incredibly supportive,” she said. “They trust my work, and I am proud to provide a service that they need.”
And her vision reaches further still. “In the future, I look forward to expanding my business,” she said. “I want to have several machines and train as many people as I can, so they, too, can believe in their skills and create a better life for themselves.”
Why Girls' Education in Somalia Matters—And Why the Barriers Are So High
To understand stories like Nuseyba’s and Khadijo’s, it helps to understand the scale of the challenge they’re overcoming.
Somalia has one of the lowest school enrollment rates in the world, particularly for girls. According to the Education Policy and Data Center, 81% of girls who are primary school age are out of school. This is partly due to decades of conflict that have dismantled education infrastructure across the country.
Displacement compounds the problem. When families are forced to move repeatedly, children lose continuity in their schooling, sometimes for years at a time, sometimes permanently.
Girls with disabilities face layered barriers. Gender, disability, and displacement don’t stack neatly—they multiply each other, making access to school feel like an impossible equation.
Adult women are often forgotten in education conversations. Yet for women like Khadijo who missed formal schooling due to circumstance, vocational training can be the difference between vulnerability and stability.
The good news? All of these barriers are solvable. Slowly, carefully, and with the right kind of support, they are being solved.
81% of girls who are primary school age are out of school.
How ADRA Is Making It Work
ADRA Somalia has been working on the ground for decades. The approach isn’t one-size-fits-all; it’s rooted in what communities actually need.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
Inclusive classrooms that reach every child. Programs like SEAQE 1 are built around the idea that inclusion isn’t a special accommodation — it’s the baseline. Trained teachers, adaptive tools, and a genuine commitment to reaching children like Nuseyba.
Community-based partnerships. ADRA works with local schools and local institutions—like Kismayo Technical Institute—because sustainable change has to come from within a community, not just from the outside.
Vocational training for women. The ASPIRE project recognizes that education for women can’t only begin in childhood. Women who missed formal schooling because of conflict or displacement deserve a path forward, too.
Long-term commitment. The SEAQE 1 project launched in 2018. Khadijo’s training took six months. Real transformation doesn’t happen in a news cycle—and ADRA is in this for the long haul.
Amina, Fadumo, Nuseyba, and Khadijo are four different women with four different stories. But they share the same thread: a belief that education changes things, and a community that finally has the support to make it real. Your support helps make it possible.
Support ADRA’s education work today by choosing an “Empowering Education” initiative from our gift catalog, or by signing up здесь to become a monthly donor.
Frequently Asked Questions About Girls' Education in Somalia
Why is girls' education in Somalia so difficult to access?
Somalia’s long history of civil conflict, mass displacement, poverty, and cultural expectations around girls’ roles have created deep, overlapping barriers to education. For girls with disabilities or those living in displacement communities, these barriers multiply. Somalia consistently ranks among the lowest globally for school enrollment, especially for girls.
What is ADRA doing to improve girls' education in Somalia?
ADRA Somalia runs inclusive education programs like SEAQE 1, designed to enroll children regardless of disability or displacement status—with trained teachers and adaptive tools to support every learner. The ASPIRE project extends this work to adult women, offering vocational training that leads to real economic independence.
What is the SEAQE project?
SEAQE stands for Strengthening Equity, Access and Quality in Education. It’s an ADRA Somalia initiative focused on improving school enrollment and learning quality, with a particular emphasis on inclusive education for children with disabilities and those affected by displacement.
How does girls' education benefit entire communities?
Research consistently shows that when girls are educated, entire communities benefit—poverty rates drop, health outcomes improve, and economic participation increases. In Somalia, where multiple generations of women have been excluded from classrooms, even one girl’s education can create ripple effects that stretch across families for decades. Amina, Fadumo, and Nuseyba’s story is a living example.
How can I support ADRA's education work in Somalia?
Your support, no matter the size, directly funds programs like SEAQE 1 and ASPIRE, which provide children and women in Somalia with access to quality education and skills training. Every contribution helps reach more families like Fadumo’s, and more women like Khadijo.
Автор | ADRA International w/ ADRA Somalia
Фотография | ADRA Somalia
Читать далее
Адвентистское агентство развития и помощи (АДРА) - это глобальная гуманитарная организация, служащая человечеству, чтобы все могли жить так, как задумал Бог.
АДРА сертифицирована или является членом этих организаций
Дайте
Привлечь
Узнать
© ADRA International 2026