(ERGO) – Free education and meals have attracted many poor families in the southern Somali town of Bardera, Gedo, to enroll their children in school.
Nunow Liban Hassan, an IDP living in Warsan camp, took his two children aged 11 and 13 to school for the first time and enrolled them in grade one.
Their family lost 100 goats to protracted drought in Durban, 70 kilometres from Bardera, and struggle for food let along tuition fees. Nunow said he is happy his children are in school for the first time.
“We see the free education as a positive thing, thank God. When I brought them to school they were uneducated, and today they have started reading and writing. We didn’t have schools in the rural areas where we lived,” he said.
The free meals were an attraction for Nunow although seeing his children learning to read and write has convinced him to keep them in school and to bring his younger children when they reach school age.
“I hope they learn so that tomorrow they can use their education to earn a living wherever they go, we didn’t only go there for the food,” he said.
This two-year project, supported by the Jubbaland ministry of education and local NGO Himilo Relief and Development Association (HIRDA), has surpassed the original target to provide education for 6,507 children in nine local schools.
Head of education for HIRDA, Mohamed Hussein, said they now support around 8,000 students and the number may grow. Funding is currently available to support the free meals until March, although the free tuition is set to continue.
Single mother Falhado Abdullahi Nur had to remove her children from school recently when she was unable to pay their fees. She is happy about the support.
“We now have free education which has come as a big relief for us. As for the food, we always used to eat whatever we could get, but we were looking mainly for education,” she explained.
Falhado and her family joined Iftin camp in December 2021 after leaving Qansahdhere in Bay region due to drought. She washes clothes to earn a humble living.
According to Mohamed Hussine, HIRDA’s research showed that many children are not able to go to school or to get enough to eat because of the economic pressures exacerbated by the drought.
“Before we started this project, we surveyed the people and found that many children miss school because they are hungry, and the families cannot get enough food for them. As a result, we decided to provide food for the children. They get porridge in the morning, and rice and beans or maize and beans for lunch,” he said.
