(ERGO) – Now that his two deaf and dumb daughters have no education due to their school’s sudden closure, Liban Hersi Jama is worried about the young women’s future.
Howl-wadaag School for the deaf in Mogadishu closed in December 2022 when donors said they had no more funding.
Liban, who works as trainer at Mogadishu electrical training school, says the lives of his daughters Maryan, 20, and Ummu-Kaltuma, 23, have frozen.
“These girls were born deaf and when they grew up we looked for education so they could also learn. But as the children were already disabled, it is another problem for them now to feel stigma and think that no one wants to teach them,” Liban said.
“They can’t bear another burden. Their understanding is good, they are motivated, but their patience has run out, and we can’t do anything about it,” he said.
His daughters joined Howl-wadaag school in 2016 and used to take a school bus to and from home. The international NGO, Care International, cut funding last December after supporting the school for nine years.
“There are women and they can’t use telephones, so we can’t just let them go out alone and that is why they used the bus. But now, as the aid organisation is no longer supporting the school, it’s a big burden. You understand I don’t have much income and I have many children. I am a parent, these girls must learn, but we can’t afford it,” he said.
Liban, a father of 12, says he always tries to give more attention to his two deaf daughters. He noted that private schools for people with special needs in Mogadishu are out of his reach charging at least $75 a month.
Somalia has few education centres catering for children or adults with special needs. Some parents are forced to send their children to relatives in cities in the hope of getting an education for their children.
Howl-wadaag School closed leaving 195 female students with hearing impairment mostly from orphaned, IDP, or urban poor backgrounds without anywhere to go.
Hamda Sahal takes care of her deaf cousin Nadifo Hagar, 13, who moved into their house in Mogadishu in 2017 after being sent by her parents in Gidheys, Galgadud, for education.
Various medical procedures tried in Mogadishu failed to restore Nadifo’s hearing.
According to Hamda, Nadifo’s education at Howl-wadaag school improved her cousin’s social skills and integration and she was very keen to continue her education. Since her school closed, she has been mostly at home and isolated from the community.
“This little girl’s school has been closed for a while. At first she was a person who felt depressed and couldn’t play with other children because of her disability, it was very difficult for her to communicate or understand. But she learnt to explain everything she needs through text or pictures. She understands a lot, but now she doesn’t have an education, and we don’t have the money to pay for her education,” Hamda said ruefully.
The school’s former principal, Abdirisaq Hassan Bule, noted that the donor support enabled the school to expand from a small number of students they started with in 2015.
“When the aid organisation came we started registering people and when the funding was cut the parents said they are unable to pay. Unfortunately, we can’t bear the financial burden of these students, neither can the parents,” he said.
The principal said they still have unpaid bills of $1,500 for water, electricity, and other services at the school premises.
The students used to study six full days a week for primary, middle and secondary school subjects in Somalia’s curriculum
