(ERGO) – Hundreds of professional teachers in troubled Lasanod city in Somaliland are facing uncertainty after fleeing their homes and jobs due to the conflict.
Former school principal Aden Mohamud Olol, who grew up in Lasanod, is now living in Garowe, Puntland, apart from his family whilst he tries to look for another teaching job.
He sent his family to live in an IDP camp in Boame, 77 km from Lasanod, for their safety. They are struggling to get regular meals with only occasional assistance from their relatives in the area.
“It really can’t be measured,” said Aden, weighing the difference between life before the conflict and now.
“I can only say that my family are living now in the worst humanitarian situation because they have no shelter and no one to support them. You can understand what is for a family to be displaced from their home.”
Aden was principal of Al-Wahyen school in Lasanod, where he was a teacher for eight years. His family enjoyed a decent living without worrying about food, education, or housing, until the conflict broke out.
“The school where I was the principal had buses, it had more than 10 classes, and I was working with about 30 teachers. I used to have enough money for my family and my life,” he said.
Schools in Garowe are preparing to close for the mid-year holidays and are not hiring new teachers, so there are few job openings.
“I submitted job applications because I have to make an effort, but I have not achieved my goal – I have not found a job,” he said frustratedly.
“My family now get help from those in the country or in the diaspora, they live with the help of God.”
Ahmed Adan, another teacher displaced from Lasanod, is also unemployed in Garowe. He and his family are facing food shortages. Not so long ago he was earning enough income to take care of his family.
“Life is as God intended, but previously we were at home and we could get education and health services, but all that was affected by the conflict and that has changed our lives,” he said.
Ahmed was a teacher at Lasanod’s Muse Yusuf secondary school that closed when the conflict erupted.
He spends his time walking to different educational institutions every day job hunting. He knows that hundreds of teachers are also in the same situation.
The chairman of the teachers’ association in Lasanod, Abdinasir Mohamed Hassan, has migrated to Burtinle in Mudug region. With no job, his family of 20 people depend on food they buy on credit from local stores and money sent by their relatives in the diaspora.
The teachers’ association had 513 members, of whom about 400 teachers were displaced to other regions, while about 100 have remained in Lasanod living in camps or other temporary settings.
Abdinasir was the principal of Gateway school that closed due to the conflict. He relocated to Burtinle because the cost of living is lower compared to Garowe and Bosaso.
Abdinasir said the displaced teachers are all facing very difficult conditions. As well as lack of income and poor living conditions, some were wounded in the fighting.
“Although we are all teachers, some are more vulnerable than others, and the situations differ. I know of about 10 teachers who have been injured in the conflict and have been in hospital,” he said.
Most of the teachers displaced from Lasanod can only hope the conflict will stop in the near future so they can regroup with their families and return to their homes and schools
