irisom

“When I graduated from high school 4 years ago, I did not get the opportunity to continue with my education because I had to work to help my mother” Rayah Osman a mechanical teacher, and had the opportunity to work as a teacher at the institute where he graduated.

Challenges for girls to access education in Somalia are enormous and prohibitive, raising serious concerns for the future of hundreds of thousands of young girls.

Meet Luqman Ali Hussein, a father of four children. The recurring conflict and fighting in Mogadishu led to losing his business and became disable due to casualties.

"My name is Luqman Ali Hussein, I was born in 1954. I am married and have four children. I have been through many difficulties in my life".

"My family used to be pastoralists but when my father died we lost all our livestock and moved to Mogadishu. I worked for National Printing Agency in 1908s, and later opened a bookstore to sell. Unfortunately, the civil war broke out and mortar fire destroyed my store. The next morning when I was fleeing the conflicts, I was hit by stray bullet as you can see from my hand. I can barely move my hand".

"After so many years of conflicts and displacement, you can imagine the life of a father who is the sole breadwinner of the family. I had to wake up every morning knowing that I had to provide my family. Many times I thought of sending my eldest daughter to go work as a house help but I couldn’t make myself let out those words as it was difficult for me to do that".