Ifrah Mohammed with her mother and grandmother preparing

for supper in the compound outside of their home, July 2005

INDIVIDUAL FOCUS – EDUCATION

Ifrah Mohammed, SPSS student since 2003

Maybe the determination to excel in her studies came from her strong desire to be a doctor. At nineteen years old, SAACID Primary and Secondary School (SPSS) student Ifrah Mohammed has witnessed the death of three siblings from poverty and malnutrition. Her family recalls a time when one of the younger siblings had bronchitis. Ifrah cried her wish to be a doctor so she could save him from the pain and herself from feeling helpless. Lack of resources in Somalia today means that such preventable illnesses can lead to death if left untreated by a doctor.

Mennonite Central Committee’s (MCC) Global Family Program gave Ifrah the hope to actualize her dreams in 2003. A member of the SAACID Primary and Secondary School (SPSS) parent’s committee, familiar with the family’s desperate circumstances, recommended Ifrah for one of the scholarships provided by Global Family. Of her five remaining siblings, Ifrah was known to be the most ambitious and active, always reading books and newspapers and trying to learn English. None of her other siblings have attended formal school. Whatever her motivation, she has taken full advantage of her scholarship opportunity. She has just begun standard 4 after finishing first in her June end-of-year exams.

The family circumstances remain the same however, and Ifrah’s share of family responsibilities did not end with her enrolment in school. Her father was killed in 1996 because of his position as a military officer in the previous government. Until then the family was living in Bermuda District, but they were forced from their home when their father was killed. A Yemeni friend of their father, who fled to Yemen around the same time, offered his abandoned compound for the family to occupy in Abdi-aziz District. Ifrah, along with her mother and 5 remaining siblings, and grandmother now reside in that structure, which itself has been affected by the war. The ceilings and walls in the first rooms they occupied have begun to collapse, and they relocated to a smaller structure within the compound.

		Below: a distant shot of the house where the family resides now
	Above: Ifrah and her mother outside the door to where they sleep.

While Ifrah’s mother, Jamila, looks for work, Ifrah takes care of the house and her younger siblings. Jamila had been working in the main market in Mogadishu (Bakaro), by helping some friends in their shop. The shop contained about US$4,500 worth of goods and when the market burned in 2004 they lost everything. Since then she has had no regular work. She does not qualify for micro-credit because she is too poor to provide collateral, and everything she has ever owned has been looted. They survive thanks to the free but unreliable housing; and distant clan relatives who give them food.

Every morning wakes early to wash and cook for the household. After attending school all day she again returns home to perform her household duties. She then studies until 8 or 9 pm by kerosene lighting. She says the extra work is worth the effort because there is value in education.

Such dedication however has come at a great cost – her eyesight has begun to fail. Ifrah completed standard 3 with the highest marks in her class under extraordinary circumstances. The kerosene lighting may have caused the problem or the added stress from her many responsibilities, but over a short time Ifrah’s right eye began itching and changing in colour. She insisted on continuing with her studies and by the end of the term she had lost complete use of her right eye. Now her other eye has begun bothering her. With the help of SPSS administration she visited doctors who recommended her to refrain from school for 2-months and prescribed eye drops to keep her good eye from itching and swelling.

Ifrah Mohammed, July 2005

After standard 3 exams, and visiting a doctor with her mother, Jamila. The photo documents the impact to her right eye.

Life brings many challenges, especially when we are faced with difficult choices. Just as Ifrah was chosen for the scholarship because of her combination of ambition and lack of resources, now that same lack of resources and ambition perpetuate her new problem. Doctors in Mogadishu say they are unable to operate on her eye in-country, and have told her she must go to Kenya or Europe for treatment to save her left eye.

For a young girl unable to afford school fees, obviously travelling to a third country is a cost beyond reach. Ifrah may be able to save her remaining eye if she gives up her studies and their added physical stress to her eye. When asked if she prefers to become a doctor or save her eye, she responded “I’ll have to save my eye, and become a doctor later.” Already nineteen years old, the question is; when is later, and what will later become if she does not continue with her studies? As far as rewards for determination, “only God knows our final reward”, Ifrah says.