Tamira and Ayan Ayan reciting the Alphabet Literacy recitation

The wood-fired stove was warming up as Tamira washed clothes one morning. In the background the radio was hosting a debate over the value of educating girl children.

Tamira was a young girl in the early seventies when the Somali government instituted a literacy campaign. However, as pastoralists from the remotest areas of the country, no one in her family went to school. Eventually, she married and moved to Mogadishu, the capital city. Since the collapse of the Somali government in 1991, Tamira has been raising her 6 children in a country with no public education.

Despite being interested in the radio debate, Tamira continued washing. She felt she had no way to apply the message to her daily life, a life full of responsibility, struggle and few opportunities. Just as she was to begin another task, the announcer declared that free literacy and numeracy classes for women were being offered near her home.

Tamira’s oldest daughter, Ayan, was busy preparing injera (Somali pancakes) for the family’s breakfast. Ayan, now fifteen, like most Somali youth, did not grow up with the assumption of a right to education. Unlike her mother, she was not raised herding goats. Since birth she has lived in Somalia’s largest city, and yet she has never stepped foot in a school.

Tamira interrupted Ayan’s cooking with excitement. She explained that together they would begin going to school. They quickly finished the housework and ran to the institute to register for classes, determined not to miss the opportunity.

SAACID first began offering Literacy and Numeracy Training (LNT) in 1994, in conjunction with income generation projects for women. When the organization tried to address post-war economic issues for women-headed households, they found endless additional needs. LNT was established as one of the responses, and SAACID has been offering it to the larger community ever since. In recent years SAACID has embarked on media campaigns to raise awareness regarding various human rights, in this case, education for girls.

The program is inclusive for all women who have very diverse reasons for attending. Those needing the opportunity tend to be the most vulnerable, mainly from displaced families living in old abandoned homes. Many young girls simply come for the LNT alone, while older women tend to participate alongside other SAACID programs, such as micro-credit or vocational training. Classes are offered at various times and days of the week.

Tamira and Ayan benefit significantly from the class schedule because the younger children require looking after. Ayan attends the early morning classes while Tamira takes care of the household. Late morning they switch, and in the evenings they study together.

For young girls in Somalia today with virtually no resources, such programs are their only chance at anything resembling education. If peace ever returns to Somalia, bringing economic opportunity, a legal system and social services, future mothers like Ayan may now at least expect education for their children.

Numeracy class Numeracy recitation

Interview conducted at SAACID Teacher’s Training Institute on June 28^th and July 4^th, 2005 by Ruqiyo and Christy