Delivering Education Amidst Displacement: Asma’s Story

ECW and implementing partner Save the Children Ethiopia are reaching internally displaced girls and boys with quality education

Por Education Cannot Wait

20 de August de 2021

Story from the Field. Special contribution by Save the Children Ethiopia (Original).

Every morning, fifteen-year-old Asma wakes up at 6:00 AM, prepares breakfast and fetches water before heading to school with her three younger siblings. Asma likes her primary school in Tuliguled Village, where she is an active student and serves as a class representative for the seventh grade. Part of the internally displaced persons (IDP) community in Ethiopia, education is a beacon of hope for Asma and her siblings amidst a life of uprooting and conflict.

“I like all the subjects we learn at school. But my favorites are chemistry and biology classes. After I finish my chores at home, I enjoy reading those subjects,” says Asma.

With school-age children making up 41% of the IDP population in the Somali region of Ethiopia, the need for safe, quality education is a critical one. In February 2020, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) announced a new Multi-year Resilience Programme (MYRP) in Ethiopia. The three-year $165 million initiative is being implemented now and aims to reach 746,000 crisis-affected children – like Asma – and improve their learning through equitable access and crisis-sensitive quality education.

Asma at her home in Tuliguled Village. © ECW/Emnet Dereje

Asma’s family moved to Tuliguled Village two years ago from Chinaksen Woreda (about 20 km away) due to the ongoing conflict. In Chinaksen, her father was a dealer in the cattle market and her mother used to sell Khat. Her parents used to earn an additional income from renting some rooms of their house. Asma’s family was happy and lived very comfortably – until they lost everything amidst the unrest and violence in the region.

Now they struggle to even put food on the table, not to mention provide school materials for Asma and her siblings.

“Our life was good in Chinaksen until the conflict began three years ago. The men came to our community with guns, sticks and other weapons. They attacked the entire village. During that time, my mother was in Jigjiga town. They came to our home and hit my father very badly,” Asma recalls. “His wounds still hurt him very much. When they left our home, my father was bleeding a lot and could not walk. He told me to go with my siblings and look for help. We met with the government soldiers and they took us to Collechi camp. After a day, the soldiers brought my father. I was very happy to see him because I was worried that I might not see him again.”

Asma’s family stayed in the Collechi Displacement Camp for a year. Then they were relocated to Tuliguled Village by the government.

Asma (right) attending her class at Tuliguled Primary School. © ECW/Emnet Dereje

“In Tuliguled, life is very hard for our family. My parents do not have an income and we depend on government rations,” says Asma. Her father is still suffering from his wounds and stays at home while her mother collects firewood and sells it to the market, making just enough money to buy sugar, milk and other items.

“Due to the conflict, three years of my life have passed without education. Now, I want to focus on my education. When I finish school, I want to be a doctor. Because I believe that I have a passion to take care of people. I wish I could become a doctor soon so I can help my father. I think peace and education is the most important thing to achieve our dreams in life,” says Asma.

So far, program achievements have included the distribution of school materials to students and dignity kits to girls, the establishment of school feeding committees and WASH clubs to promote good hygiene and sanitation and prevent the spread of COVID-19. To help children like Asma recover from the stress and adversity of displacement, the programme is providing teachers with psychosocial training.

“We have received exercise books and pens. Girls my age have received dignity kits. All the support is important for us because our families cannot afford to provide it. Girls miss classes seven days per month because of their periods. The dignity kits will help us to come to school throughout the month,” says Asma.

Delivering Education Amidst Displacement: Asma’s Story

Mohammed Ahmed is the Tuliguled Primary School Director.

“Asma is a courageous girl who wants to continue her school despite all the challenges in her life. I have met with her parents and advised them several times to send their kids to school. The psychosocial training provided by this programme has helped us to treat children like Asma. As a father and teacher, I want to encourage girls like Asma to pursue their education,” says Ahmed.

Asma is one of 926 primary and pre-primary students attending Tuliguled Primary School and benefiting from these ECW-funded initiatives – including the start of a school feeding program in May 2021 and the upcoming installation of a water container that will provide clean drinking water for children on the school compound.

“We are glad that the school feeding program has started in our school. It improves the attendance and class performance of children,” says Ahmed.

Asma eating her lunch with her friends at Tuliguled Primary School. © ECW/Emnet Dereje

Hawa is a member of the School Feeding Committee and of the Parent and Teachers Association at Tuliguled Primary School. She works closely with parents and teachers to ensure school-aged children attend school and have all the necessary materials (such as school uniforms, exercise books and pens).

Hawa also provides critical support for single parents and orphans to ensure continuity of learning.

“We want girls like Asma to continue their education. We teach parents to send their young girls to school and explain the harms of early marriage,” Hawa says.

Hawa (left) supporting the Head Cook (right) in serving the meal for the children at Tuliguled Primary School. © ECW/Emnet Dereje

Mohammed Muhamedin, Tuliguled Woreda’s Education Office Head, says, “The ECW MYRP programme is working closely with us to create education access for IDPs and host communities and increase school enrollment rates in five schools. In our Woreda, there are 24,000 registered school-aged children. From this number, 10,204 children are IDPs. With the support of this programme, we have conducted a ‘Back to School’ campaign. We have managed to return more than 7,000 children to school.”

He further explains, “The challenge we have is that most of the IDP families do not have a means of income. Due to this, the families move in search of work and the children will drop out of school again. It would be great if this programme supported some income-generating schemes.”

In the Somali region of Ethiopia, internally displaced persons have settled in 390 IDP camps and host communities. The crises destroyed coping mechanisms and halted the provision of numerous social services, including education. Many of the school-aged children have either engaged in or been affected by the conflicts and hostilities prevalent in their home regions. Education provides these crisis-affected girls and boys not only support and safety, but also hope for a brighter future.

Mohammed Muhamedin, Tuliguled Woreda Head of Education Bureau. © ECW/Emnet Dereje

“This investment provides protective learning environments and inclusive quality education to girls and boys living in very difficult circumstances. We must not leave them behind. They too have a right to develop and thrive. They have so much to achieve and give. By working together in mobilizing all the required resources, we now have a chance to ensure that no child in Ethiopia is left behind.” ~ Yasmine Sherif, Director of ECW

Save the Children, NRC and OWDA have been some of the implementing partners for the ECW-funded programme throughout the Somali region since it began rolling out in January 2021. The three-year programme aims to support initiatives in Afar, Amhara, Benishangul-Gumz, Harari, Oromia, SNNP, Somali and Tigray regions. Currently, the programme is being implemented through $27 million in seed funding from ECW, focusing on interventions addressing the critical educational needs of 60,487 out-of-school and displaced children in 81 schools.

ECW and partners now urgently call on donors to help close the $138 million funding gap so that safe, inclusive quality education reaches 746,000 children affected by crises in Ethiopia – like Asma.

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