STARS Foundation

Meet Nasra

A class of girls during a lesson by AET

13 year old Nasra Hassan was born and grew up in Lafla-moda village. She was born to a Somali pastoralist’s family, and has four sisters and three brothers. Like her siblings, her parents set her to work by looking after the family’s livestock – sheep, goats and camels – when she was just four years old. She used to fetch water and firewood to prepare the food for the family. What separates Nasra from many other children in nomadic and pastoralist families is that she now has other responsibilities – school and homework.

In November 2009, AET started FABE (Flexible Appropriate Basic Education) classes in her village: basic literacy classes designed for children from ages 8-14. These classes are delivered by local partner NGOs that provided trained teachers. These teachers live in the villages and move with the nomadic and pastoralist communities to ensure continuity in delivery.

Nasra noticed that her nearest neighbours – both girls and boys – were attending these classes. Not to be left out, Nasra asked her parents if she too could attend school. “My father agreed but mum said I have other tasks to do, and she said two of my brothers will go to this school. I was really interested in learning something. After some days, I asked my mum and dad again and said that I wanted to go to that school. Dad finally agreed and told mum that I should go to this school”

Once she had the support of both her parents, Nasra joined her neighbours and enrolled that same year, however she continued to fulfill her chores. Although she now has additional responsibilities, she has not been deterred: “I wake up at 6:00 am and milk the goats and sheep, and then I prepare myself to go to school and come back home at 11:30 in the morning. Then I have lunch and attend to the sheep and goats. In the evening, I come back home, I milk goats and sheep, help my mum to cook the dinner, then I start to do my homework.”

When asked why she wanted to enroll in the classes she told us, “I was really interested in learning because I had fun doing such work which was completely different from the other tasks which I normally do every day. Now I can do what I couldn’t do before I enrolled in this school. I write and read letters for my mum when she needs me to. I read everything at night, which makes me happy, I read books, newspapers and everything, and this has become my best hobby”.

Nasra thinks that the life she has in a pastoralist family is great, but has always believed that there were no opportunities for young people to access education. Before FABE, she believed education was only for children in the city. “’Urban children’ have better luck to learn anything they want”.

By designing literacy and basic education classes that fit around the lives of pastoralist and nomadic communities, AET have been able to give many children like Nasra access to education.

Nasra is now looking to the future; she really wants to continue her education: “If this school closes I am planning to request my parents to allow me to move to town where I can continue my learning, my aunt stays in Hargeisa [capital of Somaliland] and I can live with her”.

Nasra wants to be a social worker, so she can spend her life working for her community.