Meet Yasmin*, a five-year-old girl who is the sixth child in a family of nine children. The family includes three girls, six boys, and hardworking parents. Their home is located in a small village in the rural area of central Somalia.

Yasmin’s parents have no stable job, they rely on the land that they got as an inheritance from their grandfather for sustenance, working from dawn till dusk. Both parents and their children work in this small farm to get food to sustain their lives. They leave home in the morning and come back in the evening.

None of the children in this family had the opportunity to have access to any form of education before 2020. In a twist of fate, the same year Save the Children through funding from Save the Children Italy constructed an early childhood education center in the village where Yasmins family lives.

The ECE center provides early learning interventions, feeding programs, play based activities, psychosocial support among others to the vulnerable and crisis affected families. Through door-to-door enrolment drive campaigns conducted by the community education committees (CECs) two of Yasmin’s siblings were mobilized and enrolled at the ECE center.  One of them transited to a primary school a year of later while the other one transited in 2022 and now they are in grade three and grade two respectively. The school they attend was previously supported by SCI but now the community support the school.

“Back in the days, I did not believe that education was important because I did not go to school myself. I am thankful to Save the Children for establishing an ECE center which develops the child comprehensively. My children did not only get education but also they got nutritional meals, safe clean drinking water and safe place to play,” said Yasmin*’s mother.

Yasmin was enrolled to the ECE in mid-2023 and she became one of the best students at the center showing great interest for her studies. Through the literacy and numeracy skills that she acquired is what she uses to help her father and mother who have no literacy and numeracy skills. She as well as her siblings assists their parent to identify names and numbers from their phones, dial numbers for them and as well sending money and short messages from the phone. 

 

“Now that I know how education has changed the life of my children, I have become an agent of change urging parents to send their children to school,” said Yasmin’s mother.

Her parents are grateful for the positive impact the intervention of Save the Children has had on their children. Recognizing the importance of education, Yasmin's parents promised to continue sending their children to education. Additionally, they became an agent of change and champions and started mobilizing the parents of the neighbouring children to benefit from the existing learning institutions.

Moreover, because of the feeding programme carried out at the ECE center, Yasmin’s parents feel that the nutritional level of their children has improved. Previously facing challenges due to poverty, providing three meals a day had been a struggle. The availability of milk, porridge, dates, and clean water at the center greatly impacted the children's health.

In the last assessment which was done in May this year which determines the students who met the minimal competency required from the ECE learners, Yasmin have performed very well. She has transitioned to grade 1 of the formal primary school in September this year and both her parents are hopeful that she will do well in her studies.

 

Yasmins*’s Story

“My name is Yasmin *, I am 5 years old girl.

“I am one of the learners in Hiran ECE centre. 

“I like to attend the school.  I do not walk alone while going to school.

“Each morning, I follow my elder siblings who attend primary school. Our mother is the one who takes us she drops me in the ECE centre and my siblings at the primary school that is not far from where I study.

“I like playing with toys with my classmates and friends.

“I study 4 subjects: Somali, Math, Islamic studies and Creative.

“I like the Creative subject.

“My teachers treat me well and supporting me.

 “I want to finish my education. I would like to be a doctor.

 

Mariam* (Yasmin*’s mother)

“My name is Mariam*, I am 29 years old. I am the mother of 9 children. I was born and raised in a small village located in Beledweyne district. 

How was your life?

“I came from a family who mostly depend on seasonal farming and livestock products to earn our living. 

“Both my parents have not gone to any formal education and that also affected me, and they didn’t take me to school. I was raised with my siblings who also went through the same journey. 

“I got married with a simple man who have same livelihood background with me. He didn’t also get any form of education. We started the life looking after a small number of goats and sheep that he had and later because of drought they died. 

“Life was not easy and everything looked so difficult. We got children and life continued to be challenging. 

“We later inherited a small farm from our grandfather where we practice farming during the rainy seasons. We get little crops from this farm but still better than nothing.  

“Because of our history, we never believed that education is important and that made us not to take our children to school.

What Happened?

“Our children used to go with us to the farm every day to support us in the farming activities until one day the community education committees who were doing door to door enrolment drive campaigns visited me in my house by the year 2020.

“We decided to enrol our children in the ECE centre, after I was given clear information about the ECE program, including the different services offered at the center and the importance of education in general. 

“It was not an easy decision, for both of us (My husband and I) to agree on taking our children to school. 

What changed?

“Finally, we agreed to enrol two of Yasmin* siblings to the ECE centre. After a few months, the outcome was amazing. Our children had not only food but also they got good education and the center also had enough play space.

“As a parent, this made me happy. It changed my perspective and opened my eyes more. When my two children transitioned to primary education, my baby girl Yasmin was also growing up fast.

“I did not hesitate to take her to the ECE center because I saw and recognized the importance of education.

“Her other siblings who reached school going age, I enrolled them to other school institutions available around the village where we live.

How is you daily routine as a mother?

“On every day, my routine is to wake up early in the morning, prepare my children for school and breakfast for them when I have something to cook for them. I take them to the schools and come back home and prepare myself to go and work at the farm. 

“I spent about 2-3 hours working at the farm and come back home and pick my children from the school. Because we cannot afford the 3 meals per day, I wait and cook early dinner for them. 

“Am happy that I see good future for Yasmin and her siblings, and all appreciations goes to Save the Children that established an early childhood education centre which played a great role in the lives of many children in our village and other areas.

“The impact has been truly remarkable, as my children have not only thrived physically but also experienced significant mental growth and nourishment. I am deeply grateful for the transformative effect education has had on my children's lives."

What are your hopes and inspirations for you children?

“My hope is to see my children reach university level. As parents, we are hopeful that they will succeed in their education. 

“I inspire every mother to enrol their children in the ECE centre and also primary school to get quality education for their children.

 

Background / Project information

This ECE project targets to reach 3,200 children (50% girls) aged 3-6 years in 13 centres. The project objective is Vulnerable, and crisis affected boys and girls aged 3-6 years in Somalia develop their full potential through early education intervention. The project is integrated, focusing on increasing access to education and retention, increased access to safe and clean drinking water and WASH facilities, and improving nutrition status for 3,200 children. The project targets pre-school aged children, caregivers, community education committees, Child welfare committees and MOE supervisors. The project also focuses on establishing and fostering access to Early Childhood education facilities for the children of Beledweyne, Kismayo, Baidoa and Adado of Southern states of Somalia.

Save the Children project team is partnering with other education stakeholders including district education officials and health authorities, existing community education committees, and regional education cluster (sub-national cluster) in conducting door-to-door enrolment campaigns, urging parents to enrol their pre-school aged children who remain out of school due to lack of functional age-appropriate learning centres.

In addition, the project also targets 60 ECE teachers (15female) and 26 caregivers (All female) pre-selected by the Ministry of Education of states. These teachers and caregivers are selected in consultation with the local community leaders, based on their level of education and record of good conduct in the community. These teachers and caregivers are working in the ECE centres delivering early childhood activities. The project reaches all the 60 teachers and 26 caregivers with monthly top up incentives throughout the project cycle and will be capacitated on coaching and mentoring on ECE-specific teaching methodologies (child rights/protection, child safeguarding will be incorporated into the training the teachers will be provided with).

works closely with 91 (38female) CEC members actively working in the schools in which the ECE centres are established. The CECs are upgraded to early childhood caregivers, and they will be trained on hygiene promotion, children cleanliness check, awareness creation to parents on the importance of early learning, school feeding, follow up on children attendance and most importantly supporting children- quite essential as the target children (3-6 years) are still at a tender age and require support (accessing water storage facilities, latrines, cleaning self, feeding)

works closely with (65) Child welfare committees which support ECE centres for giving appropriate care for the learners, advocating children’s rights, protection and reporting any protection cases.