March 23rd, 2012 
mohamedmoulidmohamed 
Most students in the developed world may succeed in their education due to financial stability or to technological improvements. Well, they may get a ride to and from school, right? They may have access to the internet and a computer so they can due to access email their teacher and get help, right? They also have certain government programs that assist their progress. With all these useful resources do they feel enjoyed in school? Maybe yes or maybe not.
Now let’s see a different type of students. Let’s close the developed world students’ page and let’s turn to the developing world of AFRICA. Let’s go deep to Africa and see the refugee students in Dadaab Refugee camp which is located in the northern part of Kenya. These students are from the war torn country of Somalia.
Dadaab refugee camp consists of three big camps namely: Dagahley, Ifo and Hagadheera. These camps were established in 1991 by the UN high commissioner for refugees after civil war broke in Somalia. The three camps were originally built to hold 90,000, but due to sprawling network of refugees in the past years it’s now nearing 400,000.
There are two secondary schools and about 6 primary schools in every camp, and the number of privately owned schools is booming. So guess what will happen? Generally lives in the camps are hectic to all its occupied creatures. The climatic and environmental conditions in the camps are so harsh and horrible most of the time with skin-burning scorching sun where temperatures sometimes shoots up to 45*c .At other times it drizzles dust that buries every living and non-living creature causing temporary short of Sights. Students in Dadaab are learning under these tough conditional. Hijackings, kidnappings and explosions became common place activities in Dadaab chiefly targeting foreign and national staff working with the NGOs that engage in service delivery to the refugees. These vices do not spare the refugees students either such that the very culprits break into houses, rape beautiful young girls and destroy everything that comes to their way in the process. The security personnel were also aimed at in subsequent underground bomb attacks that led to several deaths and much more injuries. The deteriorating insecurity issues compelled this staff to depart the camps fearing for their dear life and vowing to return only if the situation there gets back to normal. These high levels of insecurity affect the students’ learning process by hindering the formation of reading groups where students come together at night after a long and tedious school day in order to pave the way for discussions and to cover up for areas of weaknesses since one student is good at a certain subject and the second at another. It takes enormous courage to study in this kind of life. I call them the most courageous students on earth but you cannot find them in the Guinness world record book. They are students of circumstances.
Although Non-Governmental Organizations like Care, Windle Trust and Lutheran World Service take care of paying for teachers and a few school materials, the poor students are left on their own to purchase books and other learning materials. Where the hell are they going to get money to buy these supplies? Every household in the camp is fed by the World Food Program. They line up for food every fifteen days. Students have to offer themselves in favoring heavy labor jobs like get a three legged wheelbarrow to work as loaders after their classes. These kinds of jobs have no benefits and students have to take care of their health by themselves. Many of the students cannot make it and drop out of school. At the tender age they go back to their country to be employed by militias. Even the most intelligent and highly motivated students struggle to carve out an education for themselves and fail. Attending a high school in that kind of life can become the equivalent of an academic death sentence.
Nevertheless some students overcome that hardship in hope of getting a high school degree with a Kenya certificate which at times is good enough to enter colleges and universities in some parts of the world. Every one of them went through different times; a good times and perhaps most often rough patches, but they all made great achievements. They made something that they will trade with. They made their twelve years of schooling in unfavorable life times. No would ever dare to do that, but how they did that still remains unknown dream. It’s these dreams that took them from grade to grade and at the end of their twelve year journey, few realize these dreams and most forget it in despair. Their hope of pursuing their dream ends and their expectation fades as they come to a point of nowhere. What happened to their life time dream? ……..No funds after high school.
The scholarship opportunities are very minimal compared to the number of graduates. Less than 20 students may get a chance to further their education out of 300 graduates. The twenty qualified students have to pass simultaneous interviews and tests and only ten may get the chance. The other 290 students remained in the camp hopelessly. They have nothing to do, the Kenya government does not allow them to work, nor do they allow them to move out of the camps so that they can integrate with other Kenyan societies. The population of the graduates piles up every year, so guess what will happen in a period of ten years? This is not one time incidents, it’s a chain. Similar fate awaits thousands of students who are in the process of schooling or who want to start schooling in the coming years unless the international community does something to provide safe learning institutions and find more scholarship opportunities.
That’s an astonishing twelve years of harsh experience. Those who made it have something to tell. Among them is Abdi Olat Ibrahim. He is a celebrated young man in his 20s. He lives in Dagahley Refugee Camp and studied Dagahley secondary school (DSS). His hard work, honesty, and utmost dedication have miraculously turned Dagahley Secondary School into school of genius and set a new record since it was established ten years ago by scoring am mean grade of A-.
Like all who made some accomplishment, Mr. Ibrahim said it’s not enough. What matters to him is not his personal achievements or doing something special to himself. What matters this young man is doing something special for his local community. He wants to be a man of the nation and a man to count on. It’s his dream to be a man of the people. “Scoring an A is not my utmost limit, sky is the limits,” he says.
Report compiled by :
Mohamed Moulid and Abdi Hirey Daisane
Mohamed Moulid Mohamed is a Somali national born in 1990. The article was composed by Mohamed and his friend Abdi.He grew up and finished my high school education in Dagahley refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya. He currently lives in Lewiston, Maine USA. Mohamed is pursuing his associates degree in political Science in Central Maine community college Lewiston, Maine. Abdi Hirey Daisane was born in 1991. Abdi also finished his education in Dagahley refugee camp. He currently lives in Grand Island, Nebraska US. Abdi is pursing his Associate in Arts degree at Central community college in Grand Island, Nebraska.
