{"id":4032,"date":"2019-12-20T23:17:58","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T23:17:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/?p=4032"},"modified":"2019-12-21T07:37:01","modified_gmt":"2019-12-21T07:37:01","slug":"somali-street-boys-in-garowe-enjoy-school-and-good-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/2019\/12\/20\/somali-street-boys-in-garowe-enjoy-school-and-good-sleep\/","title":{"rendered":"Somali street boys in Garowe enjoy school and good sleep"},"content":{"rendered":"

GAROWE (SoOHA) –<\/strong> Sharmarke Ali Ahmed, 11, is among 10 street children who have started a new life in Garowe, in the northern Somalia\u2019s state of Puntland, thanks to the support of the principal of a local primary school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to sniff glue and sometimes we would sleep on an empty stomach,\u201d Sharmarke told Radio Ergo. \u201cNow I have started studying, I observe my prayers, I get food and a place to sleep!\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharmarke was working as a shoe shiner when he decided to join the street boys and make the roadside his bed. When he went back home after a few days of sleeping rough, he was beaten by his uncle and ran away from home for good.<\/p>\n

He was fortunate to meet Adan Abdirahman Adan, the headteacher at Aden Mashru\u2019 School.<\/p>\n

Adan was disturbed to see so many young children living on Garowe\u2019s streets and shared the findings of a survey he conducted with Sahan FM, a local radio station in town. The radio organized a call-in show to raise funds for the children.<\/p>\n

Adan said he spent the $300 raised by listeners to buy clothes for the children. But he found he could not stop there, as he told Radio Ergo:<\/p>\n

\u201cI made friends with 18 of these children. Every morning I used to visit them where they slept, I even helped them get a haircut. After they trusted me, I asked them, what if I take you home, help you get education and support you \u2013 and they all agreed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The children come from families that have broken up through parental death, divorce and general grinding poverty.<\/p>\n

Adan says he was unable to ignore the children\u2019s plight and has spent $600 on food and support for them in the past two months.<\/p>\n

Yussuf Hussein was abandoned by his parents who went to Mogadishu for medical treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cA year ago my parents left me to live with a neighboring family, but life was too hard so I joined the street children. I have not heard any information from my parents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Life in the street was certainly not comfortable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you sleep by the roadside, you get woken up by donkeys and watchmen all the time. But now I sleep peacefully, nobody wakes me up! I am getting an education and going to work,\u201d Yussuf said.<\/p>\n

Adan allows the children to work as shoe-shiners in the mornings to earn some pocket money for themselves. But after that, they have to focus on their lessons, including Somali, mathematics and Koranic studies.<\/p>\n

Puntland has no formal support system for the care and rehabilitation of street children, so the burden has fallen on well-wishers like Adan.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal is to see no child living in the streets,\u201d he told Radio Ergo.<\/p>\n

Adan focuses on children under the age of 15. However, he says he can only care for them for a year, after which time he will enroll then in public schools and the government should then take over responsibility.<\/p>\n

Source: Radio Ergo<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GAROWE (SoOHA) – Sharmarke Ali Ahmed, 11, is among 10 street children who have started a new life in Garowe, in the northern Somalia\u2019s state of Puntland, thanks to the support of the principal of a local primary school. \u201cI used to sniff glue and sometimes we would sleep on an empty stomach,\u201d Sharmarke told …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-education-cluster","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t