Education and Empowerment for Refugee Girls

Maya grew up in Hawassa, Ethiopia and came to Kenya in August 2015, after fleeing tribal war in her home village. Her father, a soldier in the Ethiopian army, was in particular danger during the conflict. To protect himself and his family, he would hide most of the day and not leave the house. However, soldiers came to their home one day when the family was having lunch. Maya’s mother sent her and her four siblings to their bedroom, where she locked them in. Maya then heard gunshots, and after a short while, her mother opened the door and told them that her father had been shot.

Six months later, Maya’s mother left Hawassa for Addis Ababa, where she said she would be doing business and would return. She would call and check up on her five children, but after some time, she stopped calling. Maya’s uncle then came and took her and her siblings to his house, still in Hawassa, to take care of them. Not long after moving in, he told Maya that she would need to work as the bills were high and he did not have enough money. Maya, still a teenager, left school to  work in a pool house as a cashier.

Soldiers occasionally would come to Maya’s uncle’s house and would question him about her. Nothing came of the questioning for some time, until the soldiers threatened to kill Maya as they thought she was withholding information important to them. After this incident, Maya’s uncle, afraid for her safety and protection if she stayed in Hawassa, decided to take her to Kenya.

Her uncle had some trouble finding a safe method of transportation for Maya. Public transport was risky because the soldiers would thoroughly search passengers and their forms of identification. They would even uncover those wearing hijabs. With this in mind, Maya’s uncle arranged for her to travel on a truck to get to Moyale, Kenya.

After two days of riding in the truck, Maya arrived in Moyale, a market town on the border of Kenya and Ethiopia. Moyale is split between Kenya and Ethiopia, and Maya found herself even more isolated as she did not know anyone or the language. She eventually found an Ethiopian family that took her in and provided for her basic needs including housing, clothing, and shelter. She lived with this family for nearly six months before they began mistreating her, forcing her to complete  all the household chores. She knew that were she at home, she would be in school, playing and telling stories with her friends, running errands for her mother, and living freely as any other girl. She had had to grow up fast, and this caused a lot of emotional distress. She would cry at night wishing she could see and unite with her family. She regularly woke up at five in the morning and would often go to sleep past eleven at night. Physical stress took its toll on her and she says, “I forgot how it felt not to be tired or exhausted all the time.”      

In her young heart, Maya knew that adults should protect children, and she was shocked when the people she trusted with her life would harm her physically and emotionally. After living with them for more than six months, Maya could no longer withstand the abuse and decided to run away from Moyale. She had heard that UNHCR in Nairobi could assist her, so she hitchhiked to the capital. Upon reaching UNHCR in early 2016, she was immediately referred to the Resettlement Support Center (RSC) Africa for further support and met other Ethiopian families also seeking assistance. One of these families generously took Maya in for five months so that she could attend her appointment with RSC Africa and get her papers in order.

Her RSC case worker referred Maya to RefuSHE. After living with the Ethiopian family for five months, where she was well taken care of, Maya joined RefuSHE and moved into a group living with other Ethiopian girls. Group living gives her a familiar support system where she shares the language and culture. When Maya learned about the Girls’ Empowerment Project (GEP), she immediately expressed interest to join and return to school. She was enrolled in the GEP Level 2 and is currently waiting to sit for her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) in October 2018. She will also take the national tailoring exam NITA in December 2018.

Regarding her hopes for her future, a beaming Maya recently said, “My dreams will come true since I am able to continue with learning and gaining other skills. I hope to pass my KCPE and join secondary school. I wish to become a fashion designer and GEP model fits in well with my dreams and aspirations.”

Maya has over time become very supportive of other girls in the GEP and creates an environment that is friendly and peaceful. She is the GEP student leader, and her leadership skills have earned her respect from the other girls. She believes that the past is just that, past, saying ,“Your past does not determine your future. I encourage girls like me to have patience and persistence in everything that they do, and most importantly to respect leaders and those in authority”

She is thankful to RefuSHE for the opportunity they have given girls to thrive and achieve their full potential.