Education and Empowerment for Refugee Girls

Sahro fled her home country of Somalia in 2012 in search of safety and a brighter future. Upon arriving to Nairobi, the UNHCR referred her to RefuSHE where Sahro felt immediately welcomed by her new community.  

Through RefuSHE’s Girls’ Empowerment Project (GEP), Sahro enrolled in math, reading, and writing classes. While RefuSHE’s legal advocacy team helped Sahro through the lengthy process of resettlement, she completed her GEP courses and moved on to tailoring classes through RefuSHE’s vocational training program. After seven months of tailoring classes, Sahro joined other refugee artisans at the Artisan Collective to design, make, and sell beautiful handmade scarves.  

In 2013, the Kenyan government decreed that refugees must return to Somalia. Police forces began intimidating refugees by banging on their homes in the dead of night, demanding bribes, and tearing up registration documents. During this time, Sarho’s good friend, Farhiyo, was struck in the face by a policeman, resulting in impaired hearing in her left ear. Frightened by the ensuing violence, Sahro went to stay at the RefuSHE’s safe house for two months. There, she continued her work with the Artisan collective and with RefuSHE’s support, Sahro was able to successfully resettle in Boston last year.  

But Sahro’s story doesn’t end there. A few weeks after resettling in Boston, Sahro traveled to Chicago to speak about her experience at a RefuSHE fundraiser. A listener was so moved by her story that they offered to sponsor her, helping her find work as an artisan pasta maker with the Hogsalt Restaurant group. She has gone from handmaking artisan scarves to pasta! Sahro’s story was even featured on primetime TV, and she laughingly recalls that Somali cab drivers will do a doubletake when she gets in the car, asking, “Hey, are you the Somali girl on the news who makes the pasta?” 

Today, despite the many obstacles faced, Sahro is thriving. She is proud to have a driver’s license and a home in Chicago. She is currently juggling work, marriage, an infant son, and GRE prep courses at Harold Washington University. She aims to be a voice for other refugee girls in need of hope and support. Sahro says, “I want to show them that happiness is possible and to believe in the beauty of their dreams—that, in spite of the pain and struggle of being a refugee, keeping hope alive is everything.”