Education and Empowerment for Refugee Girls

Simone is from Ethiopia where she lived with her four siblings and parents. Her father was a soldier in the army and affiliated with people in key government positions. During the war, he barely left the house and told her mother not to depend on him, take care of themselves and avoid leaving the house.  Despite being the oldest, Simone was too young to understand what her father meant. One day, government officials raided their home and her mother told all the children to go to the bedroom. Shortly after, they heard noise, which she later realized were gunshots. Later that day, her mother came to the bedroom and explained that their father had been killed. Simone, her mother and her siblings continued living in their home for six months when her mother decided to take them to their uncle’s house.  She told them she would be going to Addis Ababa for business but would return. Simone later learnt that the mother was running away from her father’s political issues and could not share this with her children.

While living with their uncle, Simone had to quit school and help with household chores.   Her uncles income was not enough for them to survive so  she was forced to get a job. Government officials constantly visited their home and asked questions about the children. At one point, they would start questioning Simone, they felt she was hiding something since she was the oldest child.  Her uncle then told her that he thought it would be good if she went far away from the family because he felt the government officials would harm them.  She departed on a truck, leaving her siblings behind.  Public transportation was not an option for her as there would be police barriers along the way and she could not take the risk of being caught. 

Simone’s journey to Kenya was rather difficult.  She felt like her life had been abruptly uprooted and she was forced to move.  She did not know what his would mean for her future and if she would see her siblings again.   When Simone finally got to Kenya, she was hosted in a small town by a family. A few months in, they started to  mistreat her . A lady who lived close by saw this and told her to travel to the capital, Nairobi. They travelled together as the lady was also travelling for business. She lived with her for few weeks and then went to the UNHCR, she was told they would give her assistance. While at the UNHCR office, she met an Ethiopian family who were following up on their assistance. They spoke and the family offered to host her if the she did not receive immediate help. The family ended up hosting her for 5 months. During this period, she met a man who worked for a U.S. resettlement agency, he referred her to RefuSHE where she began getting financial assistance and shortly after, was enrolled in the Girls Empowerment Program.

After joining RefuSHE, Simone studied very hard..  At the end of her  2^nd year, Simone took the national exams (Kenya Certificate of Primary Education)  and also took the national tailoring exam.  She passed. Simone is brilliant and is currently the Student’s Council Leader at RefuSHE. She has grown her leadership skills in ways that she never knew was possible. She is supportive of the girls around her and loves to create a friendly and peaceful environment for her peers.  She is exercising this in her leadership and has earned respect from other participants in the Girls Empowerment Program. In October 2019, she joined RefuSHE’s social enterprise program, the Artisan Collective.  Simone hopes to be a designer in future. She also hopes to further her education, go to medical school, and later become a surgeon.