DADAAB, Kenya, March 13 (UNHCR) - Six years ago, Muuxi
Adam met two friends in a coffee shop in the Canadian city of Winnipeg
to talk about ways they could help other Somalis stuck in refugee camps
in Africa.
The three, all Somali but from different
clans, started by setting up a non-governmental organization, Humankind
International, to spread awareness about Somali refugees in neighbouring
countries such as Kenya and Ethiopia, and to raise money for education
projects for refugees.
Somali children at the new pre-school in Dagahaley camp funded by Canadian NGO, Humankind International.
In February, their initiative
took concrete form with the opening of a pre-school in the Dagahaley
camp, part of the world's largest refugee camp complex at Dadaab in
north-east Kenya. "More than 400 children lined up to enrol in the
school, but we could only take 140 for now," Muuxi told UNHCR at the
recent opening ceremony. He added that half were from the camp and half
from the host community.
The school has three teachers,
two from the refugee community and one local Kenyan. CARE International,
UNHCR's partner for primary education in Dagahaley, has connected the
school to a regular water supply.
"This is one of my
greatest moments in life," said Muuxi, who grew up and suffered in
war-torn Somalia before becoming separated from his family and making
his way in 2004 to Toronto in Canada, where he is now a citizen.
He
first gained inspiration for an education project after tracking down
and visiting his mother in a refugee camp in Ethiopia. While there, he
met an eight-year-old refugee and asked him about school. He was shocked
when the boy told him he could not go to school. That was the seed
which was watered in the Winnipeg café with his fellow Somalis, who had
both lived in Dadaab.
Muuxi, who is aged in his late
20s, said his NGO had spent US$35,000 on the Dadaab school, but he was
confident of raising more funds through Humankind International. "Our
target is to sponsor 120 refugees every year," he said, while adding:
"What is important is that the school is now open to benefit the
community."
Ahmed Warsame, the ethnic Somali head of
UNHCR operations at Dadaab, said it was "great to witness the
extraordinary efforts made by former refugees to help their communities
to alleviate human suffering." Warsame, coincidentally also a Canadian
citizen from Winnipeg, pledged UNHCR support for the school through the
provision of equipment and learning materials.
The
refugee agency supports other primary and secondary initiatives at
Dadaab, which is home to some 350,000 registered refugees.
