Dinsor

Mohamednur

Male

www.egart.di...

My name is Mohamednur Madowe. When I fled civil-war ravaged Somalia more than three years ago, and arrived in the safety of Canada (Fredericton, NB), I knew that I could never turn my back on my country of origin. I have seen first-hand the carnage and heartbreak of war. What troubles me most, especially as a father to two young twin girls, is the unavailability of education to the children of Somalia. I will not turn my back on them. How can we expect things to improve and get better for our children, if there is no education for them? I believe that education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and violence in Somalia, as it is everywhere. But keeping schools open has been extremely difficult in the middle of civil wars. In my own hometown of Diinsoor, in the Bay area of Somalia, there are three primary schools that are unused because of their dilapidated condition. The frame of the school is there, but there are no chairs, no tables, cracked walls, holes in the floor and so on. I want to renovate and build up these schools so that education is possible again for the children. Before I fled Somalia in 2003, I had developed an organization called EGART Relief and Development Agency, to help Somali children go to school. We had been operating a school in Somalia, but it had to be closed because of the civil war. Since settling in Fredericton, NB, I have resumed my work with EGART to continue to help children in Somalia gain the education they deserve. I enjoy my life here in Fredericton and I am happy here, but I think that the children in Somalia deserve this same happiness and these same opportunities. I see my own twin girls dreaming about their futures and thinking about what they will become “when they grow up,” and I want kids in Somalia to be able to do the same. Right now, without education, all they have in their future are guns. One needs an education to build a future and the kids haven’t had that since the wars started. Education is the key. If the children and the youth are educated, they will not go back to war again. That is my dream and my hope.