Two years ago, a 14-year-old Hosa arrived in Ethiopia with her mother, two sisters, and her brother and his four children. They left behind a life in Mogadishu, Somalia filled with mystery and tragedy: her father died in Somalia, and her younger sisters was killed there. No one knew what happened to her brother’s wife.
Hosa’s family had owned a small sweets business in Somalia, too. But during the civil war, Ethiopian soldiers came to buy things from the shop. The militant group Al-Shabaab discovered the family’s interaction with the foreign soldiers, and looted and threatened the family, who fled.
Hosa does not remember how they got to Ethiopia. But she does remember her schooling in Somalia, which she attended until seventh grade. Her education has become portal to a new world, to a new life. “If there is no education, there is no life,” Hosa said. “I need to use this chance to change myself.”
She began school again in Ethiopia. There, her family came to find peace, freedom and education.
And Hosa has begun to cultivate her own journey toward peace through education: One day, she hopes to become a lawyer. If Somalia finds peace, she desires to return to help rebuild and find justice.
In the meantime, Hosa wakes up every morning at 6 a.m. at the refugee camp to help make breakfast and do chores. At 7 a.m., she wakes her mother, who herself attends adult literacy classes and believes in the power of education.
After waking her mother, Hosa treks to school. It is a long walk, but she knows it is worth the distance. School will help her go far in life, farther than she had ever imagined.