Emmanuel is a young boy whose mother is a survivor of obstetric fistula. This condition made it difficult for her to work, and she and her sons were abandoned by the father. He has his grandparents in his life, but he and his brother and mother are houseless and have periods of surviving on only one meal a day. Emmanuel very much wants to learn. When he is not in school he loves playing with his brother.

Abdilahi is in his first year at Abaarso. He grew up in a house with two brothers and six sisters. His favorite subject at Abaarso is science, because he can see how it will help his future. He hopes to be a doctor, because he says that there are too many sick people in his country. Outside of class he plays basketball for fun, and spends his free time reading and doing homework.

Nancy is a 16 year old girl who hopes to become a doctor. She got a fistula very young and has had several surgeries over the years. The fistula and her family’s poverty have made it difficult for her to be in school continuously, but despite this Nancy performed very well on her year end exam after form 1 last year. She will be entering form 2 but her family does not have the money to pay her fees - Nancy admits that paying for school is so difficult she has considered suicide in the past. She is one of six siblings and lives with her parents, who do not have a source of income.

Mohamoud is a grade 8 student in the 2016 school year. Coming from the local orphanage, Mohamoud’s greatest achievement is earning a scholarship to attend school. His favorite classes are math and English. In his free time, Mohamoud enjoys playing basketball and reading novels. Mohamoud hopes to be an engineer in the future so that he can improve his country’s infrastructure.

Khadar Abdilahi Mohamed is a 15 year old from Hargeisa, Somaliland. He was raised in the Hargeisa Orphanage. He’s entering the seventh grade at Abaarso School of Science and Technology. While at the orphanage, Khadar was an assistant for Abaarso’s orphanage tutoring program. As an assistant, he was patient and kind to the younger students. He’s the first to help others when they’re in need. When he’s older, he wants to be an engineer. His nickname is “Shifo”, which means “health” in Somali.

Khadar has four sisters and three brothers. Khadar is very glad to have earned a scholarship to come to our school. He feels lucky to be able to attend school and have the opportunity to earn an education. For this reason, Khadar enjoys studying and doing well in his classes. His favorite subjects are math, science, and English. He enjoys reading history books and playing football outside of class. In the future, Khadar hopes to be able to travel and see more of his country. Going to the Abaarso School, Khadar has learned a lot about their community’s diversity and more about his country. It is this new knowledge that has inspired him to want to travel throughout his home country to see and learn more about it.

Kelvin is a young student whose father has abandoned him, his brother, and his mother. She had an obstetric fistula from giving birth that made it very difficult for her to work. Kelvin is close with his grandparents but his mother struggles to keep the family housed and there are days they only have one meal. He wants to succeed in school along with his brother.

has both parents, was raped by a family member 2 yrs ago leading to internal damage/fistula. She is not safe at home and is being raised by the women in the Beyond Fistula program as her mother doesn't feel she can be kept safe at home.