Warda lives with her mother, two grandmothers, grandfather, five sisters, and three brothers. Warda is excited to be at our school and to be receiving a quality education. Though she finds the rigors of our school difficult, she is determined to succeed. By studying her notes, seeing her teachers and peers for help, Warda is sure that she can succeed and be the best student possible. Although learning English as a second language is difficult for Warda, English is her favorite class. In her free time, she enjoys reading novels to help improve her English, or playing soccer or basketball for fun. In the future, Warda hopes to be doctor to help the poor in her country.

Yvonne is the second born child in a family of five. She is a very bright student and wants to be a lawyer in future. Her dream of becoming a lawyer has been propelled by the need to help the less privileged in the society especially girls and mothers get justice. Her parents are unemployed and only depend on casual jobs to provide for the family. Yvonne believes that success never comes on a silver platter.

Ibtisam's siblings include six sisters and three brothers. Ibtisam is most proud of her family and hopes to make them happy by doing well in school. She feels most accomplished about being in school. Her favorite class is Geometry. In her free time, Ibtisam enjoys drawing and hiking. With her interest in drawing, Ibtisam hopes to be a fashion designer in the future.

Nthenya is the firstborn child in a family of four. Her parents rely on odd jobs to cater for the family needs. ÊDespite many challenges, Nthenya emerged victorious in her exams. She aspires to be a doctor in future to treat the less privileged in the society especially children. She believes that one rises by uplifting others.

Mueni is an outgoing girl who completed her primary education in 2017 and since her parents were unable to pay for her school fees she decided to repeat grade eight. Despite staying home for most of the time in the year due to small school levies, her dream to become a surgeon has kept her focused. Her parents are poor and only do casual jobs to cater for the family basic needs. Their house collapsed last year due to rains and they are now living in a makeshift house. ÊMueni believes that hard work never goes unrewarded.

Nagma's family includes her mother, father, fifteen sisters, and sixteen brothers. Coming from such a big family, Nagma is most proud of her family. She enjoys spending time with them talking at home and making them proud. At school, her favorite subject is math. Outside of class, Nagma enjoys playing basketball. In the future, she hopes to be a fashion designer.

Najma lives with her three sisters, five brothers, grandmother, grandfather, and mother. Her favorite subject in school is English. Najma enjoys learning new things and is glad to be learning English at school. To continue learning new things, Najma enjoys reading books about science in her free time. Other than reading, Najma also enjoys going over her class notes with her peers and helping each other to understand their class material. With Najma’s passion for learning and education, she hopes to be a teacher in the future.

Bushra is from Burao, the second-largest city in Somaliland, located in the Eastern region of the country, where she lives with her father and siblings. She had to leave school in 2014 because her family was unable to pay the tuition, but was given a scholarship and returned in 2015. Despite this gap, Bushra has excelled in English, and writes and speaks at a nearly native level, despite only a few years of instruction in English.