Phanie's father died when she was ten years old due to brain cancer. Her mum runs a thrift shop where she sells second hand clothes. Her sisters works as a waiter in a hotel and uses whatever she earns to pay her own fees at the college where she is taking a degree in education. Her younger brother is in primary school. When Phanice was in primary school, she spent a lot of time out of school waiting for her parents to find some money to pay for her exam fees. Her life has changed now that she has been provided with enough books to read and also no longer misses class. "I thank Wema very much for the great impact they have had on my life and also the great teachers at this place and I am confident i will achieve an A after my four years here." -Phanice.

Suhaib lives with his mother and four brothers. Suhaib is proud to be a member of our school community and learning new things he would not have learned elsewhere. His favorite classes are Algebra and Chemistry. With his interest in math and chemistry, Suhaib hopes to be a chemical engineer in the future. Outside of class, Suhaib enjoys reading non-fiction books, especially about history, and playing soccer. Suhaib feels it is important to be there for his family and to make them proud.

Alexander is the lastborn child in a family of four. All his elder siblings have all dropped out of school in primary level due to lack of school fees. His mother is single and unemployed. She has been ailing and can rarely manage to do manual work to cater for her children. Despite all odds alexander managed to perform very well in his primary level education. He is determined to achieve his goal of becoming a doctor in future. As a doctor, he believes that he will help the poor in the society access medical services. Alexander believes that education is the key to success.

Davis lives with his 8 siblings and unemployed parents. He enjoys math and science and wants to become doctor someday.

Edna is second born child in a family of three. She stays with her grandmother who has taken up the responsibility of caring for her. Her mother is single and jobless. Edna’s elder sister dropped out of school in form two due to lack of school fees. Edna’s journey to success in primary school was not without challenges. She woke up at the crack of dawn each morning and walked about 2 kilometers to school. Sometimes she went to school without any breakfast. Other times she arrived to school late and had to take a punishment but that did not make her to give up. She remained determined and worked hard to attain good grades. Edna emerged the best student by scoring 396 marks out of 500 at her school. She believes that determination knows no barrier.

Bashir Hassan Aden is a 15 year old from Abaarso, a small village located in Somaliland. This year, he’s entering the eighth grade at Abaarso School of Science and Technology. Bashir has four brothers and a sister. His mother works as a cleaner, and his father sells food. In his free time, he enjoys playing football. Although he did not speak much English when he arrived at the school, he did not feel overwhelmed. Instead, he was determined to become a better student. His favorite subject is science, and in the future, he wants to be a scientist. He hopes to continue his education, and to eventually help his family better their livelihood.

Elton was born in Sofala province. He is a nice and intelligent child, and likes to play marbles with friends of his age. Elton’s father died in 2005. He used to be a guard. After his father's death, his mother remarried. Her husband would like to help but the business of selling second hand clothes is not of great sustainability, and the income is just enough to pay the rent and a minimum for the family to survive. Without help, his dream to follow up his studies may fall apart.

Sheila’s mother passed away when she was two years old so she stays with her unemployed father. She loves playing volleyball and wants to be a college professor someday.

Mohamoud is a grade 9 student in the 2016 school year. He has five sisters and three brothers. What he enjoys most about his school is that everyone respects each other. Mohamoud values respect and is glad that he is at a school where respect is an important part of the community. Learning to speak English has been Mohamoud’s proudest accomplishment so far. In the future, Mohamoud hopes to be a chemist and to be able to help develop his country.

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.

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.

Leornad's father passed away and he does not know where his mother is. He stays with his unemployed grandmother. He does not have a grandfather. He has one brother and one sister.

George's mum sells vegetables by the roadside to earn a living. He has two brothers and three sisters. His family is poor and would not have been able to cater for his high school fees. In primary school, he never had shoes and would go on one meal per day. He however struggled through thick and thin and received an excellent score on his primary school exams. He intends to become computer literate through utilizing the lab at wema. He also intends to acquire real life skills and above all score a grade A in his final examination.

Faith is the first-born child in a family of three. She has the passion to be a lawyer and wants to help execute justice among her people and especially the poor in the community. While in school Faith underwent many challenges like being sent home due to lack of payment of school fees, lack of school uniform and lack of kerosene to study at night. However Faith remained determined to achieve good grades. She resulted to be waking up at the crack of dawn each day to go to school before any other student arrived. Once at school she would get out her desk from the classroom since it was still dark and work on her homework. She was fortunate that a few months before she sat for her final exams, a neighbor helped her with kerosene and she was able to study each night until 11.00 pm. She is grateful that some students helped her with pens and pencils and her teachers were very supportive. Despite these challenges, Faith performance in the primary school leaving exam was among the best in her school. She believes that hard work never goes unrewarded.