After the dad passed away paying school fees and buying food has been a big problem for the mum who works as a house help. Fredrick hopes to go to university and study engineering.

Maryuri lives with her father, mother and six year old sister. She is a bright girl with a keen sense of fun. She has recently begun to learn the guitar and loves to come to the lessons at the Condor Trust on Saturday mornings. Any other free time she likes to spend playing in the park. Maryuri is making good progress at school and is interested in lots of subjects, so she is finding it difficult to choose what she might like to do in the future.

"I am Roda Ahmed Mohamed. I was born and grew up in the middle of the Somali plains. I have twenty-eight siblings, one father, and three mothers. I am the oldest daughter. I attended schools in Burco, Somaliland and then moved to the city of Hargeisa, Somaliland to continue my education as a high school student. In 2011, I was admitted to the prestigious Abaarso School and today I am a senior. At Abaarso School, I have a very exciting and pleasant life; a life enriched by education, tenacity, and integrity. As a girl at a boarding school in Somaliland, I keep a very positive outlook and am a good role model for all students in the Lower School. I am the Vice President of Abaarso School Student Council and am the manager of a small, yet successful, business that provides soft drinks for the school community. Also, for the last three years, I have tutored orphans from Hargeisa for at least three hours every week. I am also a very athletic student who plays most sports. In the future, I hope to help Somaliland develop and be recognized throughout the world."

Shadrack writes: "I presently live with my mother and stepfather because my biological father abandoned me and my mother when I was only 6 weeks old. Because of that my mother who is a trader has since paid for my education alone. When I turned 10 years old, my mother married again but my stepfather does not pay for my education because I am not his son. My mother doing this as a single parent in disguise without any good and sustainable source of income constrains the family and threatens the possibility of my being able to complete the Senior High School and further to the University to be able to achieve my dream of becoming a lawyer. I therefore appeal to any person or institution to help complement the strong but inadequate effort of my mother and serve as a beacon of hope for me to attain higher education as I aspire to be a lawyer in the future. In the midst of this, I remain committed to my education because I know it is the only way to redeem myself, my family and my village in the future from economic and social poverty."