Story summary:

Hussein, 13, is one of the hundreds of thousands of children across the Afar Region who were forced to drop out of school because of the war in areas bordering with Tigry. For the past three years, Hussein and other children in his village have not been able to go to school, first because of the coronavirus pandemic and then due to the war in the area.

About nine months ago, Hussein and his family had to flee their village escaping the fighting that broke out in the areas bordering with Tigry. At the time, Hussein had to discontinue his education in grade two and traveled to the nearby remote village where they were temporarily sheltered at a camp for internally displaced people.

Before this conflict happened, Hussein's family used to be pastoralist who were entirely depend on their livestock for income and livelihoods for their family of six people. However, they lost most of their livestock to the conflict that suddenly erupted in their home village and they run to save their lives when the fighting intensified.

Strong quotes:

"Nine month ago, my family and I ran our village escaping the heavy fighting that breakout in our village bordering Tigry Reagion"

"Our school was destroyed by the war and I had to discontinue my education in grade two and had to flee our home village and travelled to the nearby village where we sheltered at a temporary camp for internally displaced people".

"Now after almost two years, I am able to continue my education and I am in grade two at the school that was temporarily established"

"Before the conflict, we used to own many livestock, we have lost most of them to the fighting. We are only left with few heads of cattle."

"Our biggest concern is the scarcity of water and food in the area. We have to walk for hours to get our drinking water and it is unsafe to drink"

"Save the Children has established reading corners at school and supplied us with storybooks that helps us improve our reading and writing skills"

How is Save the Children helping (or did we help) that child or family:

• Save the Children established temporary learning space where children could temporarily get education
• Save the Children provided children with different learning materials that enabled children continue their education.
• Save the Children in partnership with the regional and woerda education offices, is helping schools to providing quality education by providing

 Hussein's story in his own words (Quotes):

"My name is Hussein, I am thirteen years old and I have two eldest brothers and one younger sister. I am in 2nd grade. I live with my parents, my sister and two brothers here barrier in the camp for internally displaced people. Before we came here we used to live in a small village bordering Tigray about 50 kilometres from here.

My parents, siblings, and I fled the fighting in our homme village near the border with Tigray about nine months ago, carrying only a few of our belongings. We lost almost everything, and our house was burned down as a result of the conflict. I used to go to school before the war, and I was in grade two. I recall when the conflict occurred. I was at school when I heard gunshots and heavy artillery, and the loud sounds of the weapons terrified me.
Our school and our family's property have been destroyed as a result of the conflict. We flee for our lives as heavy fighting erupts in our Afar village. I was terrified at the time, hearing gunshots and heavy artillery fire near our village. We walked for three days and nights to get here.

Our biggest concern right now is the shortage of water in the nearby village. We walk for hours to collect drinking water, carrying Jerri cans, and the water we get is not safe to drink. We lost almost all our livestock and other properties to the recent fighting in the area. We are only left with a few animals that we saved from being looted. As a result, my family is unable to provide us with enough food. Therefore, sometimes the biscuit that Save the Children provides us at school is the only meal that we get in a day.

My favorite subjects in class are Afaris and English. I particularly enjoy the Afaris Language class because it is simple for me to learn and understand. I am aware that I must work hard in order to achieve a high level of education. I want to be a teacher when I grow up.

Additional statement gave by Seid Mohammed, the Field office Manager in Afar:

"Situations like Hussein's are unfortunately not uncommon. The recent conflict in northern Ethiopia affected millions of people in the Afar, Amhara, and Tigray regions. An estimated 1.5 million children are absent from school in this area, and this figure could rise as a result of the recent fighting. We are doing our best, but we require additional assistance due to the unprecedented number of people affected."

Background / Project information

Save Children's Education in emergency for protracted crises in Ethiopia, an IHA/Global Affairs Canada-funded project provides school materials to children displaced by conflict in the Afar Region, including a backpack, an exercise book, a pencil pen, and other school supplies. So far, we have provided learning materials to over 300 children, enabling them to attend school. We also gave cash assistance to families affected by the recent conflict in the area so that they could feed their children and send them to school on a regular basis.