Somali Mothers Education is the most important foundation for children who live in areas where there are no formal buildings or government teachers to help them learn their alphabet and numbers. In many parts of our country especially in the rural camps and the nomadic regions the traditional school system has been absent for a very long time because of the constant moving and the lack of resources.
Because of this the home has become the primary classroom and the women have taken on the heavy responsibility of being the first teachers for the youth.
This Somali Mothers Education movement is quiet but it is very powerful because it ensures that the culture and the basic skills of the people are not lost even when the world outside is very chaotic and difficult.
These women sit with their kids under the shade of trees or inside their small tents and they pass down the wisdom of their ancestors while also trying to teach them how to navigate the modern world. It is a labor of love that keeps the light of knowledge burning in the darkest corners of the nation where the light of the state has not yet reached.
The daily struggle for Somali Mothers Education at home
The biggest challenge for this Somali Mothers Education effort is the fact that many of the moms themselves did not get a chance to go to a big university or even a high school when they were young girls. However they are very smart and they use whatever tools they have like the Quran and old stories to make sure their children understand the difference between right and wrong.
This Somali Mothers Education also involves teaching the kids how to count the animals and how to trade in the market which are the most vital skills for survival in our dry lands. They don’t have expensive tablets or colored books but they use the sand and sticks to draw the letters and the symbols of our language. By doing this they are creating a strong mind in their children that can handle the hard life of the desert while still dreaming of a better future in the big city one day.
Teaching values through Somali Mothers Education methods
In our society the mother is the one who stays closest to the children throughout the day so she has the most influence on how they behave and how they think about their neighbors. Through the Somali Mothers Education approach the boys and girls learn about the importance of being kind and helping the poor members of the clan who have no food.
They learn the poems and the songs that have been passed down for hundreds of years and this keeps our identity alive in a world that is changing very fast. This Somali Mothers Education is the reason why our people are so resilient and strong because the lessons we learn from our mothers stay in our hearts forever no matter where we go. They teach the children that even if they don’t have a big school building they still have a brain that can think and a voice that can speak the truth to power.
Supporting the Somali Mothers Education path forward
If we want to help our country grow we must find ways to support the Somali Mothers Education work by giving these women the books and the training they need to do an even better job. We can use the radio to broadcast lessons that the moms can listen to with their kids so that they all learn new things together at the same time.
This Somali Mothers Education support could also include giving small solar lamps to the families so the kids can study after the sun goes down and the work with the goats is finished. When we empower the mother we are empowering the whole village because she will never keep the knowledge to herself but she will share it with everyone around her. It is the best and cheapest way to make sure that every child in our land has a chance to succeed in life even if they never step foot inside a formal classroom.
The work of these women is often forgotten in the big reports from the United Nations or the government but we know that without the Somali Mothers Education our country would be in a much worse place today. They are the silent heroes who are fighting against ignorance every single morning when they wake up their kids for their lessons.
We should celebrate the Somali Mothers Education and make sure that the next generation of girls is even better prepared to be the teachers of the future. It is a long walk to reach full literacy for everyone but with the strength of our mothers we are already halfway there. Let us stand by them and give them the respect and the tools they deserve for this holy mission of raising the next leaders of our nation.
Read Also: How can we apply a Somali Learning Strategy to fix the schools?
The real power of a nation is not in its guns or its gold but in the hearts of its women and the way they raise their children to be good people. The Somali Mothers Education is a beautiful thing that shows the world that we are a people who value learning and wisdom above everything else.
We hope that one day every child will have a desk and a teacher but until then we will rely on the love and the intelligence of our mothers to guide us home. It is a story of hope and strength that will be told for many years to come by the kids who are learning their first letters in the sand today.
