Empowering Somali Women

Walking down the crowded, bustling Hargeysa market, you will see a lot of women sitting out under the heat of the sun running their small businesses. Somali women are the biggest entrepreneurs in those city markets whether they are running small grocery shops or selling bananas on a wheelbarrow or running a clothing store. Some of these women are the sole providers of their families where at least five plus children depend on the regular profit they earn everyday. None of the women that run small businesses have ever attended school. They have a hard time managing their businesses with the little knowledge they have to do simple financial transactions, math or simply are lacking the ability to read or write. This summer, I developed and led a project to provide math and language courses for them. ​

I designed and taught a four week program: 1st week was math, 2nd and 3rd weeks were focused on teaching reading and writing the somali language, and the 4th week was focused on basic financial literacy course.

I have learned that I am passionate to do developmental work and I truly enjoyed running a non-profit project. It gave me the idea that in my future career, I might want to pursue economic development and expand my work in women empowerment. ​Some of my favorite parts were seeing the progress of the women throughout the program and noticing the change in their daily work and developing close connections with the participants.

Internship funded by the Thomas McKinley '06 and Hannah McKinley '08 Family Scholarship and Entrepreneur Grant Fund.