FARHIA DAHIR HASSAN lives in Baidoa, one of the Somali cities most affected by the recent drought. She is also one the beneficiaries of the ECHO funded project “Building peace and resilience through empowerment of adolescent girls in Somalia” implemented by INTERSOS. Farhia participated to a business skills training and she was selected as a successful candidate and awarded with an in kind start-up business grant in Baidoa. Therefore, he received 500 USD in goods and equipment that she has used to improve her business.
She owns a small kiosk for beverages, basic groceries and street food.
Her kiosk is located in Bardale one of the villages in Baidoa town.
She is a single mother and uses the income she gets from her kiosk to provide for the basic needs of her 5 children. She is an active member of the Community Reflective Circle, a community based group supported by INTERSOS and tasked to promote the right to education of every child, particularly girls.
She said INTERSOS provided her with different materials to support her small business. Some of the materials include: Pots for cooking, washing powder, Soap, Sleepers, battery, Cups, Shampoo, Socks, Torch, Tea filter, Scissors, Mirror, comb, Hair oil.
She said provision of the materials has boosted her small business which in turn boosted her daily income. Farhia was struggling to keep her children in school since she did not have the money to pay school fees for all of them. Today, she is able to pay school fees and to send all her children to school. Farhia told INTERSOS staff that being a single mother is at times very hard, but she also felt very proud of herself when she was finally able to see her daughters in school since she believes that women empowerment can be the key to peace and development in Somalia.
This project was funded by ECHO.