A group of boys in Somalia play football at a youth group
Stories of hope
With World Vision's support lives have been changed even in the most difficult circumstances
Read the stories below to learn more about how, with your support, World Vision can continue to work in emergency situations providing help and assistance to the most vulnerable.
Peace projects guard future of Somalia's children
12-year-old Mohamed Hassan Ali knows the miseries of war from bitter experience.
He walked home from school one day to find his village (Horsed village in the Middle Juba region of Somalia) deserted. While he had been studying, a conflict had broken out between his clan and another; a conflict that killed his father and two brothers and made the rest of the village flee.
Somalia has a long history of internal fighting and political instability, worsened by warring between the many clans and sub-clans. 1.5 million children are currently affected by the conflict. World Vision’s Grassroots Peace Building project is working to protect children in Somalia, the most vulnerable people in this situation, by building bridges between the clan divides. The local communities want peace, and they know it is important to work together, but with such a difficult history finding a way forward is not easy.
One of the most effective ways to make peace last is to create relationships between young people. World Vision has been setting up youth groups and bringing youngsters from different clans together. They participate in a variety of activities, sports, drama, and dance. The friendships that these activities have created are having wide-reaching effects. Parents and community leaders have begun meeting together to talk about how to resolve conflicts without fighting, and respected members of some clans are receiving training so that they can better understand the cause of the conflicts. This knowledge may help to prevent future struggles.
Hussein Mohamud, the Ugas, or King, of the Middle Juba region in Somalia, is excited about the changes in his community. “We greatly welcome the project activities,” he says, “we are happy about it; we all know that peace is life. So far, the communities seem to learn more about peace and conflict resolution. Our children’s inclusion in peace sessions is great because the children are the future generations, and it is good to build peace at the grassroots level.”
Peace building remains a priority, but World Vision is continuing to implement health and nutrition programmes in the Middle Juba region to support the well-being of the children there.
