Change starts here. Even in isolation and adversity, hope is taking root. It can be heard in the songs of children in a displacement camp; seen in the steadying shoulders of a mother who has finally found a safe space for her children. These ripples of change reach into their homes and futures signalling hope for something better.
In Somalia, conflict and climate disasters have forced millions from their homes. Compounding this, aid cuts have drastically impacted local organisations serving the most vulnerable – including Tearfund’s local partner, Medair. The human cost is staggering. Yet, the vital work continues – ensuring that families like Hodan’s can move beyond survival toward a life of harmony.
Imagine being forced to flee your home with three young children, aged six, four, and one. You find refuge in an Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camp, but survival comes with a heart-wrenching price: to feed your children, you must leave them behind every day to find work.
This was the agonising dilemma facing Hodan who lives in Somalia, where 4.8 million people require urgent assistance, due to prolonged conflict, climate shocks and a fragile health system facing potential collapse*.
To keep her family alive, Hodan took on casual labor within the camp, such as washing clothes and fetching water. While she worked, she carried the constant weight of worry for her children’s safety and well-being. With no school or supervised areas to occupy them, her older children became restless and prone to fighting.
Hodan explains that her household was often engulfed in stress:
“After a long day of hustling for work, I would return home very exhausted, only to be welcomed by noisy arguments and conflicts between my children, forcing me to shout at them as a way of resolving issues. I didn’t know what else to do.”
Hodan overheard other mums talking about a health facility nearby, run by Tearfund’s partner in Somalia. Within the facility was a ‘Child-Friendly Space’ – a haven where children could play, learn and feel safe under the care of trained facilitators. She quickly visited the program and knew instantly that this was the place for her children.
“When we arrived, we found many other children from the neighbourhood playing together, sharing toys and laughing,” explains Hodan. “They looked happy, relaxed and free with one another. My children quickly joined them and even forgot about my presence as I was registering their names.”
The impact was almost immediate.
The older children, Ayaan and Ilyas, began learning to read, write, and count. But the most significant change happened after the sun went down. Every evening the children transformed their small home into a classroom, counting on their fingers and singing songs. There was no more fighting, instead they had learned to use words to express their feelings. As for Hodan, she noticed her own reactions changing, “I have also learned that love and kindness reaches children more deeply than shouting at them. Children listen when they feel understood.”
Despite the ongoing complexities of life in an IDP camp, this Child-Friendly Space has provided Hodan’s family with a sense of normality. It offers supervised play, emotional support, and the fundamental right to an education.
The space has given my children great happiness, and peace of mind for me.
These spaces are more than just play areas; they are anchors of hope in a life of displacement. When children have safe places to learn, dignity is restored to the whole family. For parents like Hodan, it means the freedom to strive for a better future, knowing their children are safe, happy, and finally free to just be kids.
While the need is rising, in places like Somalia, global support is falling. Your support ensures that we can continue to fuel change so mothers like Hodan and their children have all that they need to thrive.
Join Restorers, our monthly giving community, and be part of a network of passionate Christians dedicated to renewal, transformation and the restoration of hope in hard places across the globe.
Names used in this story have been changed to protect the privacy and safety of the family.
* UNICEF
Related projects have received support from the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
