Featured Family Friday: Fatuma & Arafat

For this week’s Featured Family Friday we want to share with you the interview from Fatuma, who is the Mom of two sons who attend GLP, Kuzaifa & Sharif.  Fatuma and her husband Arafat own a convenience shop in Namasale where they serve their local community by providing affordable grocery items. Fatuma explained to our team during our visit last summer that if they had more opportunities to learn about improving their business, they would be able to expand their shop and save money for their children’s education.

In a community like Namasale where quality education is scarce, many parents choose not to invest in their child’s education and instead bring their child to work alongside them, teaching them how to run the family business. While school COSTS money, keeping your child home and bringing them to work allows you to MAKE more money for your family and at least put food on the table. At Far Away Friends, we are working alongside dedicated families in Namasale to advocate for the massive, long-term benefits of investing in a child’s educational achievement. Families like Fatuma and Arafat’s are setting an example for dedicated parenting in their community.

Fatuma & Arafat’s shop in Namasale town

Although their shop is small and their income is modest (like many of the business owners in Namasale) Fatuma and Arafat have worked tirelessly to continue investing in the academic achievement of their boys. During our visit, we wanted to formally recognize Fatuma and Arafat for their dedication and determination to keep their sons in school, and ask Fatuma a few questions about how we can continue to support her and her family.

Fatuma’s shop in Namasale town.

• Why did you choose to send your boys to GLP?

  • Because our children in Namasale deserve quality education and that’s what you provide at Global Leaders.

• What is your dream for your children?

  • When my children are educated, they will have a vision for their lives and will want to serve the whole community.

• Have you faced any challenges being a business owner here in Namasale?

  • We have very little capital, which makes it difficult to grow our business in any way. The money just circles around until there is none left. My husband and I are afraid to get a loan because we can only get small ones, and that won’t grow our business. Plus, it would be so difficult to pay back and then we wouldn’t be able to pay school fees.

• How can Far Away Friends help support your business?

  • If you have the capacity, I think you should get business owners together and help train them on what kinds of businesses would be lucrative, how to save money, how to handle capital and how to handle customers. Once we are trained, we can come together as a collective and have capital to invest in our businesses.

It is our honor and privilege to work alongside parents like Fatuma and her husband, Arafat who together are raising the next generation of global leaders! Their commitment to the education of their children and passion for learning about ways to expand their business inspire us everyday. 

YOU can help families like Fatuma’s gain access to business trainings! Become an Advocate and your monthly donation will support our programs promoting education, improving healthcare and soon, providing business trainings & economic opportunity to mothers like Fatuma.