Return to Learning in Ethiopia: Adiam's Story
For years, school was an impossible dream for Adiam as her family moved from place to place, uprooted by conflict. Thanks to support from UNICEF, today, the 9-year-old is a thriving full-time student.
From fear to hope
Before war tore through northern Ethiopia, Adiam, now 9, lived happily with her family in Adebay Kebele. When fighting erupted in late 2021, she fled on foot with her mother and siblings to the Hitsats IDP (internally displaced persons) camp in northwest Tigray, leaving her father behind.
When he finally rejoined them a year later, Adiam faced another heartbreak: her father was struggling with severe mental health issues.
“Before the conflict, my father was healthy,” Adiam recalls. “After he came back, we stayed at holy water sites to help him. I often felt hungry. I felt fear, anxiety, loneliness and hopelessness.”
School became an impossible dream as the family moved from place to place seeking treatment. But then everything changed.
In June 2024, Adiam enrolled in a UNICEF-supported accelerated learning program. Since then she's been studying in a bright, temporary classroom built for children like her. She received a school bag, notebooks and other school supplies. She is also given nutritious biscuits that help her concentrate on her English and math lessons.
With teachers provide not just instruction, but also comfort to ease her worries about her father, Adiam is thriving. She ranks 4th in her class and will soon advance to Grade 3.
Watch the video:
The program is funded by CERF (Central Emergency Response Fund) and OCHA (the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) and implemented by partner Innovative Humanitarian Services (IHS), an Ethiopia-based NGO. Through the program’s child protection support, Adiam's mother received cash assistance to help pay for essentials, making it possible for Adiam to attend school regularly and play with friends in a child-friendly space.
Adiam's smile says it all: “Now I feel joyful and hopeful," she says. "Education is vital because it helps us live a good life. I want to become a doctor… to treat sick people… to treat my father.”
Learn more about how UNICEF is helping children and families in Ethiopia
Right now, the lives of the most vulnerable children hang in the balance as conflicts and crises jeopardize the care and protection that they deserve. Dependable, uninterrupted and effective foreign aid is critical to the well-being of millions of children. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support ongoing U.S. investments in foreign assistance.
This story was originally published by unicef.org
HOW TO HELP
There are many ways to make a difference
War, famine, poverty, natural disasters — threats to the world's children keep coming. But UNICEF won't stop working to keep children healthy and safe.
UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories — more places than any other children's organization. UNICEF has the world's largest humanitarian warehouse and, when disaster strikes, can get supplies almost anywhere within 72 hours. Constantly innovating, always advocating for a better world for children, UNICEF works to ensure that every child can grow up healthy, educated, protected and respected.
Would you like to help give all children the opportunity to reach their full potential? There are many ways to get involved.
