On my way home around 8 pm, heavy rain poured down in sheets. In the corner at Tarabuunka Junction, a young girl in her twenties was standing alone, waiting for a public bus.
I stopped and asked her, Where are you heading? I can give you a lift.
Around San’a Junction, she replied.
She got in, and a few seconds later, her phone rang. As she answered and spoke for a while, I overheard words that I will never forget;
“I didn’t go to school to write CVs, to beg for a job, and to find nothing but interview after interview. The maturity of these office workers is asking for myself or just wasting my time and energy.”
After she hung up, I could see the worry on her face. I asked, You seem worried. Can I ask you a bit more about yourself?
That is where her story began.
Sagal is the eldest of nine siblings and has a disabled father. My mother struggled not only to feed us but also to educate us. As the firstborn, I witnessed everything happening in the family. Sometimes, she said, days passed without a proper meal.
But my mother never gave up. She did every available job, washing clothes, cleaning houses, sometimes degerming and winnowing (breaking and classifying) maize for other people, just to earn a little money to feed and educate the children.
And that sacrifice paid off. Sagal graduated from secondary school as the top student in the school.
Because Sagal ranked first, she earned a full scholarship to one of the universities in Mogadishu. After she graduated, the same university offered her a free Master’s program, which she completed last year.
Sagal continued her story and said, ‘Since my first year of university, I have been trying to find a job. NGOs, government institutions, private businesses—I knocked on every door. Mostly, it ended with nothing.'”
She added, “During the final year of my bachelor’s degree, I secured a volunteer position. Although they initially told me it would only last three months, it ended up extending to two years. In the end, they only gave me an experience letter, even though I was waiting to be offered a salaried position and start earning”.
“To avoid being unemployed after graduation, I secured another volunteer position. I completed my Master’s degree while still volunteering. However, three months ago, I lost even that position.”
Sagal explained that It’s not because my manners are bad, but because the market has no mercy. Some hospitals where I volunteered saw volunteers as an opportunity to avoid paying salaries, only to later lay them off and bring in new volunteers,
“This is my auntie calling every day to see if I’m getting a job,” she added. “But I hate being asked. I have suffered, and this is not what I imagined – even after all these struggles for my mom and me.”
Sagal added, I don’t know if my luck is just bad or if God is testing my patience. The reason I went to school was to solve social problems, provide care to those in need, and support sick patients. But despite wanting to support others, I became idle myself. All these efforts have failed to give even a penny to my mom, at least to show her some small benefit of what her struggle cost.
There are a lot of Sagals around us – bright, educated, and determined young people with optimistic futures. But time and lack of opportunities put them under pressure, pushing their mental health into crisis.
After that night, I decided to be part of her journey. After a month of searching for a position matching her nursing experience, Sagal finally secured a job with a stipend to cover transportation costs. It was a humble opening- a small light, but a start.
