I Was Once One of Them
One Childhood. One System. Millions of Children Still Waiting for a Different Future.
At the age of five, Umar began a journey that would shape the rest of his life.
Like countless children across Northern Nigeria and other parts of West Africa, his early childhood was connected to the traditional Almajiri education system. At an age when many children are beginning formal schooling, surrounded by their parents and teachers, Umar's experience exposed him to a very different reality.
He saw children leave their villages and communities in search of religious education. Many travelled from one town to another, often far away from their families and without the protection, resources and basic necessities that children need to grow safely.
For Umar, this was not something he read about in a report.
He lived it.
That childhood experience stayed with him.
Today, as Country Director of Sonja Bertram's Children Foundation in Nigeria, Umar carries with him a perspective that cannot be learned from statistics alone. He understands what it means for a child to grow up vulnerable, away from family protection and without access to the education, nutrition, skills and opportunities necessary to build an independent future.
And he understands something else:
These children are not the problem. They are children caught in a system that has failed to protect their potential.
When Education Becomes a Path to Vulnerability
The traditional Almajiri system has deep cultural and religious roots and has historically played an important role in providing Qur'anic education.
But for many children today, the absence of adequate complementary education, family support, accommodation, nutrition, healthcare and protection has created an environment of extreme vulnerability.
Living on the Streets
Children can find themselves living on the streets of unfamiliar towns and cities, dependent on begging and the generosity of strangers simply to survive.
A Daily Struggle for Food
For some, childhood becomes a daily struggle for food. For others, it becomes a struggle for protection.
Exposed to Danger
Children who should be sitting in classrooms can instead be exposed to disease, hunger, exploitation, trafficking, abuse, abduction and other forms of violence.
The Consequences Reach Far Beyond One Child
When a child grows up without foundational education, practical skills, adequate nutrition and protection, the consequences can continue into adulthood. The child may struggle to find meaningful employment, become dependent on others and remain trapped in poverty.
A Threat to an Entire Region
And when this happens to hundreds of thousands or millions of children across communities and across borders, it is no longer only an individual tragedy. It becomes a threat to the future development of an entire region.
The Child Behind the Statistic
It is easy to talk about vulnerable children using numbers. But Umar remembers that behind every number is a child.
- A child with a name.
- A child with a family.
- A child with abilities.
- A child with dreams.
A child who could become a teacher, engineer, doctor, entrepreneur, farmer, programmer, community leader or skilled professional.
The greatest tragedy is not that these children are poor.
The greatest tragedy is that so many are growing up without the opportunity to discover what they could become.
This is why Umar's personal journey has become more than a memory. It has become a responsibility.
From Experience to Action
Sonja Bertram's Children Foundation believes that vulnerable children do not need pity alone.
They need opportunity. They need protection. They need education. They need food. They need skills. They need safe environments in which they can learn and develop. And, most importantly, they need people who are willing to believe in their future.
Education
Education provides knowledge.
Skills
Skills provide opportunity.
Nutrition
Nutrition provides the foundation for healthy growth and learning.
Protection
Protection provides safety.
Mentorship
Mentorship provides direction.
Dignity
And dignity gives a child the confidence to believe that his or her future can be different.
The Foundation is working to support approaches that can provide children with access to education alongside practical and vocational skills, helping them develop the knowledge and abilities they need to become self-reliant as they grow. This means looking beyond simply putting a child into a classroom. It means asking: What will this child need to build a sustainable life?
Fighting Hunger While Building Futures
A child cannot concentrate on learning when he or she is hungry. Malnutrition remains a serious concern among vulnerable children, particularly those living in conditions of poverty and insecurity.
That is why nutritional support must be part of the solution.
For the Foundation, feeding a child is not simply about providing a meal for one day. It is about giving that child the physical strength to attend school, concentrate in class, participate in activities and grow into a healthier adult.
A meal can sustain a child today. Education and skills can transform the child's tomorrow.
We believe children need both.
From the Streets to the Classroom
A child should not have to choose between survival and education.
We want to help create pathways through which vulnerable children can move from unsafe and unstable environments into safe, supportive learning environments.
Learn
Learn basic and formal education.
Faith & Morals
Receive Qur'anic and moral education in a safe and structured environment.
Vocational Skills
Acquire practical and vocational skills.
Nutritional Support
Receive nutritional support.
Confidence & Life Skills
Develop confidence and life skills.
Mentorship
Access mentorship and positive role models.
Rights & Responsibilities
Understand their rights and responsibilities.
Employment
Prepare for employment, entrepreneurship or further education.
Prepared for Life
The goal is not simply to remove children from the streets. The goal is to prepare them for life.
Umar's Story Is Bigger Than Umar
Umar's childhood could have ended with his own experience. Instead, it became the beginning of a mission.
Having experienced the realities surrounding the Almajiri education system from childhood, he understands that meaningful change cannot come from condemnation alone. The solution requires partnership.
Because no single organization can solve a challenge of this magnitude alone.
Imagine What One Child Can Become
Imagine a five-year-old child standing on a street today. He may look like just another vulnerable child. But what if that child becomes an engineer? What if she becomes a teacher?
What if she becomes the person who returns to her community one day and helps another generation of children? The child you help today may become the person who changes tomorrow.
That is why investing in vulnerable children is not charity alone. It is an investment in the future of Nigeria and West Africa.
A Different Future Is Possible
Umar's story demonstrates something important: A difficult beginning does not have to determine the end of a child's story.
The children we see on the streets today should not be defined by where they were born, the poverty of their families or the circumstances that brought them there. They should be defined by their potential.
Sonja Bertram's Children Foundation wants to be part of creating that opportunity. We want to help build a future in which children receive education without losing their protection; where religious learning can exist alongside quality foundational education and practical skills; where children do not have to depend on begging for survival; and where hunger does not stand between a child and a classroom.
But this vision requires more than good intentions. It requires people willing to act.
You Can Help Change a Child's Story
Umar was once a five-year-old child experiencing the realities of a system that left many children vulnerable. Today, he is using that experience to help advocate for a different future for children like him. There are still thousands of children waiting for that opportunity.
- They are waiting for a classroom.
- They are waiting for a meal.
- They are waiting for someone to teach them a skill.
- They are waiting for someone to protect them.
- They are waiting for someone to believe in them.
You can be that person. Your support can help provide education, skills development, nutritional assistance and safer learning environments for vulnerable children.
Because every child deserves more than survival. Every child deserves the opportunity to become something.
Help us give a child more than a childhood of survival. Help us give them a future.
Help us build a brighter future
for children in need
Every contribution - whether your time, partnership, or donation - creates lasting change in the life of a child.