Nimo Adam, Hibo Mohamed and Najah Ali

Nimo, Hibo and Najah are 3 young single Somali refugees living in Jakarta.  Though they come from different cities in Somalia, they have become like family to each other, watching out for each other and trying to survive together.  They met after arriving in Indonesia and each has a heartbreaking story of how they ended up in Indonesia.  They each fled their homeland to escape the violence and  terror and they all lost loved ones.

Nimo is 24 years old and she lived with her parents and her sister until she was 5. On one fateful day, she walked home from school to find that her home had been bombed.  She couldn't find her parents or her sister and to this day isn't sure whether they are dead or alive.  She looked through the burned out remains of her home and saw clothes and items that were hers and vividly remembers seeing her dad's watch.  But her family was nowhere to be found.  Eventually, she was taken to an orphanage.  She always hoped that her parents would come and find her, but they never did.  She continued to suffer through many horrifying experiences from physical and mental abuse, to having the workers at her orphanage murdered by Al Shibab and many of the young girls kidnapped.  She was offered a chance to escape and she made a journey across the world to arrive in Jakarta, hoping for peace and a better life.  She has remained optimistic and hopeful, but the reality of the hardship she faces is daunting.  She is unable to work due to Indonesian law and can't pay the rent for even her extremely modest apartment.  Currently she lets several homeless teenage girls stay with her as needed, but she is about to lose her home also.  Even so, when you visit Nimo's home, you will see handwritten signs on her wall, with quotes about hope and a map with labels on Somalia, Indonesia and several other countries, labelled "past", "present" and "future".  Nimo has taken it upon herself to be the unofficial leader of a group of  about 55 Somali women and children.  She organizes hygiene and health lectures, which she teaches and she tries to reach out and offer hope within her community.  She always has a big smile and seems so optimistic.  Despite the hardships she has had to face in her life, she is a born leader and is carrying the weight of trying to help her community and not just herself.

Hibo is only 19 years old.  She escaped Somalia after her adult brother and grandfather were killed and her father was kidnapped by armed militants in Somalia.  She arrived in Indonesia when she was 16.  Initially, she was able to meet her basic needs through a small stipend from the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees).  Hibo was the first person Nimo met when she arrived in Indonesia and she agreed to let Nimo stay with her for a night.  3 years later, and they are still living together and supporting each other.  However, when Hibo just recently turned 19, she lost the stipend she was receiving from the UNHCR.  And they are at risk of becoming homeless.  Hibo herself has had some difficult health problems, with debilitating back pain presumably due to trauma she suffered while in Somalia.  We have recently been able to get her to a physician and she is having some improvement, but the doctors recommendations for her health problems, to eat healthy foods, sleep on a mattress and do some physical exercise is near impossible in her current situation.  She is very worried that she will be homeless again and is afraid for her safety, living on the streets as a 19 year old girl.

Najah Ali is 26 years old and fled Somalia after she lost everything - including her parents, her husband and her two young children.  She tried to escape to find peace in her life and has been in Indonesia for about 3 years.  When she arrived here, she was forced to face a life of homelessness, living on the street.  She met Nimo and Hibo and they invited her to stay with them in their small home and she has had some peace living with her new friends, although she feels bad that she has nothing to contribute for rent.  Now that they are facing possible homelessness again, she says "In reality, I don't have any idea [how] to survive or to help these good young girls.  No hope to stay here and nowhere we can go to survive."

Your support would help to provide a safe home where Nimo, Hibo and Najah can live and have the basics of life.

Here is an news article about the future refugees from Somalia will likely face.