BOY RISING: A Mahmoud Abdulkadir Story

There are an estimated 40,000 “Almajiri” children
living on the streets of Yola. Almajiri children are
young boys aged 5 to 18 across Nigeria who have
been sent by their families to study at a Qur’anic
school, most of which are unregulated by the
government and attended by children from Nigeria’s
poorest, illiterate families and nomadic farming communities.
They spend their days begging for food and scraps.
Coming from the most disadvantaged families, they
are mostly illiterate and at risk of being recruited into
Boko Haram or trafficked. All of these boys are in
desperate need of consistent food aid and an education
to give them hope for the future.
With the support of the local Muslim leaders and traditional
rulers, as well as members of the Adamawa Peace Initiative,
American University of Nigeria has established a pilot program
in Yola, “Feed and Read,” to provide displaced, orphaned and
Almajiri children a daily meal and to teach them basic literacy
and numeracy.
Mahmoud Abdulkadir, who is a beneficiary of this program
decided to go further to enrol in a formal school. This is a unique
story because the "Almajir" never goes to a formal school mainly
because of the teachings against western education challenges
they might face from both family and friends from the
Quara'nic school.