Sitina Mohammed is a 15-year-old girl who goes to Dumey School in Ethiopia’s Meda Welabu district, where imagine1day has just inaugurated a new school.

Sitina comes from a big family and is the the oldest, with three brothers and two sisters.

Not many people in Sitina’s community believed that a girl should be sent to school. “I was looking after my family’s cattle. It was largely believed that there was no use of sending children, especially girls, to school. In fact, there were very few people in the community who sent their children to school. My parents eventually noticed the difference was so visible that they decided to send me to school too,” recalls Sitina.

Dumey School, in Meda Welabu, Bale Zone, Ethiopia.

Dumey School, in Meda Welabu, Bale Zone, Ethiopia.

Sitina is now a fourth grade student at the imagine1day-supported school. She was 11 years old when she started school, but her late enrollment had not stopped her from dreaming big.

“My younger brother, who is 14 years old, is a fifth grade student. He is ahead of me, but I do not feel much about. I am just grateful that I am in school. After all, I am only a year behind him,” she asserts with a smile on her face.

“I want to grow up well-educated and become the leader of Ethiopia,” she says.

Dumey School is part of two imagine1day projects that have enrolled 42,456 previously out-of-school children in Ethiopia. These projects are made possible with support from Educate a Child and our many donors.