Before Nasreen Hassan fled to Uganda as a refugee in 2023, she was a nutritional assistant at a teaching hospital in Darfur, Sudan. Nasreen is a 37-year-old refugee living in Kiryandongo refugee settlement, in the Northwestern region of Uganda.
On arrival, she got aid from World Food Program (WFP), but rather than joy, the intervention elicited pain.
“Food is special to me. When I first received food from WFP, it broke my heart because back home, I used to give food and now I am the one who was being given food.”
This vulnerability was made worse by the fact that she couldn’t communicate in English. “I couldn’t ask questions. I couldn’t explain myself. I felt stuck.”
Determined not to remain a victim of circumstances and improve the family’s living conditions, Nasreen opted to learn English.
“Luckily for me, FRC (Finnish Refugee Council) recruited my neighbor Neymar as the English for Adults class instructor in our cluster. I joined the class with my 16-year-old son.”
With a basic understanding of English, Nasreen attended other courses, one of which was to become a Care Giving Volunteer (CGV).
“I felt happy and fulfilled when I became a volunteer because I was able to provide nutritional assistance to breastfeeding mothers and the elderly people in my community just as I did back home in Sudan.”
She treasures the certificate she got from FRC:
“By learning how to speak, read and write in English, a very big door was opened for me and my children. I am now confident of the future I am building for my children and myself.”
Her instructor Neymar noted that Nasreen was among her top five students.
When asked about her plans, Nasreen recalled her childhood dream. “When I was a girl, I dreamed of being an electrical engineer, but I was pushed into marriage at an early age. But now that I am here, I hope to one day go back to university and realize this dream. She adds: “Right now, it is my son carrying the dream forward he also plans to become a mechanical engineer.”
Read more about FRC’s work in Uganda.