My Name is Ridwan Mahamoud Ahmed, I’m 26 years old and I live in Somaliland.  I graduated from Edna Adan University Hospital as a midwife in 2016. I’m now an educator at the University and I’m studying for my Masters in Public Health. 

When I was a student at Edna Adan University Hospital, I wasn’t able to find enough up-to-date books to study from. The books we had access to were old editions and there weren’t enough for the numbers of students. But for the students I now teach, because of the books provided by Book Aid International, it has become easier for them to find enough quality books and their reading has increased.

Through Book Aid International I have been able to get quality health books. As an educator I always refer back to the books for each class I’m preparing and as a student I use them to study for assignments, to gain more knowledge. 

The more I read, the more my understanding increases. Reading helps me to increase my knowledge as an educator, and as a public health student, the more I read the more knowledgeable I become. 

Books can also help women read more, and be more passionate about succeeding, and reaching high levels in knowledge. Books can help our community solve the different obstacles we are facing, like droughts. Through reading, people can find solutions. Getting such knowledge was hard before those donated books arrived.  

These books donated by Book Aid International helped us a lot, they filled the library. Other universities don’t have such books, our students gained more knowledge and their reading increased. We thank Book Aid International for the help, and we are hoping for more. 

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Find out more about Ridwan and the work she does in this short film:

All images and video © Mustafa Saeed