“The only role models to inspire me were my teachers because I had no one else to look up to.”
Aishetu Mahmoudu Hama

For 23-year-old Aishetu Mahmoudu Hama, attending primary school came with many challenges. She was one of only a handful of students studying in a tiny spartanly equipped classroom. "It was hard to study," she recalls. "We sat on the ground - sometimes on a mat, sometimes just in the dirt."

Despite such challenges, Aishetu persevered and is now one of few girls who continued with her education. Today, she attends the University in Niamey and studies to be a teacher. When she is back home, she takes the time to meet with girls who are now in primary school. Aishetu likes being a role model to these girls and hopes to motivate them to continue their education.

Aishetu's teachers played a key role in motivating her to finish school: "My only role models to inspire me were my teachers because I had no one else to look up". Her teachers used to tell her: "You can be courageous and go to school and achieve something."

Aishetu is grateful for her education, believing that if she had not attended school her life would be like her older brothers’ and sisters': herding, farming or married with a lot of children. She hopes to inspire her younger brothers and sisters to get an education and become doctors in order to help the community.

"Seeing my daughter who graduated from this school and is now doing well gives parents a concrete example of why we should send our kids to school," says her father. "It motivates them. They want their children to grow up and be just like her."

This story is part of education shapes futures, a compilation of powerful stories of young people living in GPE partner developing countries on how education had a positive impact on their lives.

To read the full stories, please visit the education shapes futures web page.