Part of being a Peacekeeping woman is knowing what is happening in different parts of the world. Today we’ll focus on Maiduguri, Nigeria.

I wanted to showcase someone who is known for his peace keeping efforts in regards to children and women.

Despite regional terrorism, kidnapping, murder and threats against area schools, Zannah Bukar Mustapha is educating children from both sides of Nigeria’s Boko Haram conflict, while also helping thousands of widows.

Zannah teaches children who do not even know their last name, tribe or their religion.

In 2009, there was this insurgency of Boko Haram. Boko Harman roughly translates to mean western education is forbidden.

Teachers were killed, maimed and the local governments burned down. All schools were closed. Children were cast on the street.

Most of them saw when their fathers were killed. They are confused and in a helpless state.

The abduction of the Chibok girls was about 2014. They stayed for almost 2 years without knowing where they were.

They needed courage and hope.

In 2016, Zannah Mustapha mediated between Boko Haram and the Nigerian government, helping to secure the release of 103 kidnapped girls.

Zannah Mustapha is the director of the Future Prowess Islamic Foundation. He started with 36 orphans but currently has over 860 of them. They are accepted with open arms without care of where they hail from, what their religion is or their gender of ethnicity. Two-thirds of the population in his school is girls.

He teaches the students if they can be the leaders of tomorrow they must start showing leadership examples now.

The children are given the sort of psychosocial support to be students. They are learning things like how to heal rivalries, how to come together and how to accept the diversity of others.

There is much counseling, much play and providing them with uniforms and books. Professors come in to teach them various courses.

The school uses rice and beans everyday. Most of the students come to the school empty having not eaten anything. They are also provided with some nutritional support and food.

There are 2013 students enrolled in courses currently. It is unique and brings harmonious working relationships between all starts of society.

When COVID-19 hit, Zannah’s schools were forced to close down for two months.

The school is located in the river banks where they have their own fish farm and greenhouse with irrigation. They have six hectares of farmland to provide a sort of livelihood.

Despite the unpleasant experiences these children went through – they see themselves as friends, brothers and sisters. These children are dreaming which shows Zannah that there is still light at the end of the tunnel.

In the traditional African setting, when the husband dies, the wife is as vulnerable as the child. So the school created a Widow’s Program too.

These women are put into classes to give them livelihood skills such as tailoring, bead making, and a host of other activities.

With an economic support program, some of the widows are now business women who are able to take care of their own children.

Over 6,000 widows have been trained in the livelihood center. The Widow Program teaches these women to be strong peacekeepers too.

Whether it comes to children or widows, Zannah is a peace builder. He aims to achieve peace at the end. They are in a community where every segment of the society is being ravaged. What keeps him going is the resilience of these children.

Peace gives hope and keeps the dream alive.