We will not sit while the oppressed and neglected are left to suffer in a silent world.

I always took for granted that people are loved by their families, listened to when they use public services and have education available to them.

But our work at The Silent Horn Foundation has shown me a community of Deaf people in Somalia who are suffering from a range of brutal hardships. From neglect in their own families who may be uneducated about what Deafness is, all the way to some of the of the most vicious coercion and sexual exploitation of Deaf girls for explicit images online - Criminals know that Deaf people don't have a voice and aid is often not not accessible.

DIDN'T have a voice... Aid WASN'T available...

We are here now. And we will not sit while the oppressed and neglected are left to suffer in a silent world.

I am running this 10K to raise funds for our School and community hub in Mogadishu so that we can expand our school from the 50 currently in our classrooms, to serve the remaining 200 from our waiting list too.

We also wish to use the funds to increase our capacity in taking on community cases where we can offer interpreting services to make legal action, medical care and public services accessible to Deaf people.

Example of the work we have already done:

Tackling revenge porn and sexual exploitation – Shortly after we started our work in Mogadishu, a young deaf woman came to us in distress via one of our online channels. Although incredibly nervous and ashamed, she divulged how a group of men online had coerced her into sharing explicit photos of herself and how she was being extorted by them under threats of sharing the images with her family. We successfully provided legal support and the sign language interpreting necessary to collect evidence and empower the victim with control of the narrative. The men are now pending prosecution and we truly believe that had it not been for the specialist skills of our team and the sincere devotion we have to the protection of women and girls, this wouldn’t be possible. Having seen the impact and our capacity to deliver justice, we’re chomping at the bit to aid more young women girls in such situations... But we lack resources.