The donation, which took place recently in Garissa, marks another important step in #DontHideMe’s mission to ensure that children with disabilities are not hidden or left behind — but are supported to live with dignity, access education, and participate fully in their communities.

Some names are whispered. Others are painted above doors where every girl who walks through is reminded: you matter, you belong, and you were never meant to hide. There are moments in advocacy when the abstract becomes concrete. When a campaign that started as a hashtag, a mother’s tears, and a community’s refusal to look away finally becomes something you can touch. Something permanent. This is one of those moments. The Najma #DontHideMe Girls Dormitory now stands at Wajir I.D.D. (Wajir School for Learners with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities), not just as a building, but as a promise made real. When Principal Yabuch Bishar Mohamed announced the naming, it wasn’t ceremonial fluff. It was a declaration etched into the architecture of the school itself: these girls deserve to be seen, educated, and empowered. And the name above those green doors tells you exactly why. The Name on the Door: Najma Osman and a Love That Wouldn’t Hide Every movement has an origin story. Ours begins with a mother. Najma Osman didn’t set out to start a national campaign. She set out to love her son, Abdullahi, an 18-year-old living with T21 Down syndrome, in a world that told her to keep him in the shadows. In Kenya’s North Eastern regions, developmental disabilities have too often been framed as a “curse” or a source of communal shame, the so-called “Crisis of Invisibility.” Najma refused. “Every child is a gift, and their disability is not a curse. When we hide them, we deny them their dignity and we deny the world the chance to see their light. Let us bring them out of the shadows, for they deserve to be seen, heard, and celebrated just like any other child.” Those words didn’t just resonate. They ignited. In June 2025, Najma stood before parents, guardians, teachers, and leaders in Wajir and spoke in Somali about the early days, the discouragement from medical professionals, the isolation, the fear. She shared how Abdullahi now prays and fasts. She didn’t deliver a speech. She offered testimony. And it moved the room to tears. Now her name is on a dormitory. Because when you refuse to hide your child, you eventually build a world where no child has to hide. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo. The Road to Wajir: Two Years, Two Campaigns, One Unstoppable Movement The Najma #DontHideMe Girls Dormitory didn’t appear overnight. It was laid brick by brick through persistent advocacy, medical outreach, and partnership. June 2024: Laying the Groundwork On 16 June 2024, the #DontHideMe campaign, led by patron Hon. Dekow M. Barrow (MP for Garissa Township), spent a week in Wajir creating awareness about children with special needs. That visit resulted in tangible upgrades at the school: new dormitories and new classrooms. It also established something harder to quantify, trust. Prof. Mohamed Abdinoor Dahir, National Chairman of #DontHideMe and Vice-Chancellor of the Islamic University of Kenya, was instrumental in coordinating these early efforts, bridging the gap between grassroots advocacy and institutional action. June 2025: Three Days That Changed Everything The third edition of the #DontHideMe campaign returned to Wajir from 13–15 June 2025, setting up directly at the Wajir special school. What followed was staggering: Table Impact Area Numbers Achieved Children receiving medical, therapeutic & psychosocial support 654 Children issued birth certificates 142 Children registered with NCPWD 182 Children assessed by KISE professionals 150+ Caregivers receiving food & dignity packages 700 The coalition was equally powerful: KISE, Kenya Red Cross, NCPWD, the County Government of Wajir, the Civil Registration Department, SHA, Imall, Ifly, and the office of Wajir East MP Hon. Aden Daud. Mr. Mohamednoor Dayow, Chairman of #DontHideMe, captured the stakes perfectly: “Children with developmental disability face significant challenges that include stigma. Out of the desire, pain and passion of parents, ‘Don’t Hide Me’ is a campaign to address systematic marginalisation. Apart from creating awareness, the objective is also to have a policy shift. Embrace this movement and move with us.” And move they did. When Leaders Put Their Money Where Their Mouth Is Advocacy without political will is just noise. In Wajir, the noise became action. Wajir East MP Hon. Aden Daud announced a KSh 20 million fund to improve special school facilities in Wajir town, pledging: “These funds are meant to improve the situation in some of the special schools in town. We will try our best to improve the condition of the schools.” Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi committed to fully covering SHA medical scheme contributions for persons living with disabilities, in collaboration with SHA. He also pledged to establish physiotherapy units in sub-county hospitals and provide free physiotherapy at the Level 5 hospital. Garissa Town MP Dekow Mohamed issued a direct challenge to fellow leaders: “We need to support this campaign. We want commitment from leaders to support this initiative.” And perhaps no one said it better than Mr. Bishar Billow, head of the Catholic Special School: “This school is not about education; it is about liberation from stigma. This is more than an institution.” This Is Bigger Than Wajir: National Policy Victories The dormitory is a physical symbol. But the movement has been rewriting national policy too. October 2025: Changing the Language of Dignity Following a formal letter from Safe Surgical Aid (SSAID) to the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Education (dated 11 September 2025), the Ministry issued a historic nationwide circular on 7 October 2025 (Ref: MOE.HQS/3/6/67). Schools were directed to immediately replace stigmatizing terms like “mentally handicapped” with “Schools for Learners with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.” All signage, records, and materials must be updated by 30 June 2026. Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok put it simply: “Language shapes perception. The words we use can either uplift or demean. This change reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that learners with disabilities are treated with respect and accorded the dignity they deserve.” This victory traces back to the Garissa 1st Anniversary Medical Camp (12–14 December 2024),