Fighting Words Visit to Somalia and Nairobi with World Vision
In September 2025, Education Director Nóra Nic Con Ultaigh and Development and Outreach Officer Colm Quearney were warmly welcomed to Puntland, Somalia by World Vision.
This was Fighting Words’ second visit to Puntland in two years as part of our five-year partnership with the NGO World Vision on the EMPOWER! project.
What is EMPOWER!
The aim of World Vision EMPOWER!’s project is simple but powerful:
If children, especially girls, have increased access to safe, inclusive, and quality education, and women and girls have improved access to protection services and economic opportunities, then women and girls will be protected and empowered.
Fighting Words’ role in the project is to support local facilitators to provide creative opportunities for children, especially girls, with a view fostering their individual voices while building confidence, resilience and a sense of possibility.
Training for Educators
On this trip Nóra and Colm built on the work of the 2024 visit and delivered a refresher training day to 24 local teachers and Education Officers who are rolling out the Fighting Words model in their reading clubs. It was great to see some familiar faces and some new faces too.
School Visits
Nóra and Colm also visited three schools in the villages of Cambare, Diilin and Dangorayo. While there they supported teachers to deliver the Fighting Words workshop model in their reading clubs. “It’s magic to see the workshop happening just like it happens at home, with the children’s imaginations in full flow,” Nóra reported. “It’s also been brilliant to see how open the teachers are to it and how enthusiastic they are about it.”
Marvellous Stories
The children wrote marvellous stories about animals on the hunt in the wild.
“What struck me most about the delivery of the Fighting Words workshops by the facilitators in Somalia was that despite geographical distance or any cultural difference the children react creatively and imaginatively in the same way as children in Ireland,” Colm noted.
Project Leader Training, Nairobi
Nóra and Colm also delivered a training day to Programme Leaders of the EMPOWER! Project from South Sudan, the DRC and Somalia in the World Vision offices in Nairobi. Some of the staff from these locations had visited Dublin in November 2023 so it was a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with these colleagues. Caitríona Ingoldsby, Ireland’s Ambassador to Kenya, also popped in to visit.
The creative writing initiative has been blossoming in all three countries in various ways. This year the DRC will host 15 reading clubs around the country where the Fighting Words model will continue to be used. South Sudan and Somalia are also increasing their creative writing activity within schools and reading clubs in the year ahead. Going forward, we are exploring how the model could also be used in a cross-community way or in working with vulnerable adults.
We hope to publish stories from all three countries this year. Watch this space! We also look forward to making more field trips over the next two years to support the brilliant work happening on the ground.
The EMPOWER! project uses creative writing to amplify the creative voices of young people and build confidence — especially amongst young women and girls. Funded by Irish Aid and led by World Vision Ireland, this work is empowering young people to uncover their creative spark and discover a sense of possibility. Fighting Words is proud to collaborate with World Vision Ireland and its local partners to bring this creative model to life in Somalia, South Sudan and the DRC.
