My name is Abdinasir Abdullahi Farah, and I was born and raised in LasAnod, Sool region of Somaliland. I am a beneficiary of the Darlington – Gacmodheere sponsorship program, and here is my story.

I completed both my elementary and secondary education in LasAnod, consistently ranking among the top students in the region. However, financial challenges prevented me from pursuing higher education in my preferred fields, most of which required attending universities outside LasAnod. Fortunately, the Darlington - Gacmodheere Foundation made it possible for me to achieve my academic goals by fully sponsoring my bachelor’s degree at any university of my choice within Somaliland. In late 2014, I began studying telecommunication engineering at Gollis University in Hargeisa, and I successfully graduated in September 2017. Throughout this journey, the foundation supported me not only financially by covering tuition fees and providing course book materials, but also emotionally by encouraging us to strive for excellence. A year after graduating, in September 2018, I moved to Adana, Turkey, where I started my master’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering at the Institute of Natural and Applied Sciences at Cukurova University, with the support of Türkiye Scholarships. Alhamdulilah, after four challenging years—marked by adapting to a new language, culture, and life, while also navigating the pandemic—I graduated at the end of 2022. Currently, I work as a design and sales engineer at Turkish company in Adana, that primarily exports heat exchanger machines abroad. I am, and always will be, deeply grateful for the opportunity provided by the foundation. Without it, I may not be the person I am today. I also promise to always advocate for the positive impact and example set by the Foundation.