I would not be the same person I am today if I had not chosen to go to Somaliland, to help create a women’s university from scratch in the middle of the desert, to connect like sisters and to work with my now best friends day and night to ensure and maintain genuine transformation amongst our students. Still talking daily with the girls at Barwaaqo, they are knowledgeable, competent, engaged members of their society and 100% employed which is incredible in a country with rife unemployment. The most important point for me is knowing that each young woman had the opportunity to be a part of an environment that cared for each of them individually and communally and where they could explore, get to know themselves, come fully into their identities and thrive, inevitably including them setting up their own groups especially focused on girls’ and women’s education and empowerment.