17th Edition
Ismail Muhammad
From the harsh streets of Nigeria emerged a boy whose courage defied his circumstances. Ismail Muhammed was born into a life marked by homelessness, hunger, and hardship. By the age of six, the street had become his reality, begging was his means of survival, and danger lurked at every corner. Many of his peers were lost to crime, drugs, or violence. But Ismail held on to something rare: a quiet but unwavering dream not just to escape the streets, but to help others do the same. That dream found a lifeline when the Home and Street Kids Welfare Initiative (HSKi) discovered Ismail and enrolled him in their tuition-free school.
Abraham Umoren
Abraham Umoren, a 9-year-old boy, became a hero in his community after bravely rescuing a 5-year-old girl from an attempted assault inthe bush nea r his home on July 28, 2023. While gathering firewood,
he witnessed a man luring the girl with biscuits and Fanta, then behaving suspiciously.
Abraham hid and watched until the man began to undress near the girl. Acting swiftly, Abraham struck the man with a piece of firewood. Though injured in the process, his head bleeding from a counterattack, he managed to help the girl escape. She alerted otherswhile Abraham, still bleeding, was taken for medical care and continues to recover. Despite the trauma, Abraham’s bravery prevented a tragic incident. The man fled and remains unidentified, but Abraham’s actions have made him a symbol of courage and protection in his community.
Hassan Adamu
In a community where charcoal is expensive and often unaffordable, one teenager is turning what others throw away into something valuable. Hassan Adamu, a 15-year old problem-solver, has found a creative and impactful way to make cooking fuel accessible to low-income families by recycling leftover charcoal powder into new, long-lasting charcoal blocks. Charcoal is the primary cooking fuel for many households in his area, but rising costs have made it difficult for people to cook daily meals. Hassan noticed thatafte r using charcoal, people often threw away the remaining powder. Instead of watching that potential go to waste, he began collecting it. Through his own experimentation and learning, he developed a simple method: mixing the
charcoal powder with cassava paste as a binding agent, then molding and drying it to form new charcoal pieces.