Maasuoto loves school, where she says that she learns a lot and feels loved by the people from ATE who come to support her in her studies, giving her books, pencils and uniforms.
She lost her her mother but still lives with her father, 
two younger and two older sisters, and three older brothers. All of her grandparents have passed on and none of her older siblings go to school. Her father is the main breadwinner of the family and earns a living pushing trolleys (known locally as “trucks”) in the market. Maasuoto, says that she works a lot in the house as she has to pound the food and do the cleaning and sometimes she feels too tired to come to school.
She doesn’t get to eat three times a day and sometimes goes to bed hungry. When asked further questions she becomes very quiet and answers that yes she is worried about food with just a little nod of her head. Her name, ‘Maasuoto’, literally translates as “take all the burden” and her face looks as if she surely carries far too many burdens for a girl of only 7 years old.
She says that when she finishes school she would like to do nursing and that she does very well at maths. Her biggest wish is for a new uniform. Her favourite school meal is gari and beans (known as “gabenz”), although she she will happily take the jollof rice being served today.
