If Abdimalik Hussein had grown up in his native Somalia, he likely would have spent his life doing manual labor. Instead, his family moved to Colorado in 2010, and he plans to attend the University of Pennsylvania in the fall to eventually become a neurosurgeon.

To help children in Somalia get an education that would give them more opportunities, Hussein and his parents started Give2Dev in 2021 to raise enough money to hire a teacher for children in the northern Somali village of Bali Golis. The small Colorado Springs-based charity started small with one teacher educating 15-20 students for a full day five days a week and has since built a school, as the number of students has more than doubled.

“This all started because of connections to my family. I noticed how little education there is — my cousin only attended one semester of school, lives in a nomadic culture and is a shepherd. I realized how vastly different our lives were,” Hussein said. “We decided to hire a teacher who started meeting with students under a tree. We later had enough to hire a second teacher and raised enough (money) to build a school that opened in July.”

Hussein has big plans for Give2Dev, the charity wants to expand into opening a health clinic, fostering agricultural development, improving water access, modernizing the nation’s justice and economic systems and expanding its educational mission by building a dormitory as well as elementary, middle and high school facilities. Most of the $25,000 the nonprofit has raised come from Somali communities in Colorado and Minnesota and online.

Hussein wants to pursue a career in medicine because two of his younger brothers have survived health challenges — his youngest brother had to be airlifted to Denver, spending 2½ months in a hospital there in acute respiratory distress and ended up on a ventilator after developing both pneumonia and respiratory syncytial virus, while another brother suffered through a series of epileptic seizures over an 18-month period.

“Personal experiences with neurological disorders within my family have fueled this ambition.

Dealing with my little brother’s seizures and losing my aunt to a brain tumor has fueled this goal,” Hussein said in his application for The Gazette’s Best and Brightest Scholarship. “To achieve it, I proactively sought out opportunities and joined the Stanford Neuroscience J (Journal) Club,” which teaches youths how to read and interpret scientific publications.

Hussein has used what he learned in the club to research the causes of the disparity of Alzheimer’s diagnoses in different cultural populations. He eventually wants to help provide medical programs for youth of color and other underrepresented communities.

“This is a student who is initiative-taking and can achieve at a superior level through his intelligence, work ethic and independence,” said Kelly Cline, a Palmer High School math teacher and student council sponsor who had him in one of her classes and has worked with him as senior class president on projects ranging from raising funds for Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado and the school’s Make-A-Wish campaign.

Hussein also serves as president of Palmer’s National Honor Society and chair of the Future of Palmer Committee, which is working with District 11 administrators and Board of Education members on plans to redevelop Palmer High School. He is president of the Youth Council for the Islamic Center of Colorado Springs and has been involved in the school’s Video Club, Science Olympiad, African American History Club and ultimate Frisbee team.