Memories of Garissa attack have refused to fade away, counsellor says

Garissa University College counsellor Khadija Mohamed Ahmed won’t forget what happened at the institution two years ago when al-Shabaab militants unleashed terror, killing 147 students and security officers.

Mrs Ahmed told the Nation the memories of the attack have totally refused to fade away.

“As the students’ counsellor, I was very close to them, I was like their mother at the university. They would turn to me whenever they were faced with challenges; the attack was so painful because they were students I knew too well,” she said.

Mrs Ahmed had just taken up her job at the institution barely a month before the tragedy unfolded but in that short period, she had developed a mother-child relationship with the majority of the students who were later killed in cold blood.

Photos of Mrs Ahmed consoling two sobbing students who had just survived the attack went viral after they were posted on social media and were shared by people around the world.

“I could not eat or do anything for several days, I was too traumatised, never mind that I am a trained counsellor who was expected to counsel the traumatised students,” she said.

Mrs Ahmed says she is now faced with the daunting task of counselling new students, many of them haunted by tales of the April 2, 2015 attack and perennially living in the fear that the terrorists may strike again any time.

“Besides the normal counselling, I’m now tasked with helping them get over the last attack. This will help them concentrate on their studies,” she said.