In May 2008 Asad Abdullahi was attacked, his business was destroyed and he lost almost everything in a wave of bloody xenophobic attacks on African immigrants by local black South Africans.Asad was a Somali orphan from Somalia who had scratched and clawed his way to becoming a successful shop owner in the shantytowns of South Africa. The violence left him living in a refugee camp -- again -- and having to start over. Again.In his latest book of non-fiction, South African academic Jonny Steinberg digs deep to showcase Asad's life against a backdrop of war, human trafficking and racism.The story is about Asad's physical journey and, just as importantly, his psychological journey. When he was eight, soldiers shot and killed his mother, his father was kidnapped and he never saw his family again.He grew up an orphan on the street, "a stone on the road anybody could just come along and kick."Steinberg's fascination with Asad's life, and their lengthy interview sessions, are an integral part of the story.Asad would only do the interviews, over the space of months, in a car parked away from his home. He refused to have a white man draw unsavoury attention to his business and his family. In the car he could keep a 360-degree lookout for thugs with guns -- a constant threat for Somalis running a neighbourhood store.Steinberg breaks up Asad's extremely compelling story with introspective moments where he questions his role as biographer. At one point in the car, Asad was recollecting the period where his wife had taken their children back home to family in Somaliland. Steinberg pushes Asad to admit he knew they were not his priority.When Asad reacts angrily, Steinberg asks himself: "Who on earth am I to second-guess a man's feelings about the woman and children he just lost? How can I presume to see that far into a person's inner world?"Those are pivotal questions for a biographer -- and for readers. Again and again Steinberg reveals moments where the mere fact of having his story recorded is shaping the way Asad is telling it.Steinberg travels to all the places Asad can remember on his long journey from Somali to South Africa. He walks the same streets, stops in the same café, and talks to the people who might remember the young orphan Asad.Steinberg finds some inconsistencies -- moments where he realizes Asad either does not accurately remember or is modifying his past as he goes.Asad's not alone. Recently, Shin Dong-hyuk, one of the most well-known North Korean defectors, admitted there were some inaccuracies in his bestselling memoir Escape from Camp 14. Some activists, readers and supporters were initially angry. But experts are defending Dong-hyuk, saying victims of trauma often recast details as a form of emotional protection.It is eye-opening to see a biographer and his subject confront the effects of trauma and to see the interview process unfold on the page.Steinberg gives the reader Asad's perspective on his life, and then filters it through his own experience as a white South African who knows very little about the world of refugees and human trafficking.And that world is huge. On one hand the book is Asad's story: a very deeply personal look at life as a nationless orphan, bounced from refugee camp, to street hovels, to the homes of distant clan members, and his determination to make something of his life.But Steinberg also puts Asad's story in context of a world of displaced people struggling to survive war, poverty and corruption. Asad's journey from Ethiopia to South Africa, at the mercy of human smugglers, is nail-biting. Then Steinberg zooms out the microscope for an incredibly well-researched big picture of life for migrants and refugees.But ultimately, as the title implies, A Man of Good Hope is a book about the driving force of hope. And Asad's life more than lives up to Steinberg's fascination.Joanne Kelly is a journalism instructor at Red River College. She talks books on CBC's Weekend Morning Show and hosts a public book club at McNally Robinson. You can follow her on Twitter @joannemkelly. Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 7, 2015 D23Source: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com http://www.somaliaonline.com/displaced-and-orphaned-a-somali-orphans-traumatic-tale-traced-across-africa/

Amran Abdundi is a women’s rights activist based in northeastern Kenya. She runs the Frontier Indigenous Network, an organisation which mobilises female peace builders and rights activists to set up shelters along the dangerous border with Somalia. It offers first aid to the injured as well as to women and girls who have been raped, moving victims to a safer part of Kenya.As well as protecting citizens endangered by the guerrilla activities of the Al Qaeda-linked group Al Shabaab, Abdundi and her organisation also help those fleeing drought and failed harvests in Somalia. Abdundi is also behind radio-listening groups for women, which share information about access to tuberculosis treatment, among other things.In a society that teaches women to leave decision-making to men and to look down when men pass, Abdundi’s Frontier Indigenous Network empowers, educates and mobilises rural women to challenge such outdated social codes.The Al Qaeda-allied Islamist group Al Shabaab has sown terror in the Kenya-Somalia border region, one of the world’s most inhospitable areas. Women in the region are often the victims of violence, rape and murder. The northern region of Kenya is one of deeply conservative social customs, in which a man owns property on a woman’s behalf – even when the woman has bought the land. In the environment Abdundi operates in, a quarter of Kenyan girls and women have endured genital mutilation, despite legislation outlawing the practice.Abdundi told Index: “I want to see them go to school. I don’t want to see them moving here and there without education – early marriage and female circumcision are also major issues.”She said that some of the initial challenges the organisation faced have been overcome. In the beginning it was hard to talk to parents about their girls and “how the women have suffered”, she explained. “But now they understand us. They know how good we are and we want to change their lives.”One of Frontier Indigenous Network’s biggest achievements in 2014 has been in mapping out conflict areas in northern Kenya. It focuses on the factors which fuel armed violence occurring after peace agreements are signed between warring parties. Aware that small arms and light weapons were one of the biggest obstacles to peace in the region, Abdundi and her group mapped many of the weapons used by the combatants. She then instigated a regional agreement to pursue arms traffickers, closing boltholes used by smugglers along the Somali border and developing a register of all recovered weapons. The agreement also targeted a network of groups running an illegal arms trade.Abdundi has established radio-listening groups specifically for women, in which she encourages them to challenge the repressive cultural values preventing women from being permitted to own property or livestock. She uses the radio groups to reach women with tuberculosis, educating them about access to treatment and breaking cultural beliefs that tuberculosis is caused by curses and bad omens.Abdundi has also mobilised women along the Kenya-Somalia border to rise against Al-Shabaab, a militant terrorist group, by educating them on the dangers of following the doctrine propagated by the terror organisation; she has received a number of death threats as a result of this work. She has also campaigned against the practice of female circumcision in northern Kenya.She said: “My dream is to help women, girls and children. I just want to see them doing good. That’s my dream.”Source: http://www.indexoncensorship.org http://www.somaliaonline.com/amran-abdundi-is-shortlisted-for-the-freedom-of-expression-awards-which-celebrates-the-worlds-most-remarkable-fighters-for-free-expression/

Construction of the metro area’s newest mosque involved a shopping trip to the Middle East, some back-and-forth with the city ofMinneapolis and a reported $3 million investment.But developer Basim Sabri says setting out to build one of Minnesota’s largest mosques at his Karmel Square mall wasn’t a vanity project. Instead, the space — part of a major expansion at Karmel — was meant as a goodwill gesture to the local Somalis who rent and shop at the south Minneapolis mall.The expansion has tested Sabri’s famously tense relationships with the city and the mall’s neighbors, who have voiced concerns over parking and traffic issues. Part of the construction collapsed in May, cutting off electricity to the neighborhood and briefly stalling the project.Since it opened earlier this year, the mosque has gotten rave reviews from a growing cadre of worshipers, who cover the sun-filled, 5,000-square-foot prayer hall completely when they kneel at Friday prayer.“This mosque is not about showing off,” said Sabri. “It’s about need.”The new mosque replaces a prayer room on the second floor that could not handle the crowds; worshipers spilled out into the mall hallways and, during the holy month of Ramadan, even the mall parking lot.The space is on the newly added third floor of the state’s oldest Somali mall, where shops sell long skirts and scarves, henna tattoos, jewelry, handbags, rugs and Somali specialties such as savory sambusa pastries.Sabri is also building a fourth floor and a three-story parking ramp.He claims the new mosque is the largest in Minnesota, possibly even the Midwest. But the imam of another new Twin Cities mosque, Darool-Uloom, which moved into a former Catholic church on St. Paul’s East Side last summer, says it handily surpasses Karmel’s square footage to claim that distinction.There, Imam Sheikh Hassan says the men’s prayer hall alone covers about 15,000 square feet.Metro Islamic centers such as Al-Farooq Youth and Family Center inBloomington and Abubakar As-Siddique in Minneapolis are larger overall, but their prayer spaces are more modest than Karmel’s.In any case, says Abubakar Executive Director Ismail Haji, the services offered are more important than the square footage: “We’re not in competition with each other.”Sabri, a Palestinian immigrant, says the mosque at Karmel was a labor of love he designed and financed with his own money. Sabri’s wife traveled to Jordan, where she bought artwork with Qur’an verses from Iraqi, Syrian and Palestinian artisans. The new rugs and chandeliers are from Turkey, and the stained-glass windows were salvaged from churches in Iowa and Wisconsin.The new mosque has spurred a 20 percent uptick in traffic to the mall, Sabri estimates; as many as 800 worshipers have filled the incense-scented space for Friday prayer service in Somali and Arabic.Like some of Sabri’s other projects across Minneapolis, the mall expansion has drawn a measure of controversy. When newly installed trusses collapsed and knocked down a third-floor wall in May, some neighbors said they had raised concerns in vain about what they saw as shoddy construction. Nobody was hurt.“When the accident happened, I was so angry because it could have been prevented,” said Raymond Hoffner, the outgoing president of the condo association.Hoffner gives Sabri props for taking steps to address traffic issues, but he said problems with illegal parking in the condo lot and nearby businesses persist.He wishes the city had called for completion of the new ramp before the rest of the project.Sabri, who has previously tussled with the city over starting projects before officials signed off on them, lined up a permit for the expansion in February 2014. But last summer, city staff pointed out that he needed an additional assembly occupancy permit for the mosque.“It’s fair to say there have been some concerns on both sides of the fence,” said district supervisor Bill Smith, though he and Sabri both say the process was more cooperative this time around.Worshipers at a recent Friday prayer service said they have welcomed the new space. Abdihakim Omar, a driver, said he didn’t even try to snag a spot in the former prayer room downstairs most weeks. Instead, he went to pray at another south MinneapolisSomali mall, Village Market, right across from his apartment.But he’s come to Karmel every Friday since the new mosque opened in late January.“It’s beautiful; it’s huge,” Omar said. “You can’t imagine how grateful we are.”Liban Hussein, a Somali TV host and producer, said that the old prayer room got hot and stuffy. Out in the hallways, worshipers couldn’t see the imam or hear the service well, leading to confusion about when to stand and when to kneel.“Non-Muslims should come and visit,” he said, “and see the beauty of the place.”Mila Koumpilova • 612-673-4781Source: http://www.startribune.com http://www.somaliaonline.com/growing-somali-mall-in-minneapolis-now-boasts-one-of-minnesota-states-largest-mosques/

By Ibrahim Hirsi | http://www.minnpost.com/Last month’s appointment of the first Somali-American, Ibrahim Mohamed, to theMetropolitan Airports Commission has attracted volumes of plaudits and media attention across Minnesota — and other parts of the world.But on Tuesday night, it brought Gov. Mark Dayton, local officials and community leaders to Minneapolis’ Brian Coyle Center, where more than 80 people assembled to celebrate and honor the historic appointment of the commissioner, who drives a cart at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for minimum wage.Appointed in February by Dayton, Mohamed joined 13 other commissioners who operate the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport and six smaller airports in the metro area. Dayton said he appointed Mohamed because his employment experience at the airport can be a voice for hundreds of other airport workers in the decision-making process.“I made appointments to the Metropolitan Airports Commission previously — and this is overdue,” Dayton told the crowd, speaking about Mohamed’s appointment. “It was overdue before I arrived, and it’s overdue now that I’m in my fifth year as governor. I regret that, apologize for that.”Overdue or not, Mohamed’s face beamed with excitement as he expressed his appreciation to the governor for the appointment during a short speech before the crowd.After escaping the Somali civil war in 1991, Mohamed lived in Kenya as a refugee for more than a decade, longing for a better place with opportunities to work and to pursue his dreams.“As many immigrants, I came here to change my life and get a better life,” Mohamed said. “Now I am a cart driver, which I am happy to be because I am helping a lot of people who need my help, like elderly people and disabled persons. I work five days, and every day I help more than 80 passengers.”In 2004, Mohamed settled in the Twin Cities and immediately secured a job at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. Over the years, Mohamed worked as an aircraft cleaner, a baggage runner and a ticket verifier.As a full-time electric cart driver now, the 35-year-old Rosemount father of five earns $ 8 an hour — with no health benefits.Mohamed and his colleagues have been advocating for improved working conditions for the hundreds of airport employees, many of them immigrants from Somalia and Ethiopia.When Mohamed’s friends learned about the opening on the Metropolitan Airports Commission — the body that governs operations at MPS — they encouraged him to apply so he could represent their interests.As a commissioner, Mohamed said he will continue advocating for better working conditions for airport employees and for increased wages.“It’s very hard to raise kids or family with the minimum wage,” Mohamed said. “That’s why I’m standing up to represent the airport workers and my community.”The governor promised to stand by Mohamed in his efforts for a better wage for airport workers. “I will redouble my efforts and do whatever I can to support your efforts and the board of the airport commission to improve your working conditions, improve the wages,” he said. MinnPost photo by Ibrahim Hirsi More than 80 people gathered at Brian Coyle Tuesday night to celebrate and honor Ibrahim Mohamed, the first Somali-American on Metropolitan Airport Commission. Airport workers like Mohamed have indirectly “been treated badly” by the commission, Dayton later said in an interview. This is because the commissioners provide authorization to private companies that operate at the airport to pay their workers less.“The airport couldn’t function without the hard work of commissioner Mohamed and his co-workers — and they deserve to be recognized,” Dayton said. “The fact that he was making $12.50 an hour a few years ago, according to reports, and they reduced that to minimum wage is just disgraceful.”Mohamed, whose term ends in 2019, said he brings a unique perspective to the Commission, since the majority of commissioners come from white-collar backgrounds."We applaud Governor Dayton for insisting that a worker be represented on the MAC, and appointing a great candidate like Ibrahim Mohamed,” said Local 26 President Javier Morillo in a statement. “I am excited to see Ibrahim continue the work he has always done fighting to make the MSP airport the best airport it can be for both employees and passengers."Ibrahim Hirsi can be reached at ihirsi@minnpost.com. Follow him on Twitter at@IHirsi.Source: http://www.minnpost.comhttp://www.somaliaonline.com/it-was-overdue-gov-dayton-celebrates-appointment-of-first-somali-american-airports-commissioner/

Despite knowing the hardships people there face every day, government soldiers destroyed dozens of temporary shelters and shops at a refugee camp in southern Mogadishu, forcing the inhabitants to pile all their belongings onto trucks and move on.Shocking photographs show possessions piled 15-feet high on the back of trucks, with some of the now homeless owners sitting precariously on top. Despite knowing the hardships people there face everyday, government soldiers destroyed dozens of temporary shelters and shops at a refugee camp in southern Mogadishu Some trucks carried so many possessions that men were forced to run alongside them to make sure that nothing fell off Displaced Somali families carrying personal belongings vacate the camp, which was closed down by Somali forces, leaving hundreds of families without shelter in capital Mogadishu Displaced Somali families help push a battered pick-up truck carrying personal belongings from the camp A boy watches as Somali refugees load their belongings onto a truck - knowing that the hard life they all led just got even harder It seems that nothing could be left behind, with fencing, mattresses, water canisters and chairs all crammed onto battered vehicles. The Food and Agriculture Organisation has launched an emergency appeal for $697million to help 30 million people in 31 crisis-hit countries, a senior official with the U.N. agency said on Tuesday.It has requested that Somalia receives $118million of this.Meanwhile, it emerged that a former Washington-area taxi driver who was on the FBI's 'Most Wanted Terrorists' list has been detained and is in the custody of the Somali government, a U.S. government source said. Desperate: Somali children sit in the heat, surrounded by their family's meagre belongings Uncertain: These refugees have been left wondering what to do next and are pictured standing among their scattered possessions The Food and Agriculture Organisation said that there are many people in Somalia living 'on the edge' The FBI in said in January it added Somali-born U.S. citizen Liban Haji Mohamed, 29, to its watch list because he allegedly provided support to the Somalia-based Islamist militant group al Shabaab.The U.S. source said Mohamed was arrested several days ago by Somali authorities and was now in Somali custody, but it was not clear if or when he would be sent back to the United States. The Washington Post first reported on Monday that Mohamed had been detained in Somalia.Mohamed lived in the northern Virginia suburbs near Washington and drove a taxi. He left the United States in 2012.He was said at the time to be an associate of Zachary Chesser, an American who pleaded guilty in 2010 to threatening the writers of the television show 'South Park.' Somali refugees go about their daily lives on October 30, 2014, at the Sayyid camp south of Mogadishu. UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned that Somalia risks returning to famine without urgent aid A Somali refugee walks in front of a camp for internally displaced people near the Parliament in Mogadishu on December 4, 2012. The humanitarian crisis in Somalia is 'critical', Stefano Porretti, acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, said recently Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/http://www.somaliaonline.com/heart-rending-pictures-of-somali-refugees-forced-to-pile-everything-they-own-onto-ancient-pick-ups-after-government-troops-destroyed-their-shelters/

A lot of people of my generation first heard of Somalia in the early 1990s, during its civil war. What I didn't know was that Somalia is also known as the Nation of Poets, where being slick with words and nice with language is an honored tradition, intrinsic to the people. Skilled poets hold prestigious roles within the culture, from the royal family on down. Keeping that tradition alive in a new context is Malitia MaliMob, who I'd first heard of in early 2012 on a tip from Tendai Maraire of Shabazz Palaces/Chimurenga Renaissance. He'd come across the videos of this young crew of Seattle-based Somali rappers, clocking thousands of views, but more importantly, the comments from other young Malis, happy to have found rappers whose story they related to. I got to know that story a little better on tour with MMM, who were opening shows for Shabazz and THEESatisfaction across the US, getting unexpecting crowds rowdy off their brand of realness. You can check out MMM at their show at Barboza with Chimurenga Renaissance on Wednesday, March 4. The main body of MMM—MCs Chino'o and Krown—met in the US after leaving behind the country, and the civil war, they'd always known. Chino'o told me they'd been rescued by men our news outlets call pirates. MMM's first album, 2012's Riots of the Pirates, made a big impression on me for its urgent take on gangsta rap, as seen through the latest iteration of the African diaspora. Their 2013 Idi Amin Project refined their aggressive approach with a heady trap edge and a deeper perspective—not to mention a fiercer delivery, especially in the gravelly no-love-and-no-fucks-given growl of Chino'o. That voice anchors their newest release, which dropped back in January after a couple of years in the works—recording was complicated by the fact that Krown has been locked up in King County since 2013. Umm, the record is called ISIS. Sooo... why ISIS? No idea—but I know a certain Seattle rapper who once likened himself to Adolf Hitler, and Dipset gave a shout-out to Mohamed Atta. Also, closing track "I Am James Foley (RIP)" leads me to believe that MMM don't sympathize with those statue-smashing dickheads, so let's keep them and me off any lists, okay, Feds? It is what it is, and MMM's seven-track project is starving, unapologetic, born-to-die street-soldier rap with giant beats, fusing Chief Keef nihilism to M.I.A. globalism, plus some startling moments of clarity, adding up to what might well be the African immigrant Me Against the World. As with 2Pac, sleeping on MMM is sleeping on some of the deepest frustration in our streets. Do you sit on FB commenting on scary-ass status updates bemoaning "Somali gangbangers" on Pike Street while ignoring the fact that 300,000 of your neighbors can't send money home anymore because of the war on terror? It's all in the words of ISIS gem "Perception": Come ride wit' us/Come smoke wit' us/Come chill wit' us/'Stead of sitting there, just judging us. Source: http://www.thestranger.com http://www.somaliaonline.com/seattle-based-somali-rap-group-malitia-malimob-release-a-new-record-called-isis/

By Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud Farole It is ethically dubious and socially irresponsible to remain silent about the ongoing developments in Mogadishu, events that I believe will not lead us to our desired destination. As a long-standing public servant, prominent contributor to major peace conferences that produced interim governments (1991, 2000, and 2002-2004), and former Puntland President, I feel obliged to draw attention to our present predicament and the perilous direction that is being taken. Further, I wish to remind the Somali public and the wider international community to the long and arduous process we have undergone to end the transition of the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS). The current stage of nation-state building in Somalia is unnecessarily characterised by political infighting, rampant corruption, constitutional violations, and the controversial sacking of two Prime Ministers within two years. Responsibility for such political misconduct must be given to the political-religious minority dominating the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS). It was this group’s political manipulation that created the parliamentary opposition that compelled the appointed 3rd PM to change the composition of his nominated Ministers twice. Before squandering more precious time and resources on our current political course, we must ask ourselves three important questions: 1) Is Somalia on the right track to 2016 elections? 2) Can Somalia complete the four-year milestones (2012-2016) set out after the conclusion of the Roadmap Process in 2012? 3) Or will the country end up with an undesirable term extension. The Somali people are interested in and grateful to the international communities’ efforts, (IGAD and other international bodies), to solve the Somali crisis. A brief account of the outcomes of Somali peace processes since 1991 reveals that federalism was borne out of a consultative process and that it conforms to the Somali people’s decentralised cultural traditions. In the early months of the Somali conflict, the first Djibouti Peace Conference (15-21 July 1991) brought together leaders of warring factions, prominent citizens, and former civilian statesmen. It included former President Aden Abdulle Osman, former Speaker Sheikh Mukhtar Mohamed Hussein, former Prime Ministers Abdirizak Haji Hussein and Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, who chaired the conference -- aiming to sign a peace agreement and rebuild a viable state to end rampant bloodshed and form a national government. The 1991 agreement was signed by all rebel factions and former statesmen and witnessed by Presidents of Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda, and diplomats from Italy, U.S.A., China, France, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Germany, and Nigeria. Article 4© of the Agreement states: “The [1991 Djibouti] Conference agrees to implement Regional Autonomy system in the country and to write this in the Constitution”[1]. Henceforth, the later adopted federalism in 2012 has its origins in 1991. The second peace conference was held in Djibouti in 2000, although its main focus was on civil society it had two main shortcomings: Somaliland and Puntland boycotted the conference and it bypassed the warlord factions altogether. In addition, former high-ranking Barre regime officials, who were ambitious to return to a centralised power, hijacked the conference and assumed leadership of the interim government. Consequently, they failed to reinstitute governance as Mogadishu warlords saw them as remnants of the ousted regime. The third peace conference held in Kenya lasted two consecutive years (2002-2004) but was the most effective in terms of inclusiveness and content of the Transitional Federal Charter (TFC), recognising a decentralised system of government whose basis was laid down in Djibouti in 1991.The recognition of federalism in the charter was a milestone. It was able to bring Puntland state on board, as it could only be part of a federal form of national government according to its constitution. The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) restored the seat of power in Mogadishu (Villa Somalia) in 2007, but the Islamic Courts factions, and hard-line terrorist elements within them, engaged in military conflict against the TFG. In 2008, TFG political engagement with an Islamic Courts faction led by Sharif Sheikh Ahmed produced the Djibouti Agreement, this led to his election with an extra two year mandate as a result of doubling Federal Parliament from 275 MPs (of 2004) to 550 MPs in January 2009; 275 of which were unilaterally nominated by Sharif in Djibouti with the assistance of then head of U.N Political Office for Somalia, Ahmedow Oul Abdullah. With Sharif’s election, Somalia entered a new era under the leadership of small ideological sects whose views were out of step with the general public. President Sharif, similar to his successor and current President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, resisted tenaciously against federalisation of Somalia. In June 2012, for example, he stunned Roadmap Signatories and international diplomats present at the historical signing ceremony of Provisional Federal Constitution (PFC) in Nairobi, by announcing that there was “another constitution”. Nonetheless, he signed PFC among other Roadmap stakeholders after he was scorned for his political intransigence. Sharif and his successor President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud share the common view of governing the country without respecting its existing laws. A national President is expected to work in partnership with the existing administrations to promote federal unity. Alas, their core ideological views contradict devolution of power and principles of national reconciliation. Case in point, at a meeting in Nairobi on 4 August 2012 between former U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Roadmap Signatories, Sharif publicly opposed the formation of Jubaland State. Likewise, his successor President Hassan did everything in his power to undermine formation of Jubaland and Southwest States. Later, during a visit to Puntland in April 2013, President Hassan speaking at an honorary ceremony told a large public audience: “I was against the Federal Constitution process in the past, but now I was elected with it”. They also manipulated Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamea (ASWJ) a moderate religious group fighting against terrorists in central Somalia. Reuniting a fragmented Somalia requires adherence to the constitutional framework that its people adopted, but the last two presidents have disregarded this aspiration. It has been evidenced that over 30 articles of Provisional Federal Constitution were illegally tampered with, including important provisions relating to the Upper House of Federal Parliament (which was supposed to be established and voted in the 2012 presidential election) and defining the status of the federal capital. It is worth noting former Constitution Minister and current MP Abdirahman Hosh Jibril and speaker Mohamed Osman Jawari were respectively responsible for signing, stamping, and distributing the tampered version of the constitution to the MPs on the 7th of September, 2012. It does not seem the remaining tasks can be completed within the coming 18 months. Firstly, we are not on the right track for 2016 goals as much valuable time was lost in the attempts to obstruct the formation of states. Secondly, it is not possible to hold one-man one-vote elections in 2016 in the absence of a conducive environment such as, adequate security, further progress in reconciliation, ability to conduct population census, and provision of adequate financial and logistical capabilities, etc. Lastly, the problem will only be heightened if term extension would be granted to the political-religious minority dominating the Somali Federal Government. In this last scenario the country would remain entangled in the vicious cycle of political instability experienced for the last 25 years. As things stand, it is crucial that the Provisional Federal Constitution be reviewed by responsible, broadly minded federalist elements with wider knowledge of Somali traditional culture, strictly following the provisions of its Chapter 15. As agreed upon in Garowe Principles, the divisive 4.5 clan formula is limited only to this term. Therefore, the next parliament must be at a constituency level and should be based on a broad community selection. Abdirahman Mohamed Mohamud (Farole), a prominent contributor to major peace conferences, a long-standing public servant and a former President of Puntland State of Somalia (2009-2013). [1] “Shirku wuxuu go’aansaday in dalka looga dhaqmo ismaamul goboleed dastuurkana lagu qoro.” See Djibouti Agreement, July 21, 1991 Abdirahman Mohamud Farole (Somali: Cabdiraxmaan Maxamuud Faroole, Arabic: عبد الرحمن محمد‎) (born 1945[1]) is a Somali politician. He served for many years in the government, acting as a governor of the Nugal region of Somalia in the 1990s and later as the Minister of Finance of the autonomous Puntland region in the northeast. From 8 January 2009 to 8 January 2014, Farole was also the President of Puntland. http://www.somaliaonline.com/2016-elections-and-the-challenge-of-reuniting-fragmented-somalia-by-abdirahman-m-m-farole/

These are desperate times at Blackpool. Bottom of the Championship with a mere four wins from 34 games. They are destined for the drop and the fans of the North West side know it. But when they need all their players fighting and giving 100% it is not surprising to hear that they have binned youngster Islam Feruz from their side and sent him back to Chelsea.Just over a month ago, the Chelsea striker was farmed out on loan to the Championship side to gain much-needed first team experience, but this week the former Scotland youth player left following on and off field issues – three months earlier than it should have.Back in August 2011, we exclusively broke the news that Feruz was ditching Celtic for the glitz, the glamour and the money of Chelsea.But despite so much promise and so much talent, it looks like his arrogance and attitude have once again got in the way of the Somali-born player reaching his full potential.Since his move, Feruz has failed to make a single appearance for Chelsea despite other Under-21 players breaking through under Jose Mourinho.Earlier this season the striker was sent out on loan to OFI Crete where he played a mere 28 minutes in the 3-0 defeat to Olympiakos. And at Blackpool he played just 16 minutes for the Tangerines spread over two games including the 7-2 defeat to Watford at the end of January.Blackpool manager Lee Clark, commenting on Feruz’s return to Chelsea, said: “It hasn’t worked out for him here for one reason or another. We are looking to send him back as it hasn’t happened for him here.“It’s not about your background, it’s the way you perform in training and off the field which gives you a place in the team.”It was well-known that the striker’s ego and attitude both in the changing room and on the training pitch made him somewhat unpopular when he was in Scotland, but it seems that he simply can’t shake off his own belief that he is better than what he actually is.At the time of leaving Celtic, Feruz’s agent Rui Alves commented: “It is a massive step for Islam and for Scottish football. Now for him personally it is the beginning of a major adventure, he will have to work, work and work and raise his own level. Playing for a top club like Chelsea, where the major word in the squad is quality, will oblige him to show his own quality and deliver his best and convince the staff that he is more than just a major prospect.”With the wealth of talent at Chelsea’s disposal, the 19 year old’s time at Stamford Bridge surely must be coming to an end sooner rather than later, ending up on the scrapheap far away from the limelight that he coveted so much.He may have turned his back on his adopted homeland, but if he had actually put the work in to his game then he would be rated as a quality player rather than known merely as a talentED player with a huge attitude problem.Source: http://www.scotzine.com http://www.somaliaonline.com/arrogance-and-attitude-have-once-again-got-in-the-way-of-somali-born-player-islam-feruz-reaching-his-full-potential/

By Rachel Pieh Jones / February 2015Elmi Boderi died of a broken heart. To Djiboutian women he is a hero, a paragon of true love. To Djiboutian men he is the fool who ruined their chance of ever finding love. “Who can love like that?” Goudal, a teacher, said. “To see a beautiful woman in the street and never speak to her and then die?” He shook his head. “How is a man supposed to love like that? He was crazy.”“No man in Djibouti can love a woman like that,” Sagal, a cleaning woman, said. “They are too full of chewing khat and too interested in flirting with more than one girl.” (Khat is a popular leafy amphetamine chewed primarily by men in the late afternoons.)“I don’t even think it is a true story,” Goudal said.“Absolutely it is a true story,” another cleaning woman said. “I’ve seen Elmi’s grave in Somaliland.”No matter what people personally believe about the veracity of Elmi and Hodan’s story, simply mentioning their names stirs up impassioned conversation. At an English class, one student leaned in and propped up on his elbows, his eyes light and his voice vibrant. “You know,” he said, “we Somalis are a people who get easily excited. It is because of the hot temperature. We can’t control our emotions. This is why Elmi died.”The details regarding this love story vary wildly but Elmi Boderi was in fact a real man. Born Elmi Ismail Liban in 1908 on the Ethiopian-Somali border in a region under British colonial rule, he earned his nickname “Boderi” from the mispronounced English word “border.” Around 1931 Elmi moved to Berbera, which was then the seat of the British administration.Hodan Abdi, the object of Elmi’s love, was born in Berbera, a blisteringly hot coastal town in northern Somalia. Elmi worked in a bakery and one day Hodan walked in to buy bread. With one glance at the young woman, Elmi fell hopelessly in love. He kept his love a secret until he could bear concealing it no longer and revealed his affection to his closest friends, Musa Farah and Tabase.Eventually word spread throughout the village but Hodan never returned Elmi’s love. Instead, he began composing poetry about Hodan:She is altogether fair:Her fine-shaped bones begin her excellence;Magnificent of bearing, tall is she;A proud grace is her body’s greatest splendor;Yet she is gentle, womanly, soft of skin.Her gums’ dark gloss is like unto blackest ink;And a careless flickering of her slanted eyesBegets a light clear as the white spring moon.My heart leaps when I see her walking by,Infinite suppleness in her body’s sway.I often fear that some malicious djinnMay envy her beauty, and wish to do her harm.– From “Qaraami” (Passion), as presented by Margaret Laurence in A Tree for PovertyElmi couldn’t bring himself to directly approach Hodan. He heard she washed clothes near a well with other women from Berbera once a week and went to the spot in the hope of meeting her. She didn’t come. He went to her aunt’s house with Musa Farah and tried to draw her out to talk, she refused. Elmi couldn’t sleep, he was so filled with love.One day Hodan, having heard rumors of his affection and unable to resist any longer, came to the home he shared with Musa. Elmi, exhausted, had finally fallen asleep. Hodan waited and waited but he didn’t wake up and Musa never woke him. Eventually, she left and when Elmi woke he composed a poem about how his greatest friend had caused the greatest deception.Hodan’s father worked as an interpreter for British colonial employees and his salary placed the family solidly in the middle class, well above that of an itinerant baker from an obscure rural village hundreds of miles away. Hodan’s family knew of Elmi’s love and refused the match. Possibly because of economic disparity, possibly because of clan complications, possibly because of the erotic poetry he wrote of her. One poem spoke of once seeing Hodan’s naked body, a serious offense in this devoutly Muslim society.Elmi became so distraught, barely able to eat or work and Hodan’s family was so upset about his poems that they threatened to kill him. To protect him from himself and from Hodan’s relatives, Elmi’s friends exiled him to the village of Zeila. But Zeila was not far enough away and news reached Elmi that Hodan was engaged to another, Mohamed Shabeele. He fell into a dangerous fever and delirium. In a desperate attempt to save his life his friends brought him other young, beautiful women who, as expressed in a later poem, exposed their breasts, hoping to lure him away from Hodan.These women failed to tempt Elmi and he grew weaker and weaker, his body ravaged by both love and love denied. He hovered between life and death and after months, perhaps years, of suffering, he gave up the fight and died.*****The Somali language was not written down until 1977. Somali history and culture has been primarily transferred through the millennia orally. Though blog posts and essays abound both in print and online about Elmi and Hodan, and every Djiboutian Somali I spoke with about their story had their own version, it is difficult to find a conclusive history. It is difficult, even, to find an agreed-upon spelling of Elmi’s last name. Booderi. Boderi. Bonderi. Bondhari. Boodhari.The story as I’ve recounted it is based on articles, books, and interviews with Somalis and is filled with tangled information, half-truths, misunderstandings, and wild guesses. Some people claim Elmi is not the author of the poem Qaraami. Some say Hodan was eight years old, other that she was fifteen. Some say Hodan rushed to Elmi’s deathbed and wept tears of grief. Remorse? Love? Relief? Others say she most certainly did not come to his deathbed. One young woman, who confessed she had only heard the story, never studied it, thought Hodan died when she heard Elmi died. But Hodan actually remained happily married to Mohamed Shabeele, bore children, and allowed one of her sons, Rashiid Shabeele, to interview her about Elmi, though these interviews didn’t take place until nearly fifty years later and her son tiptoed around some of the more erotic and potentially embarrassing or dishonoring aspects of the story.The women who bore their breasts to tempt Elmi? Probably a mistranslation and could refer to women in relatively low-cut dresses. The woman who saw Elmi’s grave in Somaliland? It is likely she saw the grave of an Indian man. Elmi’s sister Halimo Ismail Liban says Elmi asked his friends to hide his grave, adding a level of mysticism and mystery to his life and death.The basic facts are these: A man named Elmi fell in love with a young woman named Hodan. Elmi worked at a bakery in Berbera and composed poems inspired by his love for her. He failed to win her love in return and they never married. Instead, Hodan married Mohamed Shabeele and Elmi married a woman named Faqira who later divorced him. Elmi died.Here, the speculation comes in. What did Elmi die of? A broken heart? Every Somali I spoke to firmly believes this. Can one die of a broken heart? Why not? You stop working, stop caring for your hygiene, stop sleeping, stop eating. You wander the streets in a love-induced fog and eventually, you die. This is completely plausible in the passionate Somali worldview.This view is vividly depicted through poetry. Somalis are famous for their poetic oral tradition but until Elmi, most poetry was used to describe war, camels and livestock, the traditions of nomadic life, and work like the poems women chanted while constructing aqals, their nomadic homes. After Elmi died, a wave of new poetry swept through Somali culture, composed and recited by young men and filled with rich, romantic vocabulary. This poetry is known as belwo and is sung as opposed to the chanted and more strictly rule-governed gabay.The scholar Jamal Abdi Gaboobe in his doctoral thesis suggests that though few facts about Elmi’s life can be verified with absolute certainty, Elmi’s influence on Somali ideas about romance and on the evolution of Somali poetry is unparalleled, likely because of the intensity of his brokenhearted suffering.“Speaking about French culture, André Marlaux was reported to have said, ‘we are profiting from the suffering of Baudelaire.’ The same could be said of Bodari with regard to Somali culture. Bodari’s suffering has enriched Somali culture. His poetry rescued Somali poetry and culture from the danger of irrelevance to modern life. It strengthened it, made it more capable of handling issues and concepts that until then it could not handle in an effective manner.”Westerners, like me, who ask whether or not Elmi actually died of a broken heart or who demand facts that can be verified beyond the shadow of a doubt, are fixated on the wrong details. This causes us to overlook the broader points of the story of Elmi and Hodan. Gaboobe’s thesis, for instance, also considers the Islamic Sufi influence on Elmi and Somali poetry.From my conversations with Djiboutian Somalis, I gathered that Elmi impacted two fundamental aspects of Somali life. First, Elmi brought poetry into the realm of the deeply personal. By the outpouring of other Somali poets following his death, it seems his courage in exposing his desire allowed others to embrace the idea of openly addressing their intimate lives and relationships through poem and song. Second, Elmi’s passion revealed a gentle, affectionate side of Somali masculinity that, up until his era, had remained mostly obscured behind the fierce, warrior persona.Some say Elmi was crazy, an idiot, weak. That he deserved his suffering. Some say he was a hero, a creative genius, the ideal lover. To me, it doesn’t seem to matter which he was. What does matter, what seems pertinent to modern-day Somalis, is the question his story raises: Who would give up their life for the sake of love? This is the question young people ask as they consider romantic relationships and future marriage. Is it possible or wise to love with such abandon that one would even be willing to die?Like Goudal said, “Who can love like that?”Source: http://www.ethnotraveler.com http://www.somaliaonline.com/elmi-boderi-died-of-a-broken-heart-to-djiboutian-women-he-is-a-hero-a-paragon-of-true-love-to-djiboutian-men-he-is-the-fool-who-ruined-their-chance-of-ever-finding-love/

“Whoever says that all music is prohibited let him also claim that the songs of birds are prohibited.” - Imam Abu Hamid Al Ghazali. While Daesh was burning the Jordanian pilot alive, Boko Haram creating killing fields in the villages and towns of Nigeria and neighboring countries, and Al Shabab was executing Somali women by firing squads for committing no other crime than being the weakest and most defenseless members of society, a group of Somali Mullahs itched to do something equally dramatic but fortunately less earthshaking due to circumstances could find no better cause than waging a jihad against Somali music in North America and Europe. It seems these Mullahs, most of whom live in the West and enjoy the freedoms guaranteed to them by the secular laws of their adopted countries could not see the barbaric and heinous crimes committed in the name of Islam by the terrorist groups as repulsive actions that deserve their wrath and condemnation but instead found their noble duty in strangulating Somali music. In what seems to be a well defined plan of division of labor, they assumed the role of the fifth column of Al Shabab by carrying out covert operations of spiritual purification while the terrorist militias were doing the physical slaughtering. Their aim is to obliterate the collective memory of the Somali people and the most treasured common heritage of all Somalis and indeed humanity at large; their voice. The sinister campaign of these Mullahs came to light when the legendary singer Hibo Mohamed Nuura announced in an interview with the BBC (Somali Section) that she had decided to quit music as she was convinced by Somali Ulema that music was haram (prohibited) in Islam. She declared that she disowned her musical heritage and career that spanned nearly 50 years during which she had become one of the most respected and most admired female singers of the Somali people. She also made an appeal to her fans not to listen to her music; seemingly oblivious to the fact that her music as a national heritage, was the collective product of song writers, musicians, public resources, and the audience who engaged with it and endowed it with its real value and longevity. Shocked by this incident of tragic proportions, I started my own investigation to find out how this could have happened. I came to learn that a group of Somali Mullahs from around the world but mostly living in North America meet periodically in a teleconference to launch a war on Somali music through a concerted and well coordinated effort aimed at locating and targeting Somali artists and inviting them to their clandestine sessions. The Mullahs who mostly use pseudonyms during the call to hide their identities from authorities select their victims with precision by starting with the celebrated singers, musicians, and artists who are in the twilight days of their careers. Once these unsuspecting victims come to their orbit, the Mullahs grip them with their fangs and bombard these mostly unlettered poor souls with horror stories about the hellfire waiting to roast their bodies and souls if they do not repent and disown their past and their indulgence with music. Overwhelmed by the severity of the attack and being elderly individuals with one foot in the grave, these vulnerable victims quickly succumb to the deadly venom of the Mullahs. This is what happened recently when a group of Mullahs, many of them well known religious figures including a celebrated Sheikh from my hometown Borama, and paradoxically the birth place of the Somali music over 70 years ago, met in their scheduled global teleconference to grill several icons of Somali music, arts and broadcasting. They included Hibo, Cabdi Cali “Bacalwaan”,Faadumo Haldhaa, Cadar Kaahin, Luul Cali Xasan and others. Under controlled conditions and being put on the spot, the artists found themselves in a state of inquisition, they had no other option but to relent and fulfill the wishes of the Mullahs who they thought were genuine scholars of Islam, not aware that these clerics where only pushing their own narrow interpretation of Islam down their throats. The artists were too intimidated to ask questions such as that if music was Haram why such a ban was not applied to the 1.6 billion Muslim living in the world. Why Al Azhar Sheikhs had to listen and even praise Umm Al Kalthoum, why music of Muslims from Sudan, Mali, Senegal and other West African countries is one of the most popular in the world. Why countries ruled by regimes bearing the Islamic banner such as Wahhabist Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Islamic Republic of Iran, and Pakistan did not prohibit music. Without even going to the fruitless debate over the different interpretations of what Islam says about music which usually ends up in my Islam against yours, it would have at least shown the Mullahs that out of 1.6 billion people they were definitely not the only learned men who had the absolute truth in their hand. Whereas these Mullahs usually like to quote Wahhabi and Salafist Sheikhs with narrow interpretations, one can also quote hundreds of eminent Islamic scholars such as Imam Al Ghazali, Ibn Hazm Al Andalusi, and contemporary scholars such as Sheikh Khalid Al Jundi, Sheikh Muhammad al-Shawkani and many others who could not find any Islamic text prohibiting music. One would have thought these Mullahs would have learned enough to heed the words of the Prophet (PUH) who said: إن هذا الدين متين فأوغلوا فيه برفق ولا تكرهوا عبادة الله إلى عباد الله، فتكونوا كالراكب المنبت الذي لا سفرا قطع ولا ظهرا أبقى. (Indeed this religion is strong so delve deeper into it but gently. And do not make Allah’s worship to be repulsive to his worshippers. For the one who portrays it (religion) harshly will be like a traveler who did not spare any effort but reached nowhere). But obviously taking this soft approach would have deprived them of the personal power they have in using religion as a cover for controlling people’s lives. Remember those who burned the Jordanian pilot alive were quoting religious sources, Al Shabab and Boko Haram also regurgitates Quranic verses and Islamic traditions to justify their heinous crimes. So anyone can use the holy text according to their wishes which makes the Quran, the most abused holy book in modern times. This was prophetically seen by Ali Ibn Abi Talib, the fourth Caliph of Islam, when he advised Ibn Abbas, member of his negotiating team with Muawiya Ibn Abi Sufyan, not to debate with the enemy on Quranic verses, underling that the Quran was liable to different interpretations (حمّال أوجه ). The fact that the Prophet (PUH) said: “Deeds will be judged according to intentions, and everyone will get what he intended,” has also been conveniently ignored by the Mullahs because for them people’s intentions don’t count; what counts for them is what they tell you to do. What made their action even more painful was the timing. They timed their action to coincide with a period when most of the cultured Somali people were mourning the death of two cultural and music icons, Mohamed Ahmed Kulluc, a veteran and renowned singer whose songs have inflamed Somali nationalistic feelings during the struggle for independence, and Hussein Sheikh Ahmed Kadare, a cultural scholar, dramatist, poet, and a man remembered for his pivotal role in the writing of the Somali script and Somalization of scientific and cultural foreign words. It seems as if these Mullahs are telling us that these cultural giants have died in vain and that they were obliged to warn those still alive against falling into the fires of hell. They insinuate that if you do not live the way they tell you to, you are doomed in the afterworld. But they also know that long after they are gone from this world, the names of the singers and artists will still be remembered and celebrated. They are deadly sure that Somali people will be enchanted by the music and words of our playwrights, singers and musicians for generations to come. They know that the names of such giants as Ali Sugule, Hussein Aw Farah, Xasan Sh. Muumin, Maxamuud Cabdillaahi Sangub, Xasan Ganay, Saxardiid Maxamed Cilmi (Jabiye), Xasan Cilmi, Cabdillahi Qarshi, Cumar Dhuule, Magool, Maandeeq, Dalays, Baxsan, Maryan Mursal, Farxiya Cali, Maxamad Suleyman, Axmad Cali Cigaal, Sahra Axmad, Amina Feer, Saado Cali, Amina Cabdillaahi, Fadumo Qasim, Khadiija Qalanjo, Khadra Dahir, Ahmed Naji, Nimco Jaamac, Cabdinuur Allaale, Maxamed Mooge, Xasan Adan Samatar and many others will ring precious memories for the Somali people. And people who are remembered with cherished memories by their fellow human beings will definitely be handsomely rewarded in the hereafter. I think the Muslim world has more than its share of ugliness if the Mullahs want to put their efforts into good use. I have never seen them condemning the barbarity committed in the name of Islam by terrorist groups like Daesh, Boko Haram, Al Shabab, Al Qaeda and their ilk. But on the contrary, they seem to be in cahoots with them by carrying out such cultural cleansing campaigns. It might help to remind these Mullahs that a number of eminent Egyptian Islamic scholars had enjoyed the songs and music of Umm Kalthoum, the most celebrated Arab woman singer at all time. These clerics included Sheikh Mohamed Al Ghazali, Sheikh Ali Tantawi, and Sheikh Mustapha Abdirazik who sheltered her and protected her from the onslaught of ignorant clerics. There are also famous Quranic reciters such as Sheikh Mohammad Sdeq Al Menshawy who described her voice as having: “soft power and the sweetness of music”, Sheikh Abd AlBasit Abd AlSamad who used to call her “the star of the east and the west”, and others. This is how the enlightened scholars value the singing and music as a God-given talent that has to be nurtured, enjoyed and admired. But it seems that the Somali Mullahs are trapped in a time capsule of their own to the extent that they never heard the words of the great theologian and eminent Sufi, Al Rumi, who said: “There are many ways to reach God; I have chosen dance and music as my path.” And this is exactly what Professor Ahmed Ismail Samatar, an eminent scholar who I call the Singing Professor, demonstrates every time he lectures in a Somali public forum. Knowing the sublimity and power of music, he never misses the opportunity to perform a song or two and never without the presence of the Oud (lute) at the end of the gathering. Just like Rumi, Professor Samatar must have realized that the beauty of music is the best way to be closer to the heavens. And why not did Allah not give Prophet Dawood the beauty of singing and music as his miracle and did He not command the mountains and birds to sing with him. And was it not the Prophet of Islam who after being delighted by Abu Musa Al Ashari’s recitation of the Quran said about him: “…You are in fact endowed with a sweet voice like that of (the Noble Prophet of Allah) Dawood (David)(a.s.) himself.” Music is one of the first things that babies learn through the mother’s lullabies. It is also how nature communicates with us. You cannot miss to hear music wherever you turn. The sound of rain, of waterfalls and waves, the singing of birds, the howl of wind, the rustle of leaves, and the rhythmic movements of the planets, are all parts of the universe’s gigantic musical orchestra. No wonder Imam Al Ghazali said: “Whoever says that all music is prohibited let him also claim that the songs of birds are prohibited.” Music is also used for a therpeuaitc purposes and academic degrees are offered in music therapy. I would love to see if any of these Mullahs could refuse such treatment if their life depended on it. But despite this concerted onslaught on music, it is heartwarming to see the herculean efforts carried out by some individuals like Dr. Jama Musa Jama and Ayan Ashour for their distinguished service to Somali music through many initiatives such as London Somali Cultural Week, and Hargeysa Cultural Center. The recently opened Hiddo Dhow Center in Hargeisa pioneered by the famous singer Sahra Halgan is another shinning initiative that warms the heart of Somali culture and music lovers. One cannot but also praise the dedication of some of our iconic cultural custodians such as Said Salah Ahmed, Boobe Yusuf Du’ale, Ahmed Farah Cali (Idaajaa), Dr. Mohamed Dahir Afrah, Saeed Jama Hussein and others who are veteran warriors for the preservation and handing over Somali culture and music to future generations. Definitely, we should also applaud all the public and private Somali television stations and websites that constantly celebrate and delight us with Somali music despite the pressure exerted on them by the Wahhabi Mullahs. I must give special salute to Caasha-Luul’s program “Erayga Abwaanka iyo Odhaahda Fanaanka” on Somaliland National Television and Nicmo Samriye’s “Tartanka iyo Fanaaniinta” of Horn Cable TV which reminds us of the successful 1970s “Heesaha Hirgalay” held at the National Theatre that produced a number of today’s famous singers such Hassan Adan Samatar. These two courageous women are doing commendable service for the Somali music and culture. History will also not forget the enormous attention and resources given by the Djibouti Government and the government of the Somali Region of Ethiopia in filling the void vacated by the Somali government in promoting and spreading Somali music, poetry, and folklore. It is a matter of great regret, however, that Somali businesses which are mostly dominated by religious people do not extend any support to music and cultural activities. I know some Somali television stations owned by such businesses which have succumbed to the blackmailing of the religious establishment and made it a policy not to play music. I am not sure how they would avoid playing the Somali National Anthem when covering national events. Finally, I cannot find better words to conclude this piece than to echo the words of Imam Al Ghazali, a man known as Mujadid, reviver of Islamic scholarship, and the author of some of Islam’s canonical books such as the Ihya' Ulum al-Din or Ihya'u Ulumiddin (The Revival of Religious Sciences). Commenting on music, he said: (من لم يهزه الربيع وأزهاره والعود وأوتاره فاسد المزاج ليس له علاج) “He who is not moved by the spring and its flowers; the Lute (Oud) and its tunes, has a sick mood that cannot be cured." And now let me leave you with Raaxeeye and the legendary voice of Maxamad Axmad Kuluc and let the Mullahs plug their ears: Bashir Goth is a Somali poet, journalist, professional translator, freelance writer and the first Somali blogger. Bashir is the author of numerous cultural, religious and political articles and advocate of community-development projects, particularly in the fields of education and culture. He is also a social activist and staunch supporter of women’s rights. He is currently working as an editor in a reputable corporation in the UAE

WASHINGTON – Minnesota law enforcement, politicians and Muslim leaders gathered Wednesday at the White House to tout a nascent, community-backed program as a model for attempts to prevent youths from being swept away to fight with jihadist groups abroad.Sharing a stage with authorities from Paris, Boston and Los Angeles at the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism, the Minnesota leaders stressed the early successes of the new pilot project.Operating in public schools, the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport and mosques, the project targets mostly disenchanted Somalis in hopes of immunizing them from the slick recruiting tactics employed by extremists abroad.The summit is aimed at bringing national, international and local leaders together to develop community-based methods for thwarting terrorist recruitment.Minnesota was the focus Wednesday because of its large Somali population, its innovative approach and the number of would-be terrorists recruited from the state.FBI officials said more than 20 Minnesotans have been charged in connection with terrorism in the past several years. In 2014 alone, at least three Minnesotans were reported killed while fighting in Syria or Iraq for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL.)One terrorist group crafted a recruitment video tailored specifically to Minneapolis youth, with a picture of an outbound plane ticket from its airport.President Obama offered some gentle but frank criticism to the assembled leaders, who included imams from Minnesota.“The older people here, as wise and respected as you may be, your stuff is often boring compared to what they [terrorist recruiters] are doing,” he said, eliciting applause and laughter. “You’re not connected. And as a consequence, you are not connecting.”Imam Abdisalam Adam, director of Minneapolis’ Dar Al-Hijrah mosque, said that if authorities cooperate with local Somalis, the effort will work.“Mosques serve as a beacon of hope,” he said. Adam has encouraged those who attend his mosque to trust police and get alienated young people re-engaged through after-school mentors and sports or through school counselors. Minneapolis Public Schools have recently brought on youth workers at a few schools considered to have the most at-risk students.“Young people in one way or another get alienated, in one way or another they lose their way,” said Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., addressing the three-day international Countering Violent Extremism summit.Minnesota’s efforts have brought division among Somalis. Some say the moves to forge partnerships with local police, school district officials and prosecutors serve largely as a platform for surveillance.Earlier this week, those affiliated with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said they explicitly didn’t want mosques to become places of spying. Jaylani Hussein, director of the group, said much of what was happening in Minnesota “blurs the line between community outreach and intelligence gathering.”Hodan Hassan and Minneapolis City Council Member Abdi Warsame addressed the pilot programOther civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have expressed a similar worry.Minneapolis authorities have been working to develop relationships with members of the Somali community for a few years.Minnesota’s U.S. Attorney Andy Luger was asked to participate officially in the federally backed project last year because the Twin Cities area had become a hotbed of extremist recruitment.Luger said Wednesday the idea behind Minnesota’s program started with Somalis.“In my meetings with hundreds of members of the community, what the people on our panel said is that this is what people were asking for,” Luger said. “Nothing that was said this morning was my idea or any government official’s idea. It all came from them.”Rep. Keith Ellison, a Muslim and a DFLer representing Minneapolis, said terrorists succeed in recruitment only when this country’s opportunities aren’t “deep” enough for Muslim-Americans.Ellison reminded the audience that terrorism is not just a “Muslim thing.”“Muslims are victims of it,” he said. “It’s very critical to bear in mind that there is no religion that has a monopoly on violent extremism.”The White House event highlighted the efforts of communities around the world battling this problem through a focus on youth.Young people often are torn between the more secular American world and a religious Islamic one at home. They may have been born in the United States to immigrant parents, or brought here when they were young, and feel despondent and isolated, with a sense they don’t belong.Hodan Hassan, a youth mentor living in the Twin Cities, said Somali adolescents have fewer job opportunities and wholesome activities, which makes them susceptible to aggressive recruiting.“They struggle with not being American enough,” she said.Obama, addressing the summit participants, warned leaders there will be a “military component” to the struggle because ISIL fighters in the Mideast are ravaging large areas.“There are savage cruelties out there that have to be stopped,” he said.Speaking specifically to the Muslim leaders in the room, Obama asked them to vouch for the community outreach programs so they become more widely respected. He noted that when someone starts getting radicalized, family and friends are usually the first to see the changes in personality.“These terrorists are a threat, first and foremost, to the communities that they target, which means communities have to take the lead in protecting themselves,” he said. “And that is true here in America, as it’s true anywhere else.Source: http://www.startribune.com http://www.somaliaonline.com/obama-tells-somali-imams-visiting-washington-your-stuff-is-often-boring-compared-to-what-the-terrorist-recruiters-are-doing/

(MENAFN - AFP) As a gun-toting Somali pirate, Barkhad Abdi was terrifying, earning an Oscar-nomination for his role in "Captain Phillips" with the chilling line to Tom Hanks: "I am the captain now."They liked it in Somalia too: when Abdi returned to his birth nation for the first time in more than two decades, he was mobbed by fans who "wanted their photograph with me", he said.But the image of Somalia as shown in such films of relentless war, famine and piracy is one the 29-year-old is determined to change."I didn't see a war, I didn't see a single gunshot the whole time I was there - and I didn't see a pirate either," Abdi told AFP in a green garden in the Kenyan capital, days after returning from Somalia earlier this month"The Somalia I saw was a country that was in the process of being rebuilt. There is more there than war, drought, and hunger."Before "Captain Phillips", Somalia was known to outsiders because of "Black Hawk Down", the 2001 blockbuster telling the story of the 1993 battle in Mogadishu, when American soldiers fought through the capital after two of their helicopters were shot down. - 'Lost generation' -Abdi, who won a BAFTA as best supporting actor for his role in the 2013 film "Captain Phillips", dreams some day of a film that shows a different side of Somalia."I hope to tell a different story, because there are so many inspirational people, stories of struggle," he said. "There is a lost generation, and now that I have a voice, I want to help them out."Abdi was born in the Somali capital Mogadishu six years before war followed the overthrow of dictator Siad Barre in 1991.The country is still one of the most violent and dangerous on earth.Large areas remain at war, with the Al-Qaeda affiliated Shebab insurgents staging regular attacks to topple the government.But outside main war zones in the south, some progress is being made.Barkhad visited Somalia's northern Puntland region to see the work of the Somali aid agency Adeso, which trains unemployed youth by giving them practical skills."It is not as bad as people think," Abdi said."We still need a lot of help, but we don't just need food and money -- we need structure, strong government and we need peace, we need our people to help themselves and be independent." - Warlord and undercover agent -"Captain Phillips", which starred Hanks as the captain Abdi kidnaps, recounts the true story of the Maersk Alabama, a vessel with a US crew that was hijacked in April 2009 off Somalia.At their peak in 2011, Somali pirates held over 700 hostages but rates of attacks have tumbled, prompted partly by the posting of armed guards on boats and navy patrols.Still, changing stereotypes and reputations will take time, Abdi admits, who recently played the role of a fugitive African warlord in the US crime drama "Hawaii Five-0", modelled on Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army rebel chief Joseph Kony."Somalis have a stereotype - we've been refugees in countries all over the world for more than the last 20 years, it is just human nature, people don't like what they are not used to seeing," he said."For young Somalis... be the best at whatever you do, just work hard. As a human being if you respect people, they respect you."Despite the success of "Captain Phillips", work took time to come for Abdi.He now lives in Los Angeles, recently finishing shooting on a drone warfare thriller, "Eye in the Sky", alongside Aaron Paul from the US TV crime drama "Breaking Bad" and Hollywood legend Helen Mirren, due for release later this year.But Abdi says he was not being typecast or reinforcing negative stereotypes of young Somali men."Actually, I'm a hero, I was playing a Somali undercover agent," he said. "And as long as the story is good, I'm fine with it."Source: http://www.menafn.com http://www.somaliaonline.com/barkhad-abdi-visits-puntland-the-somalia-i-saw-was-a-country-that-was-in-the-process-of-being-rebuilt/

Murad Ahmed, European Technology Correspondent - WorldRemit has raised $100m from a leading Silicon Valley investor in one of the largest fundraising rounds for a British technology start-up, valuing the company at $500m. Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), an early backer of Facebook and Netflix, has invested in the online money transfer group that is one of London’s leading new “fintech” businesses. It values the company at about $500m, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal is another illustration of the attractiveness of the UK capital’s financial technology groups as these British groups prepare moves into the US market. In January, TransferWise, a rival London-based money transfer company, announced it had received $58m in funding, led by Andreessen Horowitz, the Californian venture capital group that has previously backed Facebook, Airbnb and Twitter. Last year, Funding Circle, the British peer-to-peer lender, raised $65m in a funding round that included the US tech investors Union Square Ventures and Ribbit Capital. As with TransferWise and Funding Circle, WorldRemit said the new money will allow it to expand internationally. The company has recently opened offices in Denver, Colorado where it aims to employ more than 200 people, with plans to be fully licensed across the country by the end of this year.“The US is a big part of our expansion plan and that is now happening,” said Ismail Ahmed, the Somali-born founder and chief executive of WorldRemit, who was previously a remittances expert at the UN. “This funding will certainly fuel our growth in the US.”WorldRemit is trying to grab a share of the $529bn in remittances that zip around the world each year, according to estimates from the World Bank. However, online remittances could become a multibillion dollar opportunity, as internet transfers accounts for about 5 per cent of the overall remittances market. WorldRemit allows people to send money from 50 countries and receive cash in 117 nations. The company will face stiff opposition across the Atlantic, battling incumbents such as Western Union and MoneyGram, as well as Xoom, a major US online remittances market, which has a market capitalisation of over $600m. There have also been concerns that online remittance groups will struggle to turn a profit as they have to spend so much in marketing to gain customers from established players.WorldRemit is unprofitable, though the company has said that its revenues tripled in 2014 to £15.2m, and expects similar growth this year. Last year, it raised $40m from Accel Partners, the venture capital firm, bolstering its balance sheet as it invests heavily in its expansion plans.“The key difference for us is that we’re a totally global service,” said Mr Ahmed. “None of the other online players have a truly global footprint. That enables us do our marketing differently to a company that is focused on one country. But we also have partnerships with [telecoms companies], which have millions of customers . . . which allows us to acquire customers.”Source: http://www.ft.com http://www.somaliaonline.com/somali-owned-startup-worldremit-has-raised-100m-from-silicon-valley-investor-valuing-the-company-at-500m/

Calgary has lost a legendary business man, restaurant owner and personality.Marco Abdi, owner of Italian restaurant La Brezza in Bridgeland for about 30 years, died of lung cancer on Sunday in a Calgary hospital. He was 59. A memorial service is being planned for him.“My father’s kind, compassionate, and strong legacy perseveres within the countless lives he touched each day he lived on this earth. His million-dollar smile and amazing personality will be greatly missed. My family and I could not have imagined a greater father, husband, friend and role model even if we tried,” said his daughter Madina.Over the years, the restaurant has hosted luminaries including movie and rock stars, top business executive, as well as top political leaders.Abdi came from humble beginnings. He left his home in Somalia in the late 1970s to work in Rome as a caretaker in a restaurant. He came to Calgary in 1980 and worked as a janitor in a professional medical building across the street from where his Italian restaurant now resides. At that time, he was making $800 a month and thought “it was a big deal,” he told the Herald years ago.His big smile, which always greeted customers to his restaurant, was infectious. No matter what day it was, you were bound to hear Marco say “Merry Christmas” in a conversation with him. You could say it was his mantra.“People wait until Dec. 25 to call you and say ‘Merry Christmas,’ ” Abdi told the Herald several years ago.“For me, every day is Merry Christmas. My father told me that you are born with nothing and you die with nothing and every day between is Christmas. When you die you’re not going to take anything with you. My gift to you is happiness.”He leaves behind his wife Filomena as well as children Madina, 24, Khadija, 22, and Maurizio, 13.Besides his restaurant, Abdi also had business interests in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates in the Middle East through his connection and friendship with the Royal Family there.John Gilchrist, a well-known restaurant reviewer, said Abdi’s character was one of the reasons La Brezza was so successful over the years.“He was such an indomitable force of nature. This positive, high energy, irrepressible guy who was just out there to be of service and to give the best that he possibly could every single day,” said Gilchrist. “I never saw him without a smile on his face. Never saw him without an offer of a coffee or a glass of wine or some food. He was just the ultimate sort of restaurateur wanting to serve his clients all the time.”mtoneguzzi@calgaryherald.comSource: http://calgaryherald.com http://www.somaliaonline.com/owner-of-famous-la-brezza-restaurant-in-calgary-marco-abdi-died-of-lung-cancer-at-59/

Somali migrants constitute a diaspora whose members have, through transnational mobility, created a Somali diasporic space on different continents. This mobility is not new, especially for sailors employed in sea ports of the British Empire. Small Somali communities can be found in port cities as far apart as Perth and New York.By the end of the 19th century, the biggest Somali presence outside Africa was in Britain, along the Welsh Coast — these were seamen of the British Merchant Navy. During the 1930s, Somali leaders in Britain served as political intermediaries for Kenyan Somalis trying to uplift their racial status in colonial Kenya.There are a number of cases of Somali transnationalism in Africa and elsewhere in imperial and colonial times and after World War II. Somalis travelled into southern African countries such as Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to work as miners; they were present in Yemen and the Gulf states after Somalia’s independence, where they were able to organise trans-Indian Ocean business.Therefore it is no surprise to observe a stratification of identities among Somalis in post-apartheid South Africa along the lines of specific transnational experiences and journeys. Not all Somalis are considered the same, even though they insist on a pan-Somali identity as it was in the past during their struggle for independence.Who are the Somalis in South Africa? They come from different parts of Somalia, including the self-declared states of Somaliland and Puntland. Some are originally from Ogaden in Ethiopia or from Kenya but were settled in Somalia for generations.Somalis in South Africa represent different categories of transnational migrants who have crossed different borders at different times and in different ways; Somali migrants are not the same in terms of journey experiences or trajectories. This plurality of migrant routes plays a role in differentiating Somali subgroups, who have different approaches to dealing with uncertainty in their new country, and particularly in Johannesburg.Undocumented Somalis face the highest levels of uncertainty. Some haven’t renewed their passports because no Somali embassy existed in South Africa until 2013. These Somalis insist on a pan-Somali and Islamic identity to secure assistance and solidarity from national and religious counterparts.Travelling to South Africa, they tend to use diasporic routes, which provide them with contacts they can trust and the right to hospitality. As one interviewee said: “You know the Somalis, we are not like other people, and we help each other. When I come to you, you have to give me a place to sleep ... what I need to eat.”Cross-border activities give existence and power to the pan-Somali imaginary, which transcends the other imaginary, nationalism. Somali migrants continuously look for information and solidarity in different parts of their diasporic space. Refugees are the most vulnerable.Somali migrants who hold a passport, either from Kenya or countries such as Canada, have the option of transnational mobility. Having a passport helps Somali entrepreneurs to import goods and set up economic partnerships with other members of the diaspora. A passport confers a higher status in the Somali economic hierarchy.Gender is another differentiating factor. Women’s mobility is enabled by Islamic marriage. Travelling alone as a single woman is unsafe and considered immoral. Women often get married in transitory places such as the United Nations refugee camps in Kenya or once they have settled in South Africa. Being female can secure a safer journey from South Africa to Europe, and being pregnant or giving birth in Europe can guarantee women longer stays as refugees. This is a strategy often used in the past by female refugees from various countries in Africa and elsewhere. The travelling female body has social consequences in family circles too: women gain confidence after proving they can survive migratory journeys.Thus migration routes, binationality and gender identity are important in understanding the stratification of Somali immigrants in Johannesburg. Yet economic status gives us another dimension of stratification: class identity coupled with religious identity.Somali entrepreneurs in Mayfair, Johannesburg, have extended their ethnic urban space through business networks in townships. This, defined by the organisation of economic relations among Somalis, has had a major influence on shaping different social classes.Mayfair was established as a working- and lower-middle-class Afrikaner neighbourhood. Since the late 1980s, it has been inhabited largely by South African Indian Muslims. Today the suburb, from Hanover Street in the east to Mayfair West, is predominantly Muslim and home to most of the Somalis in Johannesburg. Not only has the demography of Mayfair changed as a result of Somali settlement, but religious beliefs and practices have also been transformed.Unlike other African Muslim migrants, such as the Senegalese or Malians who settled mainly in Hillbrow and Yeoville, Somalis prioritised socialisation with South African Indian Muslims, establishing a Muslim neighbourhood; they wanted to live in Muslim territories. Islam rather than race or Africanism became their mode of identification.In Mayfair, Somalis have developed an ethnic market to sustain their business networks. Eighth Avenue, where the Somali mosque and various businesses are situated, represents a nexus between the centre of the city with its urban townships and more rural areas. In Johannesburg, different classes disperse into different entrepreneurial spaces, with wealthier Somali traders working in the city and others in townships or more peripheral areas.On Eighth Avenue, however, these different traders find a shared space. Trading risks are high for foreigners in the townships. Since 1994, more than 100 Somalis have been killed in South African townships. Most were shopkeepers who provided basic commodities such as bread and sugar.Several interviewees in Mayfair said Somali shopkeepers in the townships are often employed by entrepreneurs in the cities, but some choose to go into these higher-risk areas using their resources because they can make more money there than in the city.Uncertainty and risk seem to have different meanings for different class groups among Somali immigrants in South Africa. The Somali market in Mayfair, established more than a decade ago, offers Somali migrants a sense of security and belonging. In contrast, the townships are considered transitory economic places, strongly linked to the city that provides services and commodities for the shopkeepers.Townships represent places of vulnerability, but cities are considered spaces of ethnic, clan and religious solidarity. Somali religious territory, marked by mosques and madrassas, gives meaning to notions of a Somali collective identity. A pan-Somali identity based on religion is being enacted in Johannesburg.Islamic identity has been a major source of social capital for Somalis seeking help and solidarity from South African Muslims of Indian origin, who have their own economic and religious territory in Fordsburg, next to Mayfair.The Muslim transnational movement, Tablighi Jamaat, has helped Somalis in Mayfair to territorialise their religious identity. Being associated with Tablighi Jamaat offers a way of being and a means to recognition as an urban Muslim.In the past, the movement played a major role in Indian Muslims’ place-making in Lenasia, south of Soweto. Members of Tablighi Jamaat focused their religious proselytism in territories where large numbers of Muslims and mosques were already established. “We have our own culture, Islamic culture from Somalia,” said one interviewee.In the case of Somalis, class needs to be understood in economic and religious terms. Religion is important and upper-class Somalis can distinguish themselves by living in a city where they can pray in a mosque near their business activities, shops and offices. By deciding that the absence of mosques in townships presents a risk and a danger to morality, Somalis may be said to reinforce their own vulnerabilities in these spaces.For Somalis, overcoming uncertainty in South Africa is first a matter of gaining resources, including a passport, finance and social capital. But vulnerability is also related to social class, shaped by Somali economic spatiality and religion.Networks linking Mayfair and the townships dominate now, but new internal migrations are spreading within the city-region as Somalis participate in and contribute to Johannesburg’s ethnic, cultural and spatial diversity.Samadia Sadouni is an associate professor of politics at Sciences Po Lyon in France. This is an edited extract from Changing Space, Changing City: Johannesburg After Apartheid, edited by Philip Harrison, Graeme Gotz, Alison Todes and Chris Way (published by Wits University Press)Source: http://mg.co.za/article/2015-02-13-the-stratified-diasporas-of-somalians http://www.somaliaonline.com/somali-migrants-constitute-a-diaspora-whose-members-have-through-transnational-mobility-created-a-somali-diasporic-space-on-different-continents/

THE poorest people in Leicester by a wide margin are the Somalis who live in the St Matthews housing estate. Refugees from civil war, who often passed through Sweden or the Netherlands before fetching up in the English Midlands, they endure peeling surroundings and appalling joblessness. At the last census the local unemployment rate was three times the national average. But Abdikayf Farah, who runs a local charity, is oddly upbeat. Just look at the children, he says.Close to Mr Farah’s office is Taylor Road Primary School—which, it turns out, trumps almost every school in Leicester in standardised tests. Its headmaster, Chris Hassall, credits the Somali immigrants, who insist that their children turn up for extra lessons at weekends and harry him when they seem to fall behind. Education is their ticket out of poverty. Poor district, wonderful school, well-ordered children: in Britain, the combination is not as unusual as one might suppose.Britain has prized the ideal of economically mixed neighbourhoods since the 19th century. Poverty and disadvantage are intensified when poor people cluster, runs the argument; conversely, the rich are unfairly helped when they are surrounded by other rich people. Social mixing ought to help the poor. It sounds self-evident—and colours planning regulations that ensure much social and affordable housing is dotted among more expensive private homes. Yet “there is absolutely no serious evidence to support this,” says Paul Cheshire, a professor of economic geography at the London School of Economics (LSE).And there is new evidence to suggest it is wrong. Researchers at Duke University in America followed over 1,600 children from age five to age 12 in England and Wales. They found that poor boys living in largely well-to-do neighbourhoods were the most likely to engage in anti-social behaviour, from lying and swearing to such petty misdemeanours as fighting, shoplifting and vandalism, according to a commonly used measure of problem behaviour. Misbehaviour starts very young (see chart 1) and intensifies as they grow older. Poor boys in the poorest neighbourhoods were the least likely to run into trouble. For rich kids, the opposite is true: those living in poor areas are more likely to misbehave. The researchers suggest several reasons for this. Poorer areas are often heavily policed, deterring would-be miscreants; it may be that people in wealthy places are less likely to spot misbehaviour, too. Living alongside the rich may also make the poor more keenly aware of their own deprivation, suggests Tim Newburn, a criminologist who is also at the LSE. That, in turn, increases the feelings of alienation that are associated with anti-social conduct and criminal behaviour.Research on England’s schools turns up a slightly different pattern. Children entitled to free school meals—a proxy for poverty—do best in schools containing very few other poor children, perhaps because teachers can give them plenty of attention. But, revealingly, poor children also fare unusually well in schools where there are a huge number of other poor children. That may be because schools have no choice but to focus on them. Thus in Tower Hamlets, a deprived east London borough, 60% of poor pupils got five good GCSEs (the exams taken at 16) in 2013; the national average was 38%. Worst served are pupils who fall in between, attending schools where they are insufficiently numerous to merit attention but too many to succeed alone (see chart 2).Mr Cheshire reckons that America, too, provides evidence of the limited benefits of social mixing. Look, he says, at the Moving to Opportunity programme, started in the 1990s, through which some poor people received both counselling and vouchers to move to richer neighbourhoods. Others got financial help to move as they wished, but no counselling. A third group received nothing. Studies after 10-15 years suggested that the incomes and employment prospects of those who moved to richer areas had not improved. Boys who moved showed worse behaviour and were more likely to be arrested for property crime.In Britain, this pattern might be partly explained by the existence of poor immigrant neighbourhoods such as St Matthews in Leicester. The people who live in such ghettos are poor in means, because they cannot speak English and lack the kind of social networks that lead to jobs, but not poor in aspiration. They channel their ambitions through their children.Another probable explanation lies in the way that the British government hands out money. Education funding is doled out centrally, and children in the most indigent parts tend to get the most cash. Schools in Tower Hamlets receive £7,014 ($10,610) a year for each child, for example, compared with the English average of £4,675. Secondary schools also get £935 for each poor child thanks to the “pupil premium” introduced by the coalition government. Meanwhile Teach First sends top graduates into poor schools. In America, by contrast, much school funding comes from local property taxes, so those in impoverished areas lose out.As the Duke University researchers are keen to point out, all this does not in itself prove that economically mixed neighbourhoods are a bad thing. They may be good in other ways—making politicians more moderate, for example. But the research does suggest that the benefits of such districts are far from straightforward. Patterns of social segregation reflect broader social inequality, argues Mr Cheshire, who has written a book about urban economics and policy. Where mixed neighbourhoods flourish, house prices rise, overwhelmingly benefiting the rich. Spending more money on schools in deprived areas and dispatching the best teachers there would do more to help poor children. Assuming that a life among wealthy neighbours will improve their lot is too complacent.Source: http://www.economist.comhttp://www.somaliaonline.com/the-economist-the-paradox-of-the-ghetto-unnervingly-poor-children-seem-to-fare-better-in-poor-neighbourhoods/

The start of the year is always a time to reflect on past achievements. Much progress was made in 2014 as Somalia continued on the path to stability. This path was never going to be easy – rebuilding a country that has suffered so much will take the continued efforts of all Somalis. But much has been achieved. The sight of busy streets in Mogadishu, increased trade through Somali ports and increasing security in the regions gives a glimpse of what a stable and prosperous Somalia could look like.Witnessing the re-emergence of this proud country from the ashes of conflict has been a great honour. The UK stands with you to support these efforts.As we work together in 2015, there are many challenges to overcome to ensure the fragile gains are made permanent and irreversible. There are still too many children who suffer from malnutrition. Those who use violence are still able to undermine what has been achieved. Respect for human rights does not yet underpin all Somali institutions.I am optimistic that these challenges can be overcome. In my time leading British support for Somalia, I have repeatedly seen the ingenuity and perseverance of the Somali people. With nearly two-thirds of the population under 25, business minded and with a gift for communication, the modern networked world is perfect for Somalis to make their mark. This is shown by the success of the Somali Diaspora. Absent conflict, this country will flourish.The appointment of the new Cabinet comes at a critical time as we turn to face these challenges. We will work with the Somali government in their efforts to provide security, stability and services that are essential for people to secure jobs, to start new businesses and to provide for their families.I am glad that the UK will play a supporting role in Somalia’s future. The links between our two countries remains strong, with a vibrant Somali Diaspora in the UK making a positive contribution in many different fields. It was a proud moment when Her Majesty the Queen honoured Mohammed Farah, formerly a Somali refugee, for winning 2 Olympic gold medals at the London Games. Alongside sporting excellence, Somalis have excelled in business,media and politics. The last few years have now seen many talented individuals return to Somalia in order to help with reconstruction efforts – a sign of the growing belief that Somalia is on the road to stability.The UK will continue to lead international support for Somali to ensure the gains made become irreversible in this crucial year. As our Prime Minister has said; “now it is time to fulfil the hope for the people of Somalia. That is what they have been living and waiting for, and we must not let them down.”The road to peace and stability is never an easy one. But Somalia is on its way. Now is the time to turn hope into reality.Neil Wigan is a British diplomat. He serves as the UK's Ambassador to Somalia. Wigan was appointed to the position on 6 June 2013 in place of Matt Baugh. He is currently in the British Embassy of Somalia in Mogadishu. http://www.somaliaonline.com/2015-a-critical-year-for-somalia-by-ambassador-neil-wigan/

Birchfield Harriers athlete Abdi Abdi has been jailed for four years following a string of gunpoint robberies.The teenager, pictured above on his way to winning the under-17 race at the Midland Cross Country Championships in 2013, had been a promising young runner but was locked up after a series of robberies in a Birmingham park last year.West Midlands Police stated that Abdi, who trained at the Alexander Stadium in Perry Barr, used his knowledge of the local BMX track in Perry Park to target young people for their mobile phones and BMX bikes. The 19-year-old is said to have engaged other teenage boys in conversation before producing a gas-powered handgun to force them to hand over their belongings.Abdi was charged with six robberies between April and June 2014, from which almost £3000 worth of property was stolen.The young athlete maintained his innocence and stood trial at Birmingham Crown Court in December before he was sentenced on Friday.The Birmingham Mail reported how Judge Michael Chambers QC told Abdi: “During the trial your coach spoke about your considerable ability as an athlete and this is the tragedy of this case.“You were a promising athlete who had sponsorship and did not need to rob other people. My conclusion is you enjoyed the thrill and peer group esteem from these offences.“You and two other Somali young men targeted vulnerable teenage boys with expensive BMX bicycles and mobile phones who frequented the skate park.“I am quite satisfied, having heard the evidence, that you planned to rob them. You went there late at night and you were armed with an imitation firearm – a gas-powered BB gun which had the appearance of a real handgun.“I am also satisfied you were the ringleader.”Abdi, who has a 1500m PB of 3:52.13 and clocked 15:16.19 for 5000m last year, finished third in the under-20 men’s 3000m steeplechase at the England Athletics Championships last June.Source: http://www.athleticsweekly.comhttp://www.somaliaonline.com/promising-somali-athlete-robbed-teenagers-at-gunpoint-near-birminghams-alexander-stadium/

When Jacques moved to Portland four years ago from a refugee camp in Burundi, job prospects for his mother were bleak, it was nearing the end of the school year, and neither he nor his six brothers and sisters knew a word of English. “I couldn’t understand anything,” Jacques remembers. “They might be saying something, but I don’t know what they’re saying. I’d just say, ‘OK, OK.’”New to the country and with heavy accents, he and his older siblings became targets of bullying at their new schools and in their neighborhoods.“I have been called names. I’ve been pushed,” says Jacques (whose name has been changed for this story). “I remember my freshman year at Franklin I got into a fight because someone was being racist, saying something really bad about my mom. I got really angry.”What Jacques didn’t realize right away, however, was that he and his siblings were perfect targets for gangs. Like many immigrant youths, they sought a community, a sense of belonging, and they were looking to help supplement their household’s income, making them attractive to the promises of illicit groups.However, four years later, Jacques’ older siblings are working their ways through college. And Jacques, now a high-school senior, is preparing to join them with the help of his mentor provided through the new African Gang Intervention/Prevention project at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization’s Africa House.Africa House’s onsite staff of about 20 people supports African immigrants and refugees living in Portland with everything from rent and energy assistance and translation services to tutoring, mentoring and leadership development. Each year nearly 3,000 people pass through its doors, a tenth of the Portland metro area’s total African population.With dozens of service offerings already under its roof, last year Africa House implemented a new program to address a problem community leaders and parents have been aware of for years: youth gang violence.With a $100,000 grant from the Youth Development Council of the Oregon Department of Education, Africa House started a pilot program called the African Gang Prevention/Intervention project, in which youths identified by school and community leaders as being at-risk for gang involvement are assigned a mentor who attempts to bridge the gap between a mentee’s school and home life, and between the mentee’s home culture and the American one they currently find themselves in. The mentors make themselves available to their mentees day and night whether it be for help on schoolwork, outings to events and activities, or just plain everyday advice.Jacques was assigned a gang-prevention specific mentor a few months ago at the start of his senior year at David Douglas High School. “If I need help in the week really bad, I call him and we meet up and he helps me,” says Jacques. “The past couple months I’ve been meeting up with him a lot to apply to colleges, so he’s been helping me out with those things.”Today Jacques is working to join his older siblings in college where he hopes to major in architecture and play soccer. The distractions from his goals are many, but with the pro-social opportunities provided by Africa House, such as after-school programming, special educational talks, trips on weekends and his personal mentor, Jacques has the room to stay focused. “I like to go to school, do my work, and come home,” he says.“Because I want to go to college, and they say you have to have good grades.”In addition to acting as role models, the mentors, who are also African, are liaisons between home and school where language barriers can keep students and parents from being able to fully engage in the educational system. “There have been many cases where the kids have to leave school or not go because their parents need them to translate for any appointment,” explains Yetu Dumbia, who along with fellow Africa House staff member Shani Osman are the only mentors the program currently has on staff. “Having more of a communication between the parents and the teachers and having the parents get more involved in their children’s education is key.”The African Gang Prevention/Intervention project also has a criminal justice expert on hand to educate families on the American criminal justice system and provide reentry support for those who have been arrested and imprisoned. Africa House staff hope that, with mentors and increased understanding of U.S. educational and justice systems, Portland’s young African immigrants and refugees stay on the path to higher education and avoid the violence that threatens their futures in this country and, most importantly, their lives.The key to Africa House’s program is its cultural specificity. The African Gang Prevention/Intervention project was one of four culturally specific gang programs awarded a grant by the YDC. Because while Portland youth gang violence is not a new phenomenon, the particular vulnerability of immigrant and refugee youths to gang influence has only recently been explored by the city.It wasn’t until October 2013, when Abukar Madey, a Somali-American Franklin High School student, was gunned down that people outside of the African and justice communities began to take notice. That same year, the Coalition of Communities of Color in partnership with Portland State University, released “The African Immigrant and Refugee Community in Multnomah County: An Unsettling Profile,” a report that shed a the first light on what African families face in Portland. According to the report, the majority of African Portlanders who arrived in the U.S. within the last 10 years did so under refugee status. The majority of Africans in Portland are Somali, and some are struggling with untreated stress and anxiety disorders, such as PTSD.Poverty plagues Portland’s African community too. According to the 2014 Poverty in Multnomah County report by the Multnomah County Department of Human Services, many American employers don’t recognize foreign credentials, so while a quarter of Africans living in Multnomah County have advanced degrees and job experience, African households still bring in only half the incomes that white ones do. As a result, some young African refugees turn to selling drugs with a gang to help support their familes, according to the report.“(Youths) at the poverty level are going to be living in areas that aren’t as enhanced with prosocial opportunities,” says Tom Peavey, policy manager at the Youth Violence Prevention Office. “And when you don’t have the opportunities that can give you success then you’re going to have fewer people successful from that environment.”For all kids, regardless of national origin or ethnicity, the need for belonging is the main push to join a gang.“Gang members form a family,” says Antoinette Edwards, director at the Youth Violence Prevention Office. “It’s a protection. For some folks it’s someone that has cared about them. … Family is the people who love you.”That cultural vulnerability was the focus of a recent report by Portland State University’s Center to Advance Racial Equality titled “What risks do African youth face of gang involvement? A community needs assessment in Multnomah County” released in 2014.That report noted that young African Portlanders straddling two cultures while still in their formative years are particularly vulnerable to joining or forming gangs for affiliation and protection.“A lot of the youth, they have cultural shock,” says Abdiasis Mohamed, Africa House’s operations manager. “Looking for identity where they don’t know and they struggle keeping the African identity because it’s no longer resonant with the cultural norm here.”The pull between preserving one’s own culture and assimilating to American culture can be trying, Mohamed says.“When you’re getting made fun of because you’re not from here or because you dress a certain way or because you don’t speak like the other people,” says staff member Yetu Dumbia. “Those things lead kids to violence, especially if violence is what they’ve known for their whole life living in refugee camps.”When youths finally do find that sense of belonging and protection, disconnecting from gang life can be a long, dangerous and heartbreaking process. IRCO’s African Gang Prevention/Intervention project works to intervene in kids’ lives before they ever get to that point, says Dumbia.For Portland’s African immigrant and refugee youths, Muhamed says, the stakes are high.“If you’re only a green card holder and you get arrested, that’s it,” Muhamed says. “You’re not going to become a citizen in this country anymore. As an immigrant, once you go to jail, you serve your time, the next thing on your list is deportation.”At its outset, the goal of the project was to intervene in the lives of 55 to 60 students at risk of joining a gang. Currently, however, there are about 70 kids in the program ages 11 to 24, with more referrals coming into Africa House every day, and staff are racing to keep up with the project’s demand.“What we are in large need of is mentors for those kids, and preferably people that look like them,” says Dumbia. “We need tutors. We need people that will care for them, basically, and that will help them with little things, like a resume or how to even get a job or how to be a good student. It’s those little things that people take for granted here.”Peavey voiced similar pleas of increased awareness and concern from the community in regards to Portland’s gangs.“People who have been encumbered by gang violence, they see the need there,” he says. “But we need greater support from businesses, we need greater support from organizations that are not at the table right now. And we have great people at the table right now. But we need more.”Among the others at the table are IRCO’s vast network of community leaders; Portland’s community violence reduction initiative, Enough is Enough; and the East African All-Stars, a group of Somali American teens who have created their own basketball league.Still, Peavey and Edwards fear prevalent stereotypes about gang members will keep the wider Portland community from making youth violence prevention a priority.“When you deny folks and then you judge them and you put them in this box,” says Edwards, “that’s dehumanizing.”As for IRCO, the pilot program is set to last through May, when the state will assess its effectiveness and look at what changes need to be made.As for Jacques, he enjoys being in the program and hopes to continue on with a mentor into college. But if all goes as planned, someday soon he will outgrow his mentor and become one himself. And while the search for identity is for many a neverending one, Jacques already knows one thing for sure.“There is nothing wrong with African American,” he says, “but I like to see myself as African because I’m really proud of where I come from.”Source: http://news.streetroots.org http://www.somaliaonline.com/a-new-fresh-start-immigrant-youths-stay-above-street-influences/

THE HAGUE, 6 February 2015. Judge Ronny Abraham (France) was today elected President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by his peers and Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf (Somalia) was elected Vice-President, each for a term of three years.Biographies of President Abraham and Vice-President Yusuf, who have been Members of the Court since 15 February 2005 and 6 February 2009, respectively, can be found on the Court’s website (www.icj-cij.org) under the heading “Members of the Court”/“Current Members”.The International Court of Justice, composed of 15 Members, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It delivers judgments which are final and binding upon disputes between States, and gives advisory opinions to United Nations organs and agencies that are authorized to request them under the Charter of the United Nations (for further details see below). There are currently 13 cases on the Court’s General List.Following the elections held on 6 November 2014 and 17 November 2014 by the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council to fill the five seats which were due to fall vacant on 6 February 2015 (see Press Release No. 2014/32 and No. 2014/33), the composition of the Court is now as follows:President: Ronny Abraham (France)Vice-President: Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf (Somalia)Judges:Hisashi Owada (Japan)Peter Tomka (Slovakia)Mohamed Bennouna (Morocco)Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade (Brazil)Christopher Greenwood (United Kingdom)Xue Hanqin (China)Joan E. Donoghue (United States of America)Giorgio Gaja (Italy)Julia Sebutinde (Uganda)Dalveer Bhandari (India)Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica)James Richard Crawford (Australia)Kirill Gevorgian (Russian Federation)The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945 and began its activities in April 1946. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York. The Court has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States (its judgments have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned); and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and agencies of the system. The Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. Independent of the United Nations Secretariat, it is assisted by a Registry, its own international secretariat, whose activities are both judicial and diplomatic, as well as administrative. The official languages of the Court are French and English. Also known as the “World Court”, it is the only court of a universal character with general jurisdiction.The ICJ, a court open only to States for contentious proceedings, and to certain organs and institutions of the United Nations system for advisory proceedings, should not be confused with the other ¾ mostly criminal ¾ judicial institutions based in The Hague and adjacent areas, such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY, an ad hoc court created by the Security Council), the International Criminal Court (ICC, the first permanent international criminal court, established by treaty, which does not belong to the United Nations system), the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL, an independent judicial body composed of Lebanese and international judges, which is not a United Nations tribunal and does not form part of the Lebanese judicial system), or the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA, an independent institution which assists in the establishment of arbitral tribunals and facilitates their work, in accordance with the Hague Convention of 1899)Source: http://www.icj-cij.org http://www.somaliaonline.com/somali-judge-abdulqawi-ahmed-yusuf-was-elected-vice-president-of-the-international-court-of-justice-in-the-hauge/

Aydruz Ilmi, assistant coach, manager and one of the founding members of the Mayfair Young Stars, prays while his players practice. (Madelene Cronjé, M&G) Life is slowly returning to normal for Mayfair’s beleaguered Somali community. After the tides of looting and fleeing, traders and spaza shop owners who live in the townships are returning there, bakkies crammed with stock, after seeking the sanctuary of the suburb.In the Mayfair area known as Little Mogadishu, along Eighth Avenue and abutted by Bird and Hanover streets, all is orderly bustle. Taxi drivers listen to Arabic disco as they wait for fares; the religious slide sleepily into sandals as they finish their prayers. Some have their hair cut in the mirror-crammed Bulsho Barbershop. Cobblers repair shoes, hammering on heels and replacing soles. Some sip milkless tea out of glass thimbles at a nearby street corner restaurant, slouching. All seems peaceful, throbbing gently with the pulse of everyday life.Look more closely at the passing afternoon parade and one notices the upward heave of aspiration. The Taleh Internet Café and Communications Centre, for example, is less a centre than a shop; the Rasmi Call Centre is less a shop than it is a nook. Nooks are more like cupboards, cupboards more like boxes. According to this logic, even the lowest of street vendors, the man selling peanuts and gum, should be able to put a spin on the glories of entrepreneurship. He is not a walking panhandler, a smous, but rather the owner of a bazaar, an emporium, a trade centre.Somalis are besotted with the beautiful game. (Photos: Madelene Cronjé, M&G)Although Somali commerce and trade is located predominantly on Eighth Avenue, there are Somali-owned shops further afield. Nimco Abdullah has a clothes shop on Central Street, opposite the Mayfair Metrorail station. She has lived in South Africa for 12 years, putting her five sons and two daughters through school.One of her sons, Musa (18), was born in Mogadishu but considers himself a South African. He was one of two Somalis who matriculated from the Johannesburg Secondary School in Mayfair West at the end of 2014 with a commercial qualification rooted in economics, accountancy and business studies. Being part of such a minority didn’t bother him in the slightest. “In 2015 I’m taking a gap year,” he says cheerily.Musa is captain of Mayfair Young Stars’ under-18 team, so taking a gap year might be shorthand for saying that he’s concentrating on his football. His favourite player is Real Madrid’s Luka Modric and he tells me that he’s always off to Soccer City with a bunch of mates to support Kaizer Chiefs, his favourite local club. The slight central midfielder is less happy to admit that he backed Italy in the 2010 World Cup. “I thought they would do well because of [what happened] in 2006,” he says of the side who promised much but who were bumped out in the first round.The beautiful gameJust like Musa, young Somali men – and Somali men in general – are besotted with the beautiful game. Last Saturday night, Eighth Avenue in effect closed down so fans could watch the Chelsea vs Manchester City game live on SuperSport. City are much-loved because they recently gave a trial to a young Somali hopeful, Abdisalam Ibrahim.Although Ibrahim didn’t make it, and now finds himself at Olympiacos in Greece, his tale is a salutary one. If you are dedicated and luck runs your way, anything is possible. It might even happen that you can replace your replica jersey – there are many in Little Mogadishu, ranging from old versions of the German national team to the blue and white of Ellman FC in Somalia – with the thing itself. You could, as the football mythology goes, be living your dream rather than simply dreaming it.Mayfair, a suburb near the Jo’burg city centre, now has three teams – under-15s, under-18s and seniors – and they’re on a roll.There are success stories closer to home. Musa’s mate, Abdullah “Madala” Mohammed, is goalkeeper for the Mayfair Young Stars first XI. He’s been spotted by Wits’s amateur sides and is highly regarded, even having to fend off inquiries from some larger clubs. An effervescent individual, his personality is as impressive as his goalkeeping.“We call him Madala because he’s so good at languages,” says Aydruz Ilmi, one of the founding members of Mayfair Young Stars back in 2008. “He speaks English, Zulu, Afrikaans as well as Somali and Arabic. He’s one of our best players and we want to hold on to him.”Ilmi was driving past a local park six years ago when he spotted a group of youngsters kicking a ball around. With other elders he formed a club and registered the players. They now have three teams (under-15s, under-18s and seniors) with just under 50 members. All three teams play in the Greater Mayfair local Football Association leagues, a subdivision of Safa Southern Gauteng.Possibly because they have a well-developed sense of unity and understanding, all three sides have done well. Then again, their existence is in other ways precarious, despite Ilmi’s dreams of starting an academy and possibly, one day, a professional Somali side based in Johannesburg.Bowling green turned football fieldOn the day I watch them, practice takes place on what were the once-lush greens of the Mayfair Bowling Club, the little field now showing bare patches and signs of over-use. The ground is surrounded by plane, privet and mulberry trees and you enter it through an old-fashioned wrought-iron gate painted red. The practice is watched by big-eyed members of the community, sitting silently on the side of the field. No one texts or plays with their cellphone, as players like Musa and Madala struggle to keep the devilish bounce of the ball under control.As evening arrives, so the light softens and the heat ebbs, and the players revel in the pure joy of playing. There is the unmistakable feeling of being elsewhere. This is not Mayfair at all but Mogadishu, Addis Ababa, Kampala, the scene eternal rather than local, the horrors of the last few weeks far, far away.The Mayfair Young Stars in action.Other than struggling to find practice facilities in the area, Ilmi has some unique problems as manager and assistant coach. He tells me that the Somali community in South Africa numbers about 25?000 but this is a population in transition.The state of flux means that he isn’t always able to field the same side twice. People are often moving off elsewhere, having used South Africa as a temporary stepping stone to Europe and North America. On the other hand, there is a steady stream of new recruits. Players arrive from all over Gauteng for an impromptu trial, and Young Stars are always happy to accommodate them.“With the shop owners [from the townships] staying in Mayfair because they were safe, often they would come for a trial with us,” he says. “We could give them a chance and see what they could do. We are always looking for a way to bring the community closer together and football is a way of doing that. Everywhere you go Somalis are playing football. When they close the shops in the townships they just play in the street if they have some light. Find Somalis and you will find football.”Source: http://mg.co.za/ http://www.somaliaonline.com/life-is-slowly-returning-to-normal-for-south-africas-beleaguered-somali-community-after-tides-of-looting-and-violence-by-the-locals/

Hibo Wardere lives with her husband and children in Walthamstow in east London, where she works as a teaching assistant at a local primary school. She was six years old when she underwent female genital mutilation at her family home in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu.In a small hut built by her mother and aunt for the occasion, Wardere had her clitoris cut out by a woman holding a rusty blade. "Before I was taken into the hut, I felt I had no reason to fear this woman because my mother was there," she says.Wardere never spoke about her experience until she moved to Britain 25 years ago, after the outbreak of the Somali Civil War. Somalia is one of the 29 African and Middle Eastern countries where the practice is concentrated, where more than 125 million women and girls have been cut."When I was six, a lot the girls in my area had already had the procedure," Wardere says. "They segregated you for not having been 'done' and told me I was unclean. After a while of these taunts, I asked my mother if I could have it. She said yes, and I thought it was a good thing.""A few days later we had a massive party and all the attention was on me. I felt really loved. The next morning, I was woken up at about 5 o'clock and my mother gave me a big breakfast. Three women walked in an hour later, because they don't want to carry out the procedure when the sun is up." “It felt like my whole body was one fire. It was 'whoosh' and then you don't know what to do. You can't breathe”Wardere was then taken to the makeshift hut where she was to stay until she had recovered. She was told to sit on the floor, in front of one of the three women."The minute I sat down, the woman put her hands underneath my armpits to hold me still," she remembers. "I was such a scrawny little girl that I felt like she was crushing my ribs. I realised nothing good was going to come out of this. The woman then yanked my dress up and pulled my legs apart, which hurt terribly. The lady sat in front of me, the cutter, didn't make eye contact with me at all."When the woman reached into the bag next to her, dozens of razors and blades fell out. "I think they were quite rusty because they were a brown shade," she adds. "Then she pulled my clitoris so hard that I thought she was going to rip me with her fingers and I screamed because it was so painful. She then made one sharp cut.""The next thing I remember is that it felt like my whole body was one fire," Wardere says. "It was 'whoosh' and then you don't know what to do. You can't breathe. I screamed for my mother and I screamed for them to stop. I was six years old and I was screaming because I wanted to die."Over 140 million girls and women alive today have undergone some form of FGM(Getty) Advertisement "The woman kept asking my mother why I was screaming so much, and asked if I was a coward," Wardere says. "She said none of the others cried like this, and asked my mother to tell me to shut up." Her mother told her to keep quiet as the neighbours would hear her screams."Even after she had cut my clitoris off, the woman kept cutting," Wardere recalls. "She cut the vaginal lips and then went inside and cut more. By that time, I think I had passed the pain, I just wanted to die and asked God to take me.""The woman then started to sew me up, but I didn't know what was left to sew," she says. "I'm 45 and I still have flashbacks. FGM is a life sentence."Internationally recognised as a violation of the human rights of girls and women, FGM causes bleeding, chronic pain, infections, problems during childbirth and infertility, as well as extensive emotional trauma. Without intervention, another 86 million girls around the world will be subjected to the devastating practice by 2030.“We can equip this generation with information about the procedure and by doing so, protect women and girls in the future”Despite these serious consequences, FGM has long been a minority issue. Only now are campaigns gaining momentum, with anti-FGM petitions and public figures such as Malala Yousafzai – and survivors – speaking out about the issue. Last year, the UK hosted the inaugural Girl Summit, aimed at mobilising international efforts to end female genital cutting and child marriage."It ate me up for a very long time until three years ago, when I was asked to sit in a meeting with the head of my school and the parents of a Somalian girl. We suspected her parents were planning to take her out of school to be cut," Wardere says. "They asked what I thought, and I realised I could tell my story."The girl was taken out of school and never returned, Wardere adds. This is common practice in Britain, where FGM has been illegal since 1985. Since 2003, anyone taking a child out of the UK to be cut faces 14 years in prison. Even so, it is estimated that at least 20,000 girls under the age of 15 are estimated to be at risk of FGM in the UK. Many are cut during the school holidays - sometimes referred to as the "cutting season" for schoolgirls."Her parents knew that we were aware of what was happening," Wardere says. "It is likely that they didn't want an investigation, so never took her back."Afterwards, Wardere wrote down her experience as part of a teaching course about child abuse. "It took me all night and I broke down many times, but it was kind of good to let it out. Since then, I've been going to schools and teaching staff and children about the effects of FGM."As we approach the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation on 6 February, Wardere hopes her story will help raise awareness of the issue."When people find out I been through FGM, it's a game changer," she says. "Eradicating female cutting is all education and engaging men, women and children. We can equip this generation with information about the procedure and by doing so, protect women and girls in the future. That is my goal."Source: http://www.ibtimes.co.ukhttp://www.somaliaonline.com/female-genital-mutilation-i-was-six-years-old-and-i-screamed-because-i-wanted-to-die/

Just hours after a terrorist group’s attack on a satirical newspaper in Paris last month, nine future teachers sat with a group of Somali community elders in Minneapolis discussing the relationship between Islam and terrorism.As the elders expressed their anger and frustration that their religion had again been used to justify violence and shared their belief that people who carry out these kinds of violent acts are not Muslims, UW-Eau Claire students shared their own reactions and impressions, including their surprise in discovering the many similarities among Christianity, Judaism and Islam. These heartfelt conversations between students and Somali elders around religion and terrorism were possible thanks to a five-year-old UW-Eau Claire program that immerses education majors in Minneapolis' Somali community, helping future teachers expand their understanding of a population that is rapidly growing in Minnesota and in western Wisconsin communities. "The Somali Muslims we got to know were so welcoming and kind to us," said Mai Lee Kha, an elementary education major from Hatley who was among the students who participated in the Winterim program. "They all broke down every stereotype and narrow-minded perception I unfortunately had of Somali Muslims.“ Kha's deeper understanding and new appreciation for the Somali people and their culture is exactly what the organizers of the Somali Experience envisioned when they created the program to help prepare future teachers to meet the needs of the diverse students they will find in their classrooms. "This immersion experience offers unparalleled opportunities for pre-service teachers to broaden their worldviews and develop culturally relevant competencies that they will need to be effective and ethical teachers in today's public school system," said Dr. Aram deKoven, an associate professor of education studies who helps organize and lead the Somali Domestic Intercultural Immersion experience. The Somali population in the Twin Cities is the largest Somali diaspora outside of Africa, numbering between 25,000 and 30,000. An increasing number of Somali immigrants also are settling into small communities in western Wisconsin, including places like New Richmond and Barron. Many UW-Eau Claire students, like Kha, come from small communities with few opportunities to interact with diverse people, yet many Blugolds find teaching jobs in regions with growing Somali populations, deKoven said. "The ethnic Somalis are distinctive because they embody the real-life complexities of diversity, including racial diversity, linguistic diversity and religious diversity," he said. Learning about different cultures Somalis are dark-skinned immigrants who learn English as a second language in school, deKoven said. In addition, many Somalis are Muslim, a religion that influences their daily life interactions and customs, including how genders interact in classrooms and how Somali students dress, he said. Teachers in the region often know little about Somali culture, traditions, languages and lifestyles, deKoven said. As a result, it can be challenging for them to include Somalis productively into the classroom and school life, he said. "Our program gives our preservice teachers and others at UW-Eau Claire a personal and professional edge in understanding the Somali culture and immigrant experiences," deKoven said. "With these competencies, students can more effectively serve as cultural bridges and help ease the transitions for Somali learners in their K-12 public classrooms, places of employment and public spaces." Hopefully, students' new understanding and experience interacting with an immigrant population also will encourage greater understanding and acceptance of other minorities, deKoven said. "We expect to see that a deeper understanding of one oppressed community of language learners will transfer into more welcoming and supportive environments for other oppressed and frequently misunderstood cultures," deKoven said, noting that program leaders currently are working to measure the long-term impact of the immersion experience. Kha said she knew little about Somalis beyond the fact that they were refugees, yet she quickly felt a deep connection to the people she met partly because of her Hmong ethnicity and similarities between the two groups. "I realized how much my Hmong ethnicity relates with the Somalis and their experience," Kha said. Kha, who has a minor in teaching English as a second language, said better understanding the culture, traditions, lifestyle and religion of the Somalis will make her more aware of all diverse learners in her future classroom. "By knowing different cultures and ethnicities, I'm able to widen my perception of the world I'm in and stand up for them when a stereotype or prejudice arises against them," she said. Fully immersed The Somali immersion experience is a comprehensive educational program that combines more than 24 hours of classroom-based instruction, a weeklong, full-day field placement in specially selected schools that serve primary Somali youth, and daily excursions in and around the Somali community in the Twin Cities. In the weeks leading up to the school immersion, students hear lectures on Somali history, traditions, customs, migrations and conflicts. Those discussions are led by Abdirizak Bihi, a prominent Somali community leader and activist; Steve Hill, professor of political science at UW-Eau Claire; and Paul Kaldjian, professor of geography and anthropology at the university. Once the students have completed the classroom portion of the experience, they then spend five days in one of two Minneapolis schools that serve primarily Somali youth. For Kha, a program highlight was interacting with four Somali women her age who also are pursuing education degrees. In the five years the program has been offered, nearly 50 UW-Eau Claire students have participated, many of whom now teach in area schools, said deKoven, who established the program along with Kate Reynolds, professor of languages.Source: http://www.leadertelegram.com http://www.somaliaonline.com/university-of-wisconsin-eau-claire-program-helps-local-students-learn-about-somalis/

Somali-born Christchurch nurse Sahra Ahmed concedes she is "either brave or silly" as she starts work next week with Ebola victims in Sierra Leone.Sahra, a refugee nurse at Piki T Ora health centre in Linwood, is on a two-month assignment with the International Red Cross Ebola response.She says she wants to give back to the continent of her origin.Sahra, the only African aid worker with the New Zealand Red Cross, admits to "moments of nervousness"."I love New Zealand. I always say New Zealand is my official parent. I had the privilege of being educated here and doing what I wanted to do. For me it's really humanity first."She will be based in Kenema, a rugged five-hour drive from the capital Freetown, helping patients who have been been treated successfully, discharging them into their communities with the right support from social workers – or helping someone who may have lost a parent, reassuring them and equipping them with all the information they need."My mum thinks I'm mad. She says 'you're crazy – are you looking for death?'. For her, it's just a terrifying thing and she'll be counting the days. My brother understands."Sahra, a New Zealand registered nurse, understands her mother's concern. "It's just a lack of knowledge about it."I'm a determined woman. Once I get it into my head, I'll do it."I want to change the perception that all Somalis are either pirates or plane hijackers".Sahra arrived in New Zealand with her brother 25 years ago and is married to a New Zealand aid worker who has served in Sudan, Kenya and Uganda."He's a good man. He told me 'I'll be worried but I'll be very proud of you'."The couple have a 12-year-old daughter, Raha.The decision was made just before Christmas."It all happened very fast."I thought it's a job to do."It is a challenge. It always hurts me to see the suffering with Ebola. When I saw the Sierra Leone story, it decided me, if I can do it I will do it. I do care about people, and love caring for people."To be honest I haven't given huge thought about it." (sic)She is thankful for the support of her employer Piki Te Ora, a mini United Nations itself.Sahra is no stranger to calamity. She was in Macedonia when the 7.4 magnitude killer earthquake struck Turkey, and worked with the German Red Cross. The disaster claimed more than 17,000 lives although other estimates put the death toll at 45,000 with a similar number injured. Half the area's health workers perished.There she worked in a tent hospital dealing with medical emergencies and women giving birth."I'm sort of nomadic, I don't belong anywhere really. I want to be occupied, not bored."This is what I wanted to do."Life has got its own plan."She flew out on Sunday with two Wellington health workers bound for Madrid for a two-day briefing and training with protective equipment, before heading to Sierra Leone in a day or two.Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz http://www.somaliaonline.com/somali-born-nurse-sahra-ahmed-from-new-zealand-travels-to-sierra-leone-to-join-the-battle-against-ebola/

Controversy over cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed hit home in Seattle recently, culminating in a protest outside of southend refugee service provider on Friday.A group of Somali Americans gathered outside the Refugee Women’s Alliance(ReWA) on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way to demand the resignation of a teacher who showed the cartoons to her teenage students on the day after the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris.“We’re not gonna be silent when it’s something that’s not right,” said Hassan Aden, who was one of between 15 to 20 people who attended the protest. “We’re trying to show that we’re not happy with what she did.”The teacher, Deepa Bhandaru, recently earned her Ph.D from the UW Political Science department, and works for ReWA teaching a free class on world affairs for youth, where she showed the cartoons during a lesson on free speech and religious pluralism.A post by the Stranger (where Bhandaru has written a number of film reviews and other articles) came to her defense, saying that she’d already sent lengthly letters of apology to her colleagues at ReWA and to a local mosque attended by some of her Somali students.Bhandaru told the Stranger she thought the protest organizers were harping on the issue to score political points, and manipulating community members who didn’t speak English fluently. You can read the full post here (warning: the linked page contains a copy of one of the cartoons in questions).Hassan Diis (left) and Ubah Warsame at the latest in a series of demonstrations at ReWA Friday demanding a teacher be fired. More protests are planned for next week. (Photo by Alex Garland)When protesters arrived Friday afternoon the ReWA offices were shuttered, with all staff gone for the day, and an official statement taped to the door (posted in full below).Shahzad Qadri, a member of ReWA’s board of directors said the decision to close was based on fears for the safety of the staff, following incidents of vandalism early in the week.“A lot of teenagers in our community were very angry and frustrated,” said Fatma Yessef, who attended the protest with her daughter Sumaya. “We told them we have to vent our frustration in a peaceful, nice way and say ‘you cannot do this to our prophet.'”Like Yessef, many at the protest said they’d lived in the U.S. for decades and emphasized that they embraced American values of freedom of speech and religion. But more than one participant said they felt that showing the cartoons to youth had crossed a line, and insisted that they would only be satisfied if Bhandaru were fired.Qadri said the decision about Bhandaru’s future at ReWA would be made based on an ongoing internal investigation, the results of which would be public.“We serve a multicultural group. Seventy percent of our client base is of Muslim descent, and I myself am a practicing Muslim,” he said. “Our goal is never to offend anyone.”For Yessef, who said she’s know Bhandaru several years, the apologies were too little too late.“She should respect us as much as we respect her — her religion, her personality,” she said. “I don’t want to disrespect anybody for the way they are…I don’t think it’s free speech to talk about somebody’s religion, somebody’s beloved prophet like that.”The letter posted on the doors of ReWA Friday. (Photo by Alex Garland)Signs carried by Somali American protesters alluded to complaints about policy at ReWA beyond just the cartoons. (Photo by Alex Garland)Source: http://www.seattleglobalist.com http://www.somaliaonline.com/somali-protestors-in-seattle-washington-demand-teacher-resign-over-mohammed-cartoons/