Chimera;934165 wrote: You'd be surprised at my knowledge of Somalia's degenerate side, but I just don't allow it to affect my view of the country's potential, or influence me to treat my fellow Somali as an enemy. Have you gone 'back' before?

I shall, henceforth, also provide explanatory commentory on the poems I post, to explain the meanings behind them.

Thought. I am a thinker. That is who I am. That is what I do. So let me share with you, my thoughts. I am a thinker. That is who I am. That is what I do. Thought is a gift. A precious gift. A freeing gift. An unearthly gift. So let me share with you. My Thoughts. To think is to observe. To analyse. To challenge. Thought is to dig. To excavate a hole-ridden landscape. Thought is to find. That which remains unfound. Thought is to find, anew. Thought is to soothe, so caressingly. An itching place. Thought is to quench, The thirst of a deeply yearning place. Thought is like the rain, Heaven-sent nourishment, In the harshest of droughts. Thought is a spark. A light in a dark vacuum. An energy that warms, The spirit of a place. Thought is effort, So kindled by fortune. Thought is like a pioneer, Setting camp in a new abode, Like steps charted, To an unknown yet promising route. Thought is nurture, And part nature. It is like a newly planted seed, Instinctively taking root, And growing with time, It is like a newly born, Still requiring that nurturing hand. Thought is the ability, To go beyond known boundaries. Though is to utter, So bravely, So foolishly, So boldly, Words you deemed unsayable, It is, To think that thought unthinkable. Thought is hope itself, It is releasing beyond, What be described in mere words. Thought is to realise, And grasp new freedoms, Its to know, where the true confines lie, Where new possibilities start. Thought at its climax, Is a phenomenal experience. So let it be known, Thought, The true capacity of the mind, The grand capabilities, Instilled deep within us all, Is open to all.

Thanks Blue, and thanks also for bumping the thread as I'd forgotten all about it.

xabad;932869 wrote: NFD is ahead of the NW in every way. There is a real government plus law and order there. I never said there is no rule of law, I am yet to get onto that topic.

Aint it funny though, the sight of Dahabshiil towering over the so-called "baanka dhexe". It speaks volumes and makes you wonder about who really holds the power.

Haatu;932819 wrote: Alpha, it's currently Gu' season. Why don't you take advantage and go plant some trees outside the city on your weekends? You could set up a group to help you and do it on an iskaa wax u qabso basis. It pains me to see the land turn to desert slowly. The problem is parly also one of land ownership laws. There are very few unclaimed pieces of land left in the country and those who own the land hoard it and do nothing with it. Nobody wants you to tresspass on their out of fear you may lay claim to it in the "ku qabso ka qadi maysid ee" mindset. So all I would say is be careful where you try to plant.

Great pictures Alpha, keep em coming. You've outdone yourself sxb Now if only you could do a bit of investigative journalism and find out who is contructing the buildings that are under construction and for what purpose...

Salaam Juxa, Does anyone know who's the mod for the general section?

Edited & Updated. Tooray City a.k.a Burco Boodhweyn. We arrived in Burco and I believe we drove into the city from the new-Burco area side on the smoothly paved road that leads in to the city. Driving from Sheikh to Burco you find yourself, after some travel of-course, having suddenly arrived in Burco. I say suddenly because in the New-Burco area which is the first part of the city that you will come across, the houses are still few in number and so you will find the odd house or two suddenly appearing next to the road. This is the signal that you have arrived in Burco. Among those houses is the house of Dahabshiil himself and the house of another wealthy local fellow whose name I do not recall. These handful (two or three houses) will probably be the only handful of double story houses you are likely to see in Burco. (Of-course there are a number of multi-storey hotels in the city's centre). From the outset I got the misguided idea that many of the city's houses wouls be as large and lavish as those I first saw on the outskirts. Oh how wrong I was. We drove further into the city and soon the houses eitherside of the road becamse more numerous. Burco is probably the "terraced houses capital" of the Somali republic as most streets consist of a row of terraced houses. The single paved road soon developed side-roads and eventually we turned off from the smooth, faultless asphalted road and found ourselves doing some serious off-road driving in the side-streets and being thrown around inside the car. We soon got a better idea of what the real city looked like. Once-again I was utterly shocked and sitting there with a harrowed look on my face. I was sitting there with my window half down, an unintentionally dropped jaw and a perplexed and puzzled look on my face. I was overcome and consumed with yaab; what can only be described as shock. Where had I just come? I thought. Where is the city that is spoken of? I thought... surely they didnt mean this chaotic, dirty and underdeveloped oversized slum. Imagine: there is no pavement, no paved road, no street lights, no front gardens. Instead, you will find that the streets and neigbourhoods of the city consist of narrow streets consisting of dark maroon-brown earth, sand and mud where you have to wade through heaps of trash and rocks. The houses are slum-esque; rows of small, dingy, boxey terraced houses, many with haphazardly built shacks in front of them to house goats. On the corner of each street is a "cornershop", which is a shack constructed of metal sheets or sticks and branches, selling soft drinks, bread, sugar and other such consumables. Burco was even worse that Hargeisa because in Burco the houses are, for whatever reason, not built as high or wide as in Hargeisa . Unlike in Hargeisa, most of the houses (I say most) are not detached but in Burco you will find rows upon rows of squalid terraced "houses" of old Burco, many of which are in a bad state of disrepair. This means that it looks and is an awful lot more like a slum, a very big and expansive one at that. There are also newer rows of terraced houses. These newer houses sit on bigger land, average 3 bedrooms and are constructed with beautifully and proportionately crafted white& beige coloured natural stone of various hues, with vividly contrasting gates and metal doors of brightly coloured variations and designs. These houses do not, unfortunately, have front or back gardens but if the streets in front of the houses are cleared and flattened/levelled, the streets are paved with cobble-stone, trees are planted and front gardens (even if only gardens of a 2 metre expanse from the house) are created, the look of the city would be transformed. Burco is known as Burco Boodhweyn and only once you are there do you realise how appropriate the name is. If you are coming to Burco, ensure that you bring big sunglasses because the sand and dust that rises from the city's streets will get into your eyes. So much so that it is almost impossible to walk or go outside if there is a slight wind (and there usually is). There is, as though the city were built on a beach, a permanent layer of coffee-coloured sand (not earth or dust but sand,God knows where it appeared from), on every inch of street, road, open space or other land of the city. So much so that you can sit in front of you house, take your shoes off and press with your feet into the sand; in some areas the layer of sand is so deep that the sand will reach above your ankles. You would think that Burco is built on the Sahara. I found it suprising then, when I discovered that the city is home to 2 or three water-blottling plants. Apparently, there is an abundance of underground water that the city sits on. Burco is also home to a nascent manufacturing industry and it is home to the water-bottling plants, furniture manufacturing, detergents manufacturing. It also does a lot of trade with the regions and many consumables that are imported through the Berbera port are traded into the hinterland and, via Galkacyo, in some cases further south. The city also has a large livestock and meat market that besides causing a great part of the city to be swamped by thousands upon thousands of belligerent flies (swarms of them), means livestock is brough in from the surrounding countryside as well as many regions further afar (further South). The city also has a bustling city-centre with a market & 'high-streets'. Much like Bakaara market, each long street speacialises in and sells a particular item. One particular street is lined with physical stores selling gold (vast majority owned by women). Another street is lined with physical stores selling clothing (womens clothing, vast majority owned by women). Then there are the markets (bacadlayaasha) which sell a vast array of consumer products (mainly owned by men, interestingly). Brisk trade is done and the quantities of things being bought and sold, the number of streets and stalls selling goods is surprising and especially so because of the city looks so poor. If only the narrow streets would be paved with cobblestone, once again it would very much transform the city centre. It goes without saying though, that most of this consumer spending is a false economy financed with remittances and should those remittances stop, this entire economy will grind to a halt. Another thing I noticed is that the vast majority of things being sold is imported, from shoes (insane when we have such a high number of livestock and thus potential leather), to mobile phones, glasses and teacups. These goods are shipped from China and transhipped through Dubai to Berbera/Boosaaso which means they are quite costly. The quality of the items being sold is very very poor and this is epecially the case where they are Chinese-made goods. In fact, poor does not even adequately describe the appaling quality of the goods. Most of these goods are worthless because they are fauly and will break, rip, disintegrate or stop working withing a few days of you haveing purchased them. I bought a bag for my clothes, the wheels and handle broke off, the material started to rip and falling apart. I bought a mug and simply held it; the handle broke off, it dropped to the ground and it smashed into pieces. The windoes of the houses are Chinese-made, they are of very poor quality, do not close or open properly among many issues with them. To be continued... Tooray city.

Tooray City a.k.a Burco Boodhweyn. We arrived in Burco and I believe we drove into the city from the new-Burco area side, on the smooth paved road that leads in to the city. Driving from Sheikh to Burco, you find yourself, after some travel of-course, having suddenly arrived in Burco. I say suddenly because in the New-Burco area which is the first part of the city that you will come across, the houses are still few in number. You will suddenly find the odd house or two next to the road, this is the signal that you have arrived in Burco. Among those houses is the house of Dahabshiil himself and the house of another wealthy local fellow whose name I do not recall. These will probably be the only two double story houses you are likely to see in Burco. (Of-course there are a number of multi-storey hotels in the city's centre). From the outset I got the misguided though understandable idea that many of the houses wouls be as large and lavish as those I first saw on the outskirts of the city. Oh how wrong I was. We drove further into the city and soon the houses eitherside of the road becamse more numerous. Burco is probably the "terraced houses capital" of the Somali republic. The road soon developed side-roads and eventually we turned off from the smooth, faultless asphalted road and found ourselves doing some serious off-road driving, being thrown around in the car. We soon got a better idea of what the real city looked like. Once-again I was utterly shocked and sitting there with a harrowed look on my face. I was sitting there with my window half down, an unintentionally dropped jaw and a perplexed and puzzled look on my face. I was overcome and consumed with yaab; what can only be described as shock. Where had I just come? I thought. Where is the city that is spoken of? I thought... surely they didnt mean this chaotic, dirty and underdeveloped oversized slum. Burco was even worse that Hargeisa because in Burco the houses are, for whatever reason, not built as high or wide as in Hargeisa . Unlike in Hargeisa, most of the houses (I say most) are not detached but in Burco you will find rows upon rows of squalid terraced "houses" of old Burco, many of which are in a bad state of disrepair. This means that it looks and is an awful lot more like a slum, a very big and expansive one at that. There are also newer rows of terraced houses. These newer houses sit on bigger land, average 3 bedrooms and are constructed with beautifully and proportionately crafted white& beige coloured natural stone of various hues, with vividly contrasting gates and metal doors of brightly coloured variations and designs. These houses do not, unfortunately, have front or back gardens but if the streets in front of the houses are cleared and flattened/levelled, the streets are paved with cobble-stone, trees are planted and front gardens (even if only gardens of a 2 metre expanse from the house) are created, the look of the city would be transformed. Burco is known as Burco Boodhweyn and only once you are there do you realise how appropriate the name is. If you are coming to Burco, ensure that you bring big sunglasses because the sand and dust that rises from the city's streets will get into your eyes. So much so that it is almost impossible to walk or go outside if there is a slight wind (and there usually is). There is, as though the city is built on a beach, a permanent and spread out layer of of light-brown coffee coloured sand (not dust but sand) (God knows where it appeared from) and not earth, on every inch of street, road, open space or other land of the city. So much so that you sit in front of you house, take your shoes off and press with your feet into the sand that in some areas is a layer so deep that the sand will reach above your ankles. You would think that Burco is built on the Sahara. I fount it suprising then, when I discovered that the city is home to 2 or three water-blottling plants because there is an abundance of underground water that the city sits on. Burco is home to a nascent manufacturing industry and it is home to water-bottling plants, furniture manufacturing, detergents manufacturing. It also does a lot of trade with the regions and many consumables that are imported through the Berbera port are traded into the hinterland and, via Galkacyo, in some cases further south. The city also has a large livestock and meat market that, besides causing a great part of the city to be swamped by thousands upon thousands of flies, swarms of them, means livestock is brough in from the surrounding countryside as well as many regions further afar (further South). The city also has a bustling city-centre of a market & high-street model. Much like Bakaara market, each long street speacialises in the sales of a particular item. One particular street is lined with stores selling gold. Another street is lined with stores selling clothing (womens clothing). Then there are the markets (bacadlayaasha) which sell a vast array of consumer products. Brisk trade is done. If only the narroe streets would be paved with cobblestone, once again it would very much transform the city centre. To be continued... Tooray city.

Tallaabo;932450 wrote: This is an excellent thread but you can not ignore the fact that if the union of Somaliland and Somalia was good for the Somali people today we would have something to show for it. I object to your question because it is a leading one. What you refer to is not a fact but an opinion and a flawed opinion at that. To think that "if the union of Somaliland and Somalia was good for the Somali people today we would have something to show for it" would be very simplistic because the world is not that black and white. The union have may potential benefits, but if it is not managed well or operated in a proper manner, the benefits from it cannot be realised. But that does not mean that a union is not good for the Somali people; it is just the case that the last internatinoally recognised government of the Somali people was not good for the Somali people. The reason why the union (Somali goverment( failed was because it was badly structured and managed. The last Somali government failed because it was autocrative, oppresive, practiced nepotism and it used force against its own people. there was a concentration of power and there were no independently functioning national institutions which meant that when the cgovernment was overthrown the country came to a standstill and there was a lack of governance or public service provision. This is not something that is set in stone or cement, this is something that can be changed. The political structures can be changed to make government more decentralised, more effective,more accountable and more democratic. Institutions can be built and they can be made independent from government and there can be checks in place to make sure that they too are effective and accountable. Speaking of benefits, economically we will be better off if Somalis stick together and this is for countless reasons. Automatically if we remain together we will have: - Our sub-economies can complement eachother. - A bigger country with a bigger population, a greater GDP and the government has a greater tax-base from both the greater number of companies and the larger working population. - Both the private sector and the public sector can realise economic of scale. - We will have a bigger domestic market as there are more consumers and a greater pool of labour. - This in turn means we can attract more investment. - We will also have greater leverage in political and economic terms, precisely because there are more consumers and there is a greater pool of labour. - All of the above means we can have a larger military and out security and that we can better defend oout political and eocnomic interests. - Our land and resources will still be plenty as we will only be a populaiton of 10m for a country of 600 miles quared, with 3,300KM coast and plenty of resources. We cans till work hard to equally distribute wealth. There are many more benefits we can achieve.

Carafaat;932671 wrote: Saxiib, Burco wa magaalo aad u fiican. Make sure you ignore their insults(Cambe, Dhaqan celis, gaal ismood, etc), its not personal. just a local habit. i never had any insults from the people, they were very pleasant.

Carafaat, wait for the worst part, when I arrive at Burco. You will probably be seething but I am determined to give the masses a realistic perspective of the place. The truth shall prevail, I shall not be silenced. The reality is that Somaliland is not the nirvana or utopia that it is presented to by its supporters. The quality of life for the inhabitants is shocking, the leadership is self-serving and the results of their incompetent leadership has disastrous implications for the masses. And the quest for independence, which is coincidentally presented as a panacea for all the social economic and political problems just distracts the people from the real issues of: extreme poverty; incompetent, corrupt and self-serving political leadership; lack of the most basic public services; a long list of social problems. Jarenlang liep ik mee met de massa, Onwetend en blind, ik was één met de massa, Shit, ik heb geen zin meer om me bek te houden, Want we worden met z’n allen voor de gek gehouden, Ik heb kamervragen!

Alpha Blondy;932654 wrote: inaar, this thread and Oday's analysis of many of the themes discussed are suspect at worst and plagiarised at best. who wants to ask questions to a man writing these posts from his council estate somewhere within the M25 ring-road that encircles London. there's no pictures either. inaar, this oday is a pathetic voyeur. his views are incredibly condescending and lack personality. Oday, where are you now? fadlan post your GPS coordinates...... Sxb, I've expressed my disappointment in you before and I will do so again. You supposedly work in and live in Hargeisa. You have the most perfect opportunity to present us with first-hand account of life in the homeland and to post pictures, videos and keep a blog. yet you fail us sxb. Only recently after I complained have you started posting some pictures of the place (Hargeisa), albeit bad-quality and badly taken pictures. So I challenge you. Start a thread and present us with an alternative narrative, with pictures, videos and all.

Carafaat;932657 wrote: Tribalism in its purest form. I definetly know for sure there are more villages between Berbera and Burco then between any other two cities. Come up with facts Oday! looool o.k.

The villages Travelling between the major cities you will drive through a number of small villages, usually one every few KM's or so. There are a lot of very small villages between Hargeisa and Berbera, very few villages (less than you can count on one hand) between Berbera and Burao and a greater number (larger too in size) between Burao-Las Anod-Garowe. The rampant poverty and underdevelopment are evident as you drive through these villages which consist of nothing more than houses that are buulal, dergado or the typical African slum-house made of metal sheeting. There are brick and mortar houses to be found in these villages, but this type of housing is almost exclusive to the larger villages and are even then few in number. As one drives through these villages, it becomes clear that an overwhelming majority of the villages are severely malnurished. Their bodies are lean, their faces look gaunt, their clothes are in many cases tattered. Of course these villages do not have any modern infrastructure and though I did not explore, probably very few public amenities such as healthcare, education. Because these villages have extremely limited purchasing power, there are very few business or private enterprises offering products or services in these villages. Most of the villagers are in someway engaged in the livestock trade. The little trade that is conducted in these villages is supplementary to their livestock rearing and this trade consists entirely of selling milk, and in some cases meat, by the road-side. Some villages will have a small shack that serves as an eatery for traffic that passes through. The recurring pattern is once-again of, god bless them, Somali women almost exclusively forming the petty traders and being the small business owners. The Pothole Kids & Crazy Men Driving between the cities and through the villages you will find come across many surprises. Some of these surprises will be the surprise of seeing a camel or sheep laying in the middle of or suddely running across the road. Certainly not something that you will be accustomed to if you've come from abroad. Other surprises will be the mentally ill men you will see along the highway, especially as you travel between the cities. These men (I did not see a woman in such a state in all my time there, makes you wonder why) who just wonder along the road or the side of it; their appearance is schocking: their clothes are ripped, they are malnurished, they have unkept and overgrown hair. These men are known as the crazy men. They are clearly disoriented, dazed, seemingly unaware of their state and location and not even remotely lucid. Lastly you will find what I've termed "the pot-hole kids". I call them "kids", but really I ought to say boys. These are boys who stand in the middle of or the side of the road near their village with a shovel adn fill the potholes with sand to smoothen the drive for those who are driving through. At the first sight of them I wondered what they were doing on the road or at the side of the road when they could see a car approaching. Then, when I saw them filling the potholes on the paved road, I naively thought and said out loud: "how good and charitable of them". I was immediately told: "they are doing it in hope to get some money!". The boy finished filling the potholes with the small shovel and they stood at the side of the road. Slowly the car drove further along and the the boy stood at the side of the road, arms stretched before them and their hand extended towards the window of the car. These boys are to be found on the outskirts of most villages and in many instances we threw them some money from the window, as is the norm for those who choose to reward their effort. At least those boys do not ask something for nothing, unlike the next group of people I am about to discuss. Isbaaroyinka Duceysan - The Blessed Checkpoints Driving between the cities, you will find yourself stopped at roadblocks/checkpoints at every few KM (maybe every 20KM or so), from Hargeisa to Garowe (probably from Boorama to beyond Garowe). These roadblocks are "official government checkpoints" and consist of a square small mortar and brick structure that perhaps is 1.5m wide and the same in hight to indicate that this is a roadblock/checkpoint. At those checkpoints the road is blocked, often they use a rope extended across the width of the road and in other cases they use a hand operated traffic barrier. These barriers were apparently introduced after the 2008 Alshabab bombings and are used to check the contect of vehicles travelling between the cities and the road-humps at these check-points are used to slow traffic "in-case al-shabab operatives try to 'escape' or drive off after doing some malicious act. The police officers at these checkpoints will note down the registration number of the car, the name of the driver, ask that the windows be lowered and check the content and passengers on the car (I am told they keep a look out for big-beard types, foreigners and excessive baggage). The checks are as strict when you are driving "out" of Somaliland as when you are driving into it. To the nuxur of mentioning these checkpoints and where the pun in the subtitle ("isbaaroyinka duceysan") is. After these police officers complete their checks and questions, they turn to personal profiteering. They will harangue you incessantly to give them "duco" and in quite an aggressive manner, ak47 slung on their shoulder on in their hand: "ducada keen", "ducada keena". I was perplexed and wondered what on earth they were talking about. Again I was told, they want money, "duco" is a euphemism for money. The peculiar choice of words is inspired by the job-roles and their official capacity as public-servants. The "duco" then, is a supposed show of grattitude from you the [returnee/qurbojoog] civilliant, to thank them for their public service. In many cases we gave them money to save us the hearache and any possible negative consequences of not doing so. In other cases we did not and they let us pass. It all determines on how determined those particular police officers are to get money out of you. You will experience the same with traffice police within the cities who will forcibly stop you, look at who is in the car and demand money: "waryaa, jooji gaadhiga. Haye, gaadhigani ma cashuuran yahay? Yaa leh gaadhiga? Gaadhigani ma casuurna (waa ka marmarsiinyo). Waa qurbojooga, war lacag keen waryaahee hadii kale gaadhiga ma sii daynayno. We had to drive off because the situation was becoming quite hostile.

Tallaabo, im not going to further detract from the subject of this thread.

This thread gave me a good laugh. Keep up the antics folks

What is going on in this picture? (I havnt read the article)

Wiil Cusub;932322 wrote: Wali riyada kamaad toosin midnimo Somaliyeed ayaa horumar dhali haddii aad taagantahay. Ma ogtahay horumarka dhaqan, dhaqaale ama milatari ee wadan inaanu ku xidhnayn waynaanta iyo tiro badnida wadan, mase ogtahay inay jiraan wadamo aanay tiradoodu gaadhay 1 milion oo horumar laxaadle sameeyay. Somalidu shacab ahaan way isu baahantahay siyaasad ahaanse way kala maarantaa. Jabuutiba wataa horumar gaadhay iyadoon la midaysnayn cidno. Djibouti is probably the worst example you could have picked... a tiny city-state that is economically entirely dependent on the port revenues it generates from Ethiopia and the fees it levies on the American, French and Japanese military bases. If it were not for its fortunate location and Eritrea seceding from Ethiopia, it would just be an insignifcant, tiny, barren coastal enclave with no political, social or economic clout or relevance to speak of. Adigu rumayso waxaad rumaysanaso, im not going to futher detract from the subject of this thread.

The landscapes. The landscapes do not change much. You will see a landscape of short Acacia tree and shrubs, with humps of sand sitting in the middle of them. In Some parts you will find yourself in plains of just short shrub, in an almost flat, tree-less landscape you will be able to see to the horizon and there is no mercy of shade that a tree might have been able to offer from the relentless African sun. In some parts you will find grassland, though not much. To be honest after a while, because the drives between the cities can be very tiring, I was not very interested in the landscapes. But without a doubt the most impressive landscapes are the mountainous landscapes of the sheikh area. As I drove up the winding road and reached the peak of Sheikh, I was met with a pleasant cool breeze and green vegetation surrounding me. I could see in hills and the peak-forms of the mountainous landscape disappearing into the distance. Far below, I looked out on the the valleys that sat at the bottom of the mountains and stretched out, turning into many directions. There is a good opportunity to replant trees in the highlands and to encourage reforestation. It is not yet too late. The nomadic way of life. Travelling through the harsh and unforgiving landscape of the more arid regions of the Somali peninsula was certainly an experience. Travelling through those lands I was perplexed and puzzled how our ancestors had survived in such a landscape - devoid of vegetation, arable lands or perrenial water bodies. I was, truly, in awe of and in that moment brimming with a feeling of respect for the way of life that Somali people had led. Only then did I begin to appreciate and understand the ingenuity of the Somali nomadic way of life. The camel was first domesticated in the Somali peninsula and I then understood why - even today 2/3 of the world's camel population is found in the Somali peninsula. It was a case of making maximum utility and produce in the most effective way out of the scare and limited resources. A camel was used, before the advent of modern technologies and a globalised economy, for many purposes. It was a mode of travel and movement of items. Camels are sterdy, versatile and are ideal for dry landscapes in a way that few other livestock are. The [somali] camel can go over three weeks without water and walk for miles on end without tiring. It was reared for its meat and its very nutricious protein-rich milk. The milk was used as/made into drinking milk, ghee, butter, yogurt; and the meat was cooked, fried, steamed or salted and dried or preserved in ghee. Its hide/skin was obviously also used for many purposes and also exported overseas. Camels also supplemented the keeping of other liivestock such as the Somali sheep and also to a lesser extent of goats. The versatility and many uses of this animal were just brilliant and whoever first thought up the domesticating/keeping of this animal was a genius and her/his idea has sustained and been a lifeline for an entire people over centuries. All the above may well be true, but today the nomadic way of life is serverely threatened - and it is no longer and effecient way of living in this developed, technologically advanced and globalised world. It is threatened by climate change and by the people themselves not understanding and not respecting their environment/habitat. Dhirtii oo dhan waa la gubay. Dhuxul aa laga dhigay. Baaqi dollar ah si lagu hello, ayaa loo dhoofiyay. Urbanisation is also happening at an astonishing rate... reer baadiye/guuraa/mii waybe yaryihiin waagan. The nomadic way of life was great and I respect the history and culture we have gained from it over the centuries but it no longer suitable, there are better alternatives. Having said that, the history, legacy and culture of this way of life needs to be preserved in in texts, books, plays, poems, films etc. De-forestation It was clear to me though that througout the land, in every landscape there was a noticeable and saddening lack of trees. There had been a severe de-forestation that was having devestating impact ont he environment and on the economic livelihoods of the nomads. In some areas they said that it hadn't rained in 4 years, and boy was this evident. Lifestock has been dying in their thousands. The earth was parched and dry, with dust raising from it at any slight movement. The trees and all other vegetation had lost all sign of life and as far as the human eye could see, in any direction, every tree, every plant, every shrub was a grey colour, devoid of any foliage. Hundreds of miles I travelled, and there was no single water-body in sight. It was a dead landscape, a shocking sight. And when it rains, rains fall in isolation in very specific places no more than a few hundred meters or a few KM's in width and length - as though the rest of the land has been instructed no to have any water. The few trees that remain are being cut down for charcoal because there is no alternative (cheap) form of energy in the country and every household uses charcoal for cooking and charcoal is also exported. This means that more and more trees are being cut down to meet this demand. Consequently, the compounding impact of the recurring drought, the extensive tree-cutting and tree-burning, the lack of a re-planting programme, and over-grazing of shrubs and grass-land means that an environmental catastrophe has slowly but surely been unfolding. What's worse is that the people show a compelte disregard and carelessness for the environment. They will dump anything and everything in the country. As modern synthetic packaging, that degrades very slowly, is brought into the country, it means there are heaps upon heaps of trash, plastic bags and bottles building up in the environment. The people do not seem to grasp the impact that this has on their livelihoods, their health and their quality of life. As long as the trash is dumped in a trash-heap outside the city boundaries, or outside the immediate vicinity of their house, they do not seem to care where it goes or what happens to it... out of sight out of mind. We need a concerted effort of nation-wide reforestation, environmental education, waste management, economic diversification and investment in modern energy production technologies. But one can only dreama nd hope.

The youth & the state of the society 2. Religion. One thing that you will find impossible to miss will be the mosques that are on almost every corner. Each mosque has a speaker and come adhan time each mosque will blare, at its own chosen time an adhan, a salah, a sermon into the city. It is difficult to hear one adhan over the other, to hear one prayer over the other, to hear one sermon over the other. You would think that with such a proliferation of mosques that Islamic knowledge would be as proliferated, but this is not the case. On the surface the society appears to be a deeply religious, Islamic society but once you delve into the detail of life, the views of the populace and the attitudes to life, you will find a society that is a deeply cultural, tribal, illiterate, undereducated, nomadic herding society trying to adapt to the challenges of modern urban living. The illiteracy and under-education that is so visible through the economic underdevelopment, also has its impact on religious knowledge and the adherance to true Islam. I later understood that although the people had an overarching idea of what Islam is about and what the main tenets of the religion are, it is more their own cultures that they adhere to in the every day interactions of their lifes as they do not have a clear understanding of the detail, specifics and the implicative consequences of Islam's teachings ought to shape their lifes. Much of the ignorance is a consequence of poverty, illiteracy and lack of education, among other things. Men and women in society. One aspect of the society that I found fascinating to observe, was the roles and rights of men and women in society. It was saddening to see the state of women in Somali society and that although, de-facto, they nowadays bear a huge and disproportionate responsibility for bringing up children, running households and often financially maintaining the households, their rights are not respected or fulfilled and they do not receive the respect that in all honesty they are more than due. The Somali family is in crisis, it seems; and this is where many of the Somali people's societal ill's stem from. When Somalis were still mostly nomadic, it was almost next to impossible for a woman to own her own lifestock as all the livestock belonged to the man/husband/father. Although things have improved and are marginally better in the urban context than they were in the rural nomadic environment, it is still very difficult for Somali women to own things out of their own right. They are still treated as property of their husbands, who ought not to think or speak, or look thoughtful and intelligent, when their men are in present because the men are seen as the head of the household. This is changing slows as some women become financially independent. For example, you will find that the vast majority of the traders are women, selling drinks, food, clothes, qat, exchanging money. Other women receive a financial lifeline through the remitannces that are sent to them from their families. Some of the men try to preserve their previously complete dominance and control over the family's finances and assets, and where this is not possible for them, there are incidents that occur as a result. Often they will beat their wives and take from them the little monies they earn from petty-trading or are sent from their families. Incidentally many of those men do not fulfill their responsiblities as fathers and husbands and in many cases transgress against their wives. Clearly something is going wrong and perhaps Somali boys ought to receives instruction (lessons) in "how to be a good father/husband" and to clarify what their religious duties are in respect to their families. Having said that there are some Somali men that have done very well for themselves and very much run their family matters well, so let's not brush all Somalis with the same brush. Somali women (mothers) themselves also perpetuate the very anti-women, denigrading norms and values that so harm the Somali woman's social standing and opportunity in life. Fathers and mothers will often keep girls behind from school, from dugsi/malcaamad and sometimes this is for practical reasons, other times this is because of ignorance. One particular scenario is where a mother has many children, some of whom are young (the father is a lazy layabout who chews qat) and the mother is engages in some sort of work or petty trading. The mother will keep behind one of the girls to look after the young kids, to do the cooking, cleaning and maintain the house. In another scenario the father or mother will say that "a girl does not need education" anyway, so keep one (or more) of them behind for convenience's sake so that those girls may do the cooking, cleaning etc. Their is still the pervasive belief that women belong in the kitchen, with children, doing the cleaning etc. For a man to enter the kitchen is, literally taboo and should a man enter the kitchen he will be shouted at, rediculed and forcefully told to get out of the kitchen. If it were the agreement then, that Somali women would look after the household and the men would go out and earn the living, at least the women have held up their end of the bargain. If Somali society is to move forward, Somali women need to be empowered and they need to be taugt that they too deserve to have rights, to have opinions and to be heard. We need a Somali feminist movement and I urge every Somali woman (and man) out there to do something and get involved in Somali soceity to improve the rights, opportunities and standing of Somali women. If Somali people are to people are to mover forward, this has to be done. This is for two important, yet simple reasons. The first reason is one of simple demographics. Somali women are likely a huge percentage of the overall Somali population (50% if not more) and to say that 50% of our population will not have an education, cannot work, will not have any ownership rights, decision-making rights or that their voices will not be heard is extemely detrimental to and damaging our society and economy. The second and other other reason is one of beneficial side-effect/consequence. Ordinarily the mother will spend more time with a child, caring for, feeding, playing with and educating a child. If a mother is educated, literate, aware/informed and empowered, this will have a huge and transformational consuence on the next Somali generations of children. These children will, guaranteed, live better as a consequence precisely because their mother is more educated, she is literate, aware and empowered to make better decisions with positive transformational consequences.

Aaliyyah;786550 wrote: the girls are saying there are no good guys and the guys are saying there are no good girls ..shekada xagay iska qabsan la'dahay. Aaliyyah out of curiousity, explain what is a "good guy"?... lol jawaabtaada ayaan suggi.

Coofle;932187 wrote: and second they are a crooked rib... Coofle;932187 wrote: my rule....There is no PIOUS WOMAN..Full Stop....Ninkeeda ayay marwadu la diin tahay. Expand on these two points, Coofle.