Welcome sister! The reason i posted the info on the progress made in the pre-civil war era is because it beautifully illustrates that the eradication of the practice can only from Somalis backed by Somalis.

That is my alter-ego.

To be a Kangaroo for one day

Welcome back dear sister Aaliyah!

Originally posted by nuune: We had this kind of festival in Somalia as well, and there were special songs for it though can't remember them, it was in our childhood. good to see da similarities in tradional festivals Please elaborate, i love these little trivial gems about Somalia. Is this similar to the Halloween candy thing and you knocked on Somali houses?

Originally posted by -MARX-: For a long time, those who lived in Arabia considered themselves to be privileged - living a life of blush settings and luxuries, while the rest of us lived on a meagre incomes and through civil wars. Today, Arab govts have turned their backs on these same people and all of them are attempting to making their ways to the West, those who are less fortunate have been deported compulsorily to the Somali Peninsula. Arabtrash.

Hey Buuxo i got it from this book:click Good to know you are getting my point sister, these opportunists have demonized us as a society just to ride a few sympathy waves. The practice of abortion is far more barbaric and also has a lasting damaging effect on a woman's private parts but since the West practices this method of 'killing a human', it's not considered such. My earlier post makes it quite clear the fight against FGM was being won by Somali women Organizations in alliance with Somali Shaykhs, doctors, politicians and hospitals. I'm pretty sure had the civil war not occurred we would now have up to date statistics that would show a massive decrease or complete eradication of the practice in Somalia.

Man i would love to have you as a classmate Teacher: Today we are going to discuss the Byzantine Emperor Justinian Sherban Shabeel: Dude who the hell cares? he died 1600 years ago Next day Teacher: Who made the following quote?: Veni, vidi, vici Sherban Shabeel: Dude stop talking that dead language, its dead, its dead! sheesh!

I'm getting the feeling most of you know very little about FGM & Somalia and have simply lumped the situation there with all the countries that practice it. For starters where are the up to date governmental statistics that say the practice of FGM is still as high as it was in the 70s before Somali women organizations began campaigning against it? FGM was banned from all hospitals, this had an immense impact on the tradition, as this was the main area where it was practiced. Western NGO's have a habit of inflating statistics on Somalia or they simply magically come up with rough estimates based on 'nothing', so excuse me for taking their data with an ocean full of salt: Initially like Egypt Somalia started it's eradication campaign by encouraging partial clitoridectomy, rather than infibulation, under use of anesthesia and antibiotics(today all forms of FGM are banned). The Somali Campaign was innovative because it's message focused on the four premises associated with the practice: ''It was not healthy, not clean, not islamic and did not even guarantee virginity''. In Somalia the impetus to eradicate came from within: It was strongly advocated by the Somali Women's Democratic Organization. The measures advocated included the need for an educational effort throughout the country to present medical facts and re-examine traditional attitudes: co-operation with community leaders(religious leaders, doctors etc) to combat this practice and the use of mass media to encourage change and to establish a different relationship between the sexes. Eventually one of the women leading the campaign and the Author of 'Sisters in Affliction:Circumcis ion and Infibulation of Women in Africa' by Raqiya Abdullah became the deputy minister of health in 1983. -Women in Muslim societies: diversity within unity pg 53 My entire original point had very little to do with ''shame'' but more with the gross misrepresentation of the situation in Somalia and why eradication of FGM will come through the hard work of Somalis based in Somalia and not foreigners. The fact that i have put Somali women in the center of the problem has resulted in the misunderstanding by some here of me being a 'Somali brother putting the blame on the sisters' which is completely untrue. I'm very sure none of you are aware of the fact that a Somali mother after giving birth to a child does the exact same proceedure to herself again, this popular misconception that this tradition is a 'male weapon to subjugate women' is a western fabrication and one it seems alot of people are willing to believe in.

Who is fighting who? replies to Raamsade's historical revisionism are exactly that; replies, nobody here is standing at the shores of Spain. :rolleyes:

Bosaso 2025

1 & 2. The Visigoths are no different from the Ummayyads, they too came by the might of the sword and are originally from Scandinavia like the later Vikings, therefore they are not native Iberians. When Tariq entered Iberia the original intention was not full conquest, most scholars consider this expedition a ''raid'' much like the Berber raids in pre-Islamic times, it's only after the muslim forces noticed a power vaccuum after the defeat of the Visigoth King that they began consolidating this territory. 3. Immediately? what happened to the 800 years of cosmopolitism?, scientific proliferation(that directly influenced the rest of Europe)?, agricultural innovations?, tolerance amongst communities of different faiths? architectural wonders that still sustain modern Spain's tourism industry? 4. Fact.

lol chewbacca with his Kanye glasses. Darth Vader and his Imperial guards were the best

Respect dear sister! never lose the love you have for your people no matter what the current situation is. I hope your recent trip to Somalia was as great as that poem.

Just watch a good Anime show but start somewhere at episode 8 so you will be forced to figure out what the hell is happening with so and so?. The whole who?, what? and where? state of mind will burn up the last of your remaining mental energy deposits and it will synchronize with your body's feeling of being tired. You can also just re-read my post and just fall a sleep naturally.

Originally posted by chocolate & honey: Nonesense, No an absolute, outright lie. Men are not aware of it kulahaa, sheekooy ku nacay. It is one thing to feel ashamed to be associated with such barbaric practice, it is another to completely put the blame on the victims. The blame is put on the 'Mothers' not the daughters. Your telling me that the same Somali women who can rule their households, own multiple businesses in Somalia have somehow no say on their daughters future?. Buuxo ah another good reason why Somali activists should be the ones behind the eradication of this practice not foreigners.

Another Galactic Sailor, welcome to the forum Wing Wizard!

Lily - Lol@'your Forefathers', are these not 'your' forefathers too? or are you just another ajanabi with their nose in Somali business? Secondly FGM is the domain of women, a tradition promoted and upheld by women, so it would be my 'Foremothers: ''Despite the fact that one of the mentioned reasons of FGM is that men can be sexually satisfied, the practice is mainly done by women, asked for and controlled. Possibly, men are not fully aware of their role in maintaining the practice'' - Sharing the pain of the bitter hearts: liberation psychology and gender pg 51 -- ''Certain trends indicate a positive shift with regard to genital mutilation in Somalia. According to COSPE (meeting 2007), the custom is mainly a female affair and the young generation of men between 15 and 26 do not regard FGM to be a prerequisite for marriage. Somali sources claim that given that fact that men comply with the decisions women make, it should be possible for mothers to oppose FGM. - Report Female genital mutilation in Sudan and Somalia Thirdly i don't get the 'excuse' part. Plenty of models whose people practice barbaric rituals but you don't see them trying to ride those sympathy waves. Waris is an opportunistic individual like that other model from America's next[..] whose loud mouth changes nothing on the ground. I respect the real Somali activists who actually do something about it by educating the masses in Somalia instead of discussing it with outsiders who have no influence on the average parent in Somalia. ps Amadeus what your on about?

oh really? FGM neatly confines itself within the borders of Somalia doesn't it? damn border control.

This a centuries old painting Urban, i like it because if you take the time to explore the entire painting then you will notice that the painter has captured Chinese culture and day to day life in a unbelievable way. You can see Farmers, Fishermen, traders, Festival goers and aristocrats playing their posh games in their lavish courtyards and all of this on the same painting, it's just amazing.

Chinese civilization

^

I wish we could trade Iman and Waris for Liya Kebede. A self-respecting lady who doesn't need to tell sob stories about her hard struggles in Addis Ababa to get attention. Instead she brings out a clothing line celebrating her culture, marries a man of the same background, and probably jumped on the opportunity when she read the self-depreciating script of Waris life and the negative view it will project towards Somali Society on the big screen. A true Ethiopian indeed, clearly she is a woman that loves herself. But hey atleast we have Yasmin. btw i said this before and i will say it again this dumb Waris has turned that barbaric practice FGM suffered by 150 million women, into a ''Somali'' cultural practice in the eyes of the world yet Somali women only represent 5% of this 150 million figure(and that's assuming that every single girl gets this treatment which is b.s). WTF?

Kid is amazing: