Going Home!

[Valenteenah.]

Go home? Back to that lil hell-hole? Xaasha! Am staying firmly put in my lil yard thank you very much. :rolleyes:

 

Unless I get a job offer of course...then am off God Willing.

[OG_Girl]

Going Home?! hmm what is home ? I never had place to call home for real. Is where my dad was born or where his roots r or where I brought up and live all my life?

 

Hmm, I don't know how I can call home where I never been and even my dad never been?

 

 

ta ta ta

[Mowgli]

Asalaamu Alaykum

 

"home is where the heart is" and I know my heart is in Somalia.

 

As kids we never or hardly ever realise that we are different then others. In italy it never occured to me that I was black and everyone else around me was white (alhumdullilah) I grew up in a town were peaple were great, I was treated like all the other kids...then we moved to London.

 

Huge shock! I suppose because I lived in a little town where everyone knew each other, I was amazed at how self-absorbed people were; and I began to feel conscious, I was a Muslim, black and Somali...now not only were the white people being racists, so were other blacks (accusing you of not being black) etc.

 

Now whenever I'm in Italy, I pick up on things that I never did before, like the white people calling little black kids "ciocolatino" (chocolate boy), or saying such things as my what a beautiful n*****er child...or whenever you are with one of your friends family and you see ppl they know...they automatically assume that you are one of the starving african children they see on tv that has been adopted by the family.

 

In all the time that I have lived in England (other then the racism at school), now I hear people outside shouting things at you (in more "polite" terms) that since you are black you deserve to be shot and lynched; or having people spit at you because you are wearing the hijaab; and so in the words of qaxooti "maxaa ii wareeriye". Insha-Allah I plan to go back home permanently in the near future; but as for this summer, I'll have to content myself with just a visit after 17years of absence.

 

Q ma do' sai stata? Non ti vedo da un bell po *mi manchi*

 

ps Auguri ai diventata a nomad, dopo pui di due anni...its about time

 

Ma'Salaama

[N.O.R.F]

Going Home?! hmm what is home ? I never had place to call home for real. Is where my dad was born or where his roots r or where I brought up and live all my life?

Dont think i can ever visit where my gr8 ayeyo was born too.

[OG_Girl]

Dont think i can ever visit where my gr8 ayeyo was born too.

How about where ur gr8 grand father was born ?

 

 

Salam

[N.O.R.F]

How about where ur gr8 grand father was born ?

Already been there :cool:

[Blessed]

^^ lol at you two. I don't even know where my awooyo's and ayeeyos were born and your talking about the great ones :eek:

 

You ppl are good!

 

Qaxooodi,

Wow, walaalo, enjoy yourself and make sure you take plenty of pictures to go with that report. I'm hoping to ga back in the winter. i'a.

 

Idil,

I like the way you've structured that. I'll be expecting a report from you too.

 

P.s you'll still be called names - something along the lines of 'dhaqan celis' or 'dhaqan biis'

[NGONGE]

I’m starting to get a weird feeling that Northerner might be my long lost brother!(my ayaayo is from the same place too). :eek:

 

 

Naah, he’s probably a Hargeesa boy anyway.

[N.O.R.F]

^^^lol, i dont think anyone else has these good looks, so naah we aint even related!

 

Naah, he’s probably a Hargeesa boy anyway

lol, naah bro, strictly a triple BBB (Burco Bad Boy)!!!!!!!

[OG_Girl]

loooooool@Ameenah, sister we r real Qahooti wallaahi, I just don't know what to respond when people ask me where I am from ? my grand dad was born and raised in Ethiopia my dad was born and raised in Wajeer, NFD , Kenya, I was born and raised in Kuwait!!...SO, tell me what I have to respond ...lol ...So I have right to look gr8 grand dad to feel I belong to some where. sad innit?

 

Northerner , U r better than me , shall I say lucky U

 

Salam

[Reality Check]

Originally posted by NGONGE:

 

My personal view is that not many of us will be going home. I believe that like many of those before us, who moved to the Arab world or the seamen that worked in the West in the early parts of the last century and spent all their lives in foreign lands, we too are not likely to go home. Furthermore, I believe that if by some miracle we do manage to go home, we will find it very hard to fit in!

I think Somalia would be a foreign land to me. For the main part, I wasn't born there. Visited a couple of years to my father's side of the family's region. Then came to Canada as a kid.

 

I consider myself as Somali by blood. But I don't really consider Somalia my country. That's the honest truth. I don't feel the connection, or longing to a piece of land. And if I did, what region would I identify with...?

 

 

So the answer to your question is....I would continue being a true nomad by heart, but I wouldn't go back to a torn-up country that I can't relate to.

[NGONGE]

When I started this topic I was not implying that I would never go back home. I’m sure I will, several times. But, my point was that not many people would be able to go back and stay back. Even those talking about finding jobs there or starting their own businesses, what guarantees do they have that the Somalia they’ll be going to will be a mirror image of the one they dream about?

 

One of the sisters above mentions a friend of hers who refuses to go back until breakfast cereals are readily available in Somalia. That of course sounds shallow but the idea of comfort and maintaining an accustomed to standard of living, should not be scoffed at easily. It’s not even just the comforts that you’ll miss, it’s the hobbies, the like-minded people and even in terms of worship and the pursuit of knowledge, I doubt if any of it will be easily available to you. As for building up the country, how are you going to achieve that? Why do you assume that you’ll be welcomed and allowed to run things the minute you got off that plane? Granted, there will be exceptions to this; people who amassed enough money to influence things and receive respect.

 

So, how is it going to work out? We already see the people who go back and try to recreate a mini Arabia/Europe/America in their parts of Somalia. Even the new houses are built in the Western styles. This leads me to believe that these people are not going back and accepting that things in Somalia are not going to be the same as in the West (or any other richer places). They’re going there (rightly) thinking of going back HOME yet wanting all the comforts of the outside world. Will they be able to reconcile both things? Will they be able to choose one over the other?

 

To say I’m going back to Somalia because it’s my country of origin is not reason enough for someone who’s been away for more than a decade. You’ve got to know why you’re going back and what to do once you’re there. Does anyone have any solid plans?

[Rahima]

I can't imagine living in the west for the rest of my days. I can't imagine not going back home and I can certainly not imagine having children here and raising them in this society.

 

Home is Somalia; this place for me is just a place of temporary stay although I have been here since I was a small child.

 

To me, Somalia is Somalia, region is irrelevant in my books. Although technically by Somali standards I would be labeled as one who heralds from the region of mudug, my father was born and raised in Boorama (where his whole family resides), my mother born and raised in Gaalkacyo, my siblings and I born and raised in Xamar, hence I make no distinction- although I am biased somewhat and wish to reside in Mogadishu.

 

This summer inshallah I shall be going for a holiday to the homeland- I can't wait. I've been looking forward to this for so long, its now become an obsession. Inshallah I shall visit all these places, and probably look around for avenues which will assist my permanent return after I graduate.

 

All in all, if we, the new generation do not return home and utilise our learned skills, who then will rebuild and cultivate our land? We have a responsibility yaa shabbaab, do your part and don't be selfish. If at least not for yourself, then your children- surely you want them to have the experience of going to a nice home. Walaahi, I become sad at the fact that I left home so young, barely remembering anything. This trip for me will be some major dhaqan celis.

[The Observer.]

Well brother Ngonge, i hear what you are saying. You see it all comes down to the ideology of globalization.

 

And i think we all know the saying of, 'what you don't have is what you always want, and what you have is where the defaults are at' that kind of thing. so Somali's in somalia want what is in europe, arabia etc, and for those leaving in the west, want to take their lifestyles and experience and implement them to their home land. i have no problem with that in a sense of, everyone has a freedom of expression to their comfort level. (do i make sense here by adding that globalization also works in this kind of a cycle?do you guys see it?)

 

I know inshallah, if it is meant to be it will be by Allah Subhaanaa Wata'ala. But my one main concrete plan and reason to wanting to go to Somalia is the language aspect. Attaining the usage of language and dialogue, learn the language fluently, and be able to understand the orallity of this ethnic group. Hence allowing me to understand the beauty of this language and apply it more tomy daily experiences in the west, and world wide. For i believe it is time for the Somalis to be known for their artistic expressions of their language and poetry etc.

[Baashi]

Home sweet home is Somalia for me. I feel home when I am with Somalis who I can relate to and with whom I feel safe...! You see I convinced myself that if given the chnace (peace, the rule of law,...) I would be succesfull in Somalia way much more than I am now. Oh! where else would I get a 1000 acres of land legally with a bargain! I've just had it with this system of riba where it takes 20 years to own a home (1200 square feet mind you) and end up paying 4x more than the original price.

 

The down side is of course over there the services are not as good as the ones we have here in the West and this tribe label (regionalism) that you have to deal with. In time, Somalis will be peace with themselves and Somalia insha'Allah will be the promise land to all of us.