Also famous doctors/professors scientist, billionaires and conedians
A series of Somali success stories in the diaspora.
- Thread starter AussieHustler
- Start date
Post pictures also plz
Refrain from qabil I myself sometimes get carried away
You took.my thread with out my consent
Somali Success Story
Like many in Somalia, one young Somali Woman, Yasmin Yonus, is now living in the U.S. and has overcome many obstacles. VOA's Heather Hatzenbuhler has her inspiring story.
Like many in Somalia, one young Somali Woman, Yasmin Yonus, is now living in the U.S. and has overcome many obstacles. VOA's Heather Hatzenbuhler has her inspiring story.
Lucky Giirre - First Somali Australian female Lawyer.
I love the name Barrister Lucky Giire. With that kind of name, I see a future judge of the High Court of Australia.
@Steamdevolopment
I love the name Barrister Lucky Giire. With that kind of name, I see a future judge of the High Court of Australia.
@Steamdevolopment
Eng. Shafi Yusuf Returns Home to Rebuild his country. He spent many years establishing a comfortable life in UK. He built a career in Computer Networking where he completed his BSc and MSc in London. He even worked for wide range of firms in Europe including Apple.
He left it behind few years ago to move back to Mogadishu. Now, he is the IT Director at the Central Bank of Somalia. His expertise in computer networking and IT systems were desperately needed at the time. He answered the calls and returned home to rebuild the IT infrastructure of the Central Bank of Somalia.
Eng. Shafi Yusuf is inspired with the new developments at the Central Bank. He completed the Production Data Centre of the Bank, the core banking applications, the integration between the banking software and the other financial institutions.
He left it behind few years ago to move back to Mogadishu. Now, he is the IT Director at the Central Bank of Somalia. His expertise in computer networking and IT systems were desperately needed at the time. He answered the calls and returned home to rebuild the IT infrastructure of the Central Bank of Somalia.
Eng. Shafi Yusuf is inspired with the new developments at the Central Bank. He completed the Production Data Centre of the Bank, the core banking applications, the integration between the banking software and the other financial institutions.
The Mothers of Rinkeby: Last Night in Sweden .
A group of Somali super mums patrol the streets of Sweden’s infamous suburb Rinkeby to prevent crime and inspire a generation of youth.
A group of Somali super mums patrol the streets of Sweden’s infamous suburb Rinkeby to prevent crime and inspire a generation of youth.
'I almost drowned': African lifeguard wants community to get in the swim.
Growing up in Somalia, Abdullahi Mohamed's mother used to lick his arms when he got home on a Friday night.
She was tasting for salt, a sign that her son had disobeyed her orders not to go swimming at the capital Mogadishu's chaotic Liido Beach.
Abdullahi Mohamed grew up in Somalia not knowing how to swim but has since learnt and trained to become a lifeguard in Australia.Credit:
Her fears were well-founded: the beach had a bad reputation for drownings. Also, Abdullahi didn't know how to swim. The first time he entered the water, aged around 11, he went in too deep and had to be pulled out.
"I vomited up all this water," the 18-year-old remembers. "Now I'm teaching people how to rescue."
Half a world away from Liido Beach, swimmers at Coburg Leisure Centre might have seen Abdullahi patrolling the pools in his red and yellow uniform making sure people are staying safe in the water.
After arriving in Australia on a humanitarian visa in 2015, Abdullahi took part in swimming lessons aimed at improving the skills of people from culturally diverse communities.
He subsequently trained to become a lifeguard and is now one of a small number among the 1200 employed by the YMCA who comes from an African background.
"I'm a good swimmer now," he laughs.
"It made me feel like I'm doing something good to develop my swimming skills, I remember the first day I went to the beach I almost drowned."
Abdullahi is trying to get more people from his community to follow in his wake.
So far, he has encouraged 15 Somalis to take lessons at Coburg Leisure Centre and four of those have trained to become lifeguards or swimming teachers.
He has plans to start a program encouraging young Somali kids to learn water safety.
His work earned him the YMCA Victoria award for inspired young people.
"It's a good opportunity for those who don't know how to swim," he says.
"Most people who grew up here, they know how to swim. If you're a little kid, there's a lot of them doing swimming lessons every day. I don't think people drown here as much as in Africa."
It's an important message coming into summer, with statistics showing that people from migrant communities are over-represented in drownings in Australia. Analysis by the Royal Life Saving Society found that 27 per cent of all drowning deaths over a 10-year period were born overseas.
Four people have drowned in Victoria since Christmas Eve.
Those who have worked with Abdullahi are full of praise for him.
"He is focused and always sees things through," says Lifesaving Victoria Multicultural Manager David Holland.
"Aquatics is an area which has very low African representation, so he is really filling a gap.”
After recently finishing his VCE, Abdullahi hopes to study business as soon as he gets his citizenship. He says he'll be able to apply in July next year.
Before that, he'll be working over summer as an educational instructor across Melbourne’s beaches.
He's had to explain to his mum back in Somalia what his job as a lifeguard actually involves.
"I told her, 'you used to tell me not to go to the beach, now I'm working at the beach'," he says. "She still tells me 'be careful, it's not safe'.
"It's good to know you can be safe in the water."
https://www.theage.com.au/national/...munity-learn-how-to-swim-20181219-p50n8o.html
Growing up in Somalia, Abdullahi Mohamed's mother used to lick his arms when he got home on a Friday night.
She was tasting for salt, a sign that her son had disobeyed her orders not to go swimming at the capital Mogadishu's chaotic Liido Beach.
Abdullahi Mohamed grew up in Somalia not knowing how to swim but has since learnt and trained to become a lifeguard in Australia.Credit:
Her fears were well-founded: the beach had a bad reputation for drownings. Also, Abdullahi didn't know how to swim. The first time he entered the water, aged around 11, he went in too deep and had to be pulled out.
"I vomited up all this water," the 18-year-old remembers. "Now I'm teaching people how to rescue."
Half a world away from Liido Beach, swimmers at Coburg Leisure Centre might have seen Abdullahi patrolling the pools in his red and yellow uniform making sure people are staying safe in the water.
After arriving in Australia on a humanitarian visa in 2015, Abdullahi took part in swimming lessons aimed at improving the skills of people from culturally diverse communities.
He subsequently trained to become a lifeguard and is now one of a small number among the 1200 employed by the YMCA who comes from an African background.
"I'm a good swimmer now," he laughs.
"It made me feel like I'm doing something good to develop my swimming skills, I remember the first day I went to the beach I almost drowned."
Abdullahi is trying to get more people from his community to follow in his wake.
So far, he has encouraged 15 Somalis to take lessons at Coburg Leisure Centre and four of those have trained to become lifeguards or swimming teachers.
He has plans to start a program encouraging young Somali kids to learn water safety.
His work earned him the YMCA Victoria award for inspired young people.
"It's a good opportunity for those who don't know how to swim," he says.
"Most people who grew up here, they know how to swim. If you're a little kid, there's a lot of them doing swimming lessons every day. I don't think people drown here as much as in Africa."
It's an important message coming into summer, with statistics showing that people from migrant communities are over-represented in drownings in Australia. Analysis by the Royal Life Saving Society found that 27 per cent of all drowning deaths over a 10-year period were born overseas.
Four people have drowned in Victoria since Christmas Eve.
Those who have worked with Abdullahi are full of praise for him.
"He is focused and always sees things through," says Lifesaving Victoria Multicultural Manager David Holland.
"Aquatics is an area which has very low African representation, so he is really filling a gap.”
After recently finishing his VCE, Abdullahi hopes to study business as soon as he gets his citizenship. He says he'll be able to apply in July next year.
Before that, he'll be working over summer as an educational instructor across Melbourne’s beaches.
He's had to explain to his mum back in Somalia what his job as a lifeguard actually involves.
"I told her, 'you used to tell me not to go to the beach, now I'm working at the beach'," he says. "She still tells me 'be careful, it's not safe'.
"It's good to know you can be safe in the water."
https://www.theage.com.au/national/...munity-learn-how-to-swim-20181219-p50n8o.html
The Story of two successful Somali refugees in Yemen.
https://www.albawaba.com/story-two-successful-somali-refugees-yemen
https://www.albawaba.com/story-two-successful-somali-refugees-yemen
The (Somali) African-Australian success stories you've probably never heard.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/...-ve-probably-never-heard-20180421-p4zay1.html
https://www.theage.com.au/national/...-ve-probably-never-heard-20180421-p4zay1.html
Son of Somali Refugees Heading to Yale on a Full Ride.
Ayanle Nur is going to Yale next year on a full-ride scholarship.
Ayanle Nur might have been in his high school Spanish class on December 3, but his mind was elsewhere. The seventeen-year-old DSST Green Valley Ranch senior and son of Somali refugees was awaiting the most important news of his life: whether he had been accepted to his dream school, Yale University.
"I felt anxious the whole day. I was pretty confident, but I also wasn't sure," Nur says.
Madison Perry, Nur's math instructor and favorite teacher, popped her head into the classroom to let Nur know that the results had arrived. Nur logged into his computer, then paused. Sensing his nerves, Perry gave him a pep talk. "Look, this doesn’t define you. If you don't get it, it’s gonna be fine. If you do, it’s gonna be great," Perry recalls saying.
Nur clicked the link, and his eyes found the results almost immediately.
"We both started screaming. He was jumping up and down. We were hugging and spinning in circles. I started crying. He was screaming, 'I can’t believe it! Yale! I can’t believe I got in there!'" Perry recalls.
"I don't even know how to describe it. It was just amazing. I was just so excited," says Nur.
Nur immediately called his mother, Indonesia Maye. She started crying right away and raced over to the school to celebrate with her son, knowing how far she and her family had come to get him to this point. If it wasn't for her own sacrifices and perseverance, her son might never have had the opportunity to attend college, let alone an Ivy League school.
Indonesia Maye was born in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, on June 11, 1977. Her family knew all the key players in Somalia, since her father served as the head of the military court in Siad Barre's dictatorship. "We were high-class and highly educated," says Maye.
Indonesia Maye is proud of her son Ayanle.
Given their high place in society, Maye and her family lived in luxury. "Our kitchen was bigger than this house," she says, gesturing around the living room of her home in Montbello. Her family's spacious home in Mogadishu also had plenty of help, employing numerous maids to keep things tidy.
But life soon became turbulent. Maye's father died in 1990, and anti-Barre rebels seized Mogadishu, forcing Barre to flee to Somalia. A civil war ensued, and Somalia has been gripped by violence brought on by government soldiers, foreign armies, peacekeeping forces, rebels and extremists ever since.
In 1993, Maye left Somalia to take refuge in Kenya and wound up in Maine in 1999, where she applied for asylum. She married a fellow Somali refugee in 2000, and they had a child on August 9, 2001. They named their baby boy Ayanle, which means "lucky" in Somali.
Maye worked as an interpreter in various local schools, but in 2004 she and Nur's father divorced, and she had to start working multiple jobs to make ends meet. She took a slot as a saleswoman at a department store and moonlighted as a maid. It was a humbling experience: Maye had gone from living in luxury with multiple maids to working as a maid herself.
Maye eventually found love again, and this time it stuck. She married another Somali refugee, Abdi Idle, in September 2006, and the family moved to Denver in December that year.
Maye's son, who didn't start speaking English until he was four, flourished here. Teachers noticed Nur's knack for learning quickly, and he was soon identified as a gifted student. But Nur stood out among his peers for more than just his academic prowess; in elementary school, he also picked up basketball and fell in love with the sport.
While Nur played basketball and blossomed in school, his mother struggled with what was happening to her homeland. In September 2008, she found out that her brother, who was a well-known Somali member of parliament, had been assassinated just after praying at a mosque.
Son of Somali Refugees Heading to Yale on a Full Ride/ Courtesy of Ayanle Nur
Read rest on;
https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2018/..._refugees_heading_to_yale_on_a_full_ride.aspx
Ayanle Nur is going to Yale next year on a full-ride scholarship.
Ayanle Nur might have been in his high school Spanish class on December 3, but his mind was elsewhere. The seventeen-year-old DSST Green Valley Ranch senior and son of Somali refugees was awaiting the most important news of his life: whether he had been accepted to his dream school, Yale University.
"I felt anxious the whole day. I was pretty confident, but I also wasn't sure," Nur says.
Madison Perry, Nur's math instructor and favorite teacher, popped her head into the classroom to let Nur know that the results had arrived. Nur logged into his computer, then paused. Sensing his nerves, Perry gave him a pep talk. "Look, this doesn’t define you. If you don't get it, it’s gonna be fine. If you do, it’s gonna be great," Perry recalls saying.
Nur clicked the link, and his eyes found the results almost immediately.
"We both started screaming. He was jumping up and down. We were hugging and spinning in circles. I started crying. He was screaming, 'I can’t believe it! Yale! I can’t believe I got in there!'" Perry recalls.
"I don't even know how to describe it. It was just amazing. I was just so excited," says Nur.
Nur immediately called his mother, Indonesia Maye. She started crying right away and raced over to the school to celebrate with her son, knowing how far she and her family had come to get him to this point. If it wasn't for her own sacrifices and perseverance, her son might never have had the opportunity to attend college, let alone an Ivy League school.
Indonesia Maye was born in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, on June 11, 1977. Her family knew all the key players in Somalia, since her father served as the head of the military court in Siad Barre's dictatorship. "We were high-class and highly educated," says Maye.
Indonesia Maye is proud of her son Ayanle.
Given their high place in society, Maye and her family lived in luxury. "Our kitchen was bigger than this house," she says, gesturing around the living room of her home in Montbello. Her family's spacious home in Mogadishu also had plenty of help, employing numerous maids to keep things tidy.
But life soon became turbulent. Maye's father died in 1990, and anti-Barre rebels seized Mogadishu, forcing Barre to flee to Somalia. A civil war ensued, and Somalia has been gripped by violence brought on by government soldiers, foreign armies, peacekeeping forces, rebels and extremists ever since.
In 1993, Maye left Somalia to take refuge in Kenya and wound up in Maine in 1999, where she applied for asylum. She married a fellow Somali refugee in 2000, and they had a child on August 9, 2001. They named their baby boy Ayanle, which means "lucky" in Somali.
Maye worked as an interpreter in various local schools, but in 2004 she and Nur's father divorced, and she had to start working multiple jobs to make ends meet. She took a slot as a saleswoman at a department store and moonlighted as a maid. It was a humbling experience: Maye had gone from living in luxury with multiple maids to working as a maid herself.
Maye eventually found love again, and this time it stuck. She married another Somali refugee, Abdi Idle, in September 2006, and the family moved to Denver in December that year.
Maye's son, who didn't start speaking English until he was four, flourished here. Teachers noticed Nur's knack for learning quickly, and he was soon identified as a gifted student. But Nur stood out among his peers for more than just his academic prowess; in elementary school, he also picked up basketball and fell in love with the sport.
While Nur played basketball and blossomed in school, his mother struggled with what was happening to her homeland. In September 2008, she found out that her brother, who was a well-known Somali member of parliament, had been assassinated just after praying at a mosque.
Son of Somali Refugees Heading to Yale on a Full Ride/ Courtesy of Ayanle Nur
Read rest on;
https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2018/..._refugees_heading_to_yale_on_a_full_ride.aspx
Man! I Love these successes thread. Keep 'em coming
I enjoyed it... thnx!Somali Canadian Police Officer builds School in Somalia!
Not only does he serve the public in Canada, he is serving children in Somalia with the opportunity of education. Meet Founder of Somali Hope Academy, Mahamud Elmi! A police officer and outstanding community member...Const. Mahamud Elmi has received the Community Service Award and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his outstanding contributions in the community.
Not only does he serve the public in Canada, he is serving children in Somalia with the opportunity of education. Meet Founder of Somali Hope Academy, Mahamud Elmi! A police officer and outstanding community member...Const. Mahamud Elmi has received the Community Service Award and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his outstanding contributions in the community.
Two Somali candidates seek Barron City Council seat.
BARRON, Wis. (WEAU) -- For the first time ever the city of Barron has two Somali candidates running for an open city council seat.
There are three candidates looking to fill the open council seat, two of which are Somali, and candidate Isaak Mohamed said they could make history.
“In Wisconsin I will be one of the first to run for city council and hoping I will win for this position,” said Mohamed.
Mohamed says while he hopes to represent the community of Barron as a whole it would be an honor to also be a voice for the Somali population.
Two Somali candidates seek Barron City Council seat
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Wednesday January 9, 2019
BARRON, Wis. (WEAU) -- For the first time ever the city of Barron has two Somali candidates running for an open city council seat.
There are three candidates looking to fill the open council seat, two of which are Somali, and candidate Isaak Mohamed said they could make history.
“In Wisconsin I will be one of the first to run for city council and hoping I will win for this position,” said Mohamed.
Mohamed says while he hopes to represent the community of Barron as a whole it would be an honor to also be a voice for the Somali population.
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“We need to be heard,” he said. “I'm a U.S. citizen in the United States. I came to this country as a refugee. I was helped by the community of Barron; I was helped by the U.S. government. I want to give back to the U.S. government, I want to show them who I am by doing good things for the city of Barron and also the community of Barron.”
Candidate Faisal Ahmed says he's running for office to show his children that refugees like himself can do better for themselves by serving their community.
“It means to me a lot,” said Ahmed. “If I can at least give back something to the community that welcomed me and my family so it's very good for me if I get any chance that I can to do anything better for the community.”
The city says to its knowledge there's never been a Somali city council member in Barron and city administrator Bob Kazmierski said potentially having another ethnicity in local government is overdue.
“Because of the large frequency of minority groups in the community it just makes sense that there's representation from different ethnic groups with a public body such as a common council,” said Kazmierski.
The city also says it will be the only one in Barron County to hold a special election in February to narrow down the city council candidates from three to two ahead of the April 2nd election.
“It's a challenge to get people engaged with local government so I think we're fortunate we have three candidates that are willing and able to run,” added Kazmierski.
The third candidate Paul Solie declined to speak on-camera but says he's thrilled there are Somali candidates to represent the community and looks forward to working together no matter what the outcome of the election.
https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2019/...candidates_seek_barron_city_council_seat.aspx
BARRON, Wis. (WEAU) -- For the first time ever the city of Barron has two Somali candidates running for an open city council seat.
There are three candidates looking to fill the open council seat, two of which are Somali, and candidate Isaak Mohamed said they could make history.
“In Wisconsin I will be one of the first to run for city council and hoping I will win for this position,” said Mohamed.
Mohamed says while he hopes to represent the community of Barron as a whole it would be an honor to also be a voice for the Somali population.
Two Somali candidates seek Barron City Council seat
Share
Tweet
Share
Wednesday January 9, 2019
BARRON, Wis. (WEAU) -- For the first time ever the city of Barron has two Somali candidates running for an open city council seat.
There are three candidates looking to fill the open council seat, two of which are Somali, and candidate Isaak Mohamed said they could make history.
“In Wisconsin I will be one of the first to run for city council and hoping I will win for this position,” said Mohamed.
Mohamed says while he hopes to represent the community of Barron as a whole it would be an honor to also be a voice for the Somali population.
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“We need to be heard,” he said. “I'm a U.S. citizen in the United States. I came to this country as a refugee. I was helped by the community of Barron; I was helped by the U.S. government. I want to give back to the U.S. government, I want to show them who I am by doing good things for the city of Barron and also the community of Barron.”
Candidate Faisal Ahmed says he's running for office to show his children that refugees like himself can do better for themselves by serving their community.
“It means to me a lot,” said Ahmed. “If I can at least give back something to the community that welcomed me and my family so it's very good for me if I get any chance that I can to do anything better for the community.”
The city says to its knowledge there's never been a Somali city council member in Barron and city administrator Bob Kazmierski said potentially having another ethnicity in local government is overdue.
“Because of the large frequency of minority groups in the community it just makes sense that there's representation from different ethnic groups with a public body such as a common council,” said Kazmierski.
The city also says it will be the only one in Barron County to hold a special election in February to narrow down the city council candidates from three to two ahead of the April 2nd election.
“It's a challenge to get people engaged with local government so I think we're fortunate we have three candidates that are willing and able to run,” added Kazmierski.
The third candidate Paul Solie declined to speak on-camera but says he's thrilled there are Somali candidates to represent the community and looks forward to working together no matter what the outcome of the election.
https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2019/...candidates_seek_barron_city_council_seat.aspx
Seattle Somali mother of three goes back to school to earn her masters.
“I FELT THE ONLY WAY I COULD MAKE MY CHILDREN RESPECT, VALUE, AND STAY OUT OF HARMS WAY WAS TO GO THE EXTRA MILE WITH THEM AND PURSUE AN EDUCATION WITH THE FOCUS OF – IF I COULD DO IT SO CAN THEY.”
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Saida Alim. My story is not really incredibly amazing or undoable in any shape or form. I am just another ordinary Somali person whom Allah Subhanawata’allah has given an opportunity to be where I am today. I came to this country in 2001 with my children. I worked in retail for several years and realized that most people who were working in these lines of work were mostly immigrants with basically nothing; or very little power to advocate for themselves. I knew then, even though I have always loved education that this was not something I wanted for myself or for my children; (So I went back to school).
What inspired you to pursue your masters?
I felt the only way I could make my children respect themselves, value themselves, and stay out of harm’s way was to go to the extra mile with them and pursue an education with the focus of – if I could do it so can they.
Why Social Work?
This is something Somali people do not understand the benefit associated with but because we don’t have social workers in the community, our young men and girls suffer. Social workers do more than just take children from families who neglect them. Social workers understand and evaluate social issues, such as what our community is dealing with right now. As community, we do not actively participate in changes that impact our children. For example, we left our country because of civil war but we continue to behave like we are still living in Somalia. This will not help us raise vibrant, active, resilient, and talented boys or girls because they are disconnected from their parents who are still living in the old Somalia. All the children who are either brought or born here in America have a confused sense of not belonging or identity crisis. This gap created issues of not being able to communicate with each other. Therefore, our boys are being processed through the prison industrial complex; unlike any other immigrant community.
Was it challenging to pursue this as a mother?
Being mother of two boys and a girl I did not want my children to only experience life through that narrative of stay home mom. On the contrary, as a Somali mother, it pained me to see our children get killed, jailed, and our community being talked about in every discussion. Yet, no one is doing anything to change the vision. The plight boys get worse and things are not happening any different. I love and live for my children and I know every Somali parent feels the same way. However, we as Somali community members are living in this country and need to take part in these policies. Our children need to see active parents that work hard and live balanced life. We need to engage them in the family discussion and decision-making process to close the general gap of miscommunication. We know how to make babies but we as community failed to prepare our children for this country because we ourselves are ill prepared for this country.
What advice do you have for Somali mothers who also want to pursue education?
We as Muslims and Somali community need to believe in our strength, resiliency and motivate the youth to fellow in our footsteps. There is nothing inspirational about fathers who are not engaged and mothers who are busy everyday cooking and cleaning while the fathers are missing from the picture. Think about your children. Be the role model they don’t get from the mainstream society. Children are impressionable and need positive images of their own people. By getting an education our children will be inspired by their own community { Mother} rather than copying other people who may not believe what we believe in or value what we value.
https://allthingssomali.com/seattle-somali-mother-of-three-goes-back-to-school-to-earn-her-masters/
“I FELT THE ONLY WAY I COULD MAKE MY CHILDREN RESPECT, VALUE, AND STAY OUT OF HARMS WAY WAS TO GO THE EXTRA MILE WITH THEM AND PURSUE AN EDUCATION WITH THE FOCUS OF – IF I COULD DO IT SO CAN THEY.”
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Saida Alim. My story is not really incredibly amazing or undoable in any shape or form. I am just another ordinary Somali person whom Allah Subhanawata’allah has given an opportunity to be where I am today. I came to this country in 2001 with my children. I worked in retail for several years and realized that most people who were working in these lines of work were mostly immigrants with basically nothing; or very little power to advocate for themselves. I knew then, even though I have always loved education that this was not something I wanted for myself or for my children; (So I went back to school).
What inspired you to pursue your masters?
I felt the only way I could make my children respect themselves, value themselves, and stay out of harm’s way was to go to the extra mile with them and pursue an education with the focus of – if I could do it so can they.
Why Social Work?
This is something Somali people do not understand the benefit associated with but because we don’t have social workers in the community, our young men and girls suffer. Social workers do more than just take children from families who neglect them. Social workers understand and evaluate social issues, such as what our community is dealing with right now. As community, we do not actively participate in changes that impact our children. For example, we left our country because of civil war but we continue to behave like we are still living in Somalia. This will not help us raise vibrant, active, resilient, and talented boys or girls because they are disconnected from their parents who are still living in the old Somalia. All the children who are either brought or born here in America have a confused sense of not belonging or identity crisis. This gap created issues of not being able to communicate with each other. Therefore, our boys are being processed through the prison industrial complex; unlike any other immigrant community.
Was it challenging to pursue this as a mother?
Being mother of two boys and a girl I did not want my children to only experience life through that narrative of stay home mom. On the contrary, as a Somali mother, it pained me to see our children get killed, jailed, and our community being talked about in every discussion. Yet, no one is doing anything to change the vision. The plight boys get worse and things are not happening any different. I love and live for my children and I know every Somali parent feels the same way. However, we as Somali community members are living in this country and need to take part in these policies. Our children need to see active parents that work hard and live balanced life. We need to engage them in the family discussion and decision-making process to close the general gap of miscommunication. We know how to make babies but we as community failed to prepare our children for this country because we ourselves are ill prepared for this country.
What advice do you have for Somali mothers who also want to pursue education?
We as Muslims and Somali community need to believe in our strength, resiliency and motivate the youth to fellow in our footsteps. There is nothing inspirational about fathers who are not engaged and mothers who are busy everyday cooking and cleaning while the fathers are missing from the picture. Think about your children. Be the role model they don’t get from the mainstream society. Children are impressionable and need positive images of their own people. By getting an education our children will be inspired by their own community { Mother} rather than copying other people who may not believe what we believe in or value what we value.
https://allthingssomali.com/seattle-somali-mother-of-three-goes-back-to-school-to-earn-her-masters/
This Young Somali Man’s journey from Goat herding to MIT.
“I used to herd goats… and now I finished a degree at MIT”
‘I’m going back to MIT for a masters in the fall’
As a child, Mubarik Mohamoud’s life dream was to own 100 camels. He is now graduating from MIT with a diploma in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. A student from Somaliland in East Africa, he is returning to MIT in the fall to complete a Master’s before returning to his home country.
As a winner of scholarship founded by an ex-hedge-fund analyst that prepares kids in Somaliland to study in the US, Mubarik shared his moving story with us.
Tell me about your childhood – how old were you when you first went to school?
I was born in Ethiopia in region called Ogaden which is close to Somalia. Growing up I was a nomad. My parents had goats, camels and also sheep, so my life-calling was herding. I started out herding baby goats and had a camel at the end. My personal goal as a kid was basically to have 100 camels. That was the culmination of success in my life. There were some conflicts in Somaliland so there were some refugee camps set up in Ethiopia around where I lived. When I visited the camp I saw this school and different life that I could pursue.
After that point I was not convinced that I wanted to continue my life as it had been, so I told my parents I wanted to go to school. For them there was no place for me to go, if I went to Somalia there was no-one for me to stay with and if I went to Ethiopia I didn’t know anybody. They said they didn’t see a path. In the end, I ended up with a Sufi religious group. I stayed with them for a couple of months and they were sufficiently close to the camp that I was able to go to Somaliland. We used to memorize the Quran and some Hadith, which are basically the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. I cannot exactly say how old I was because age is not a thing in nomadic life, the way it’s counted is different. I was probably anywhere between nine and 11 when I went to that school.
How did you get to Somaliland and to Abaarso? How long had it been since the school had been founded?
The Sufi group lived close to the refugee camp and there was a significant influx of people going from that town to Hargeisa which is the main city in Somaliland. I understood how the system worked when I was with the Sufi group, it wasn’t that difficult for me to hop on a truck and after a 12 hour drive, I was in Hargeisa. The Sufi group had very little interaction with the people around them. Once in Hargeisa, I didn’t know anybody there but I found some people who where mildly related to me to guide me. In the beginning, I was able to stay with someone to start school but afterwards things got a little trickier but I stayed with relatives and friends. I did four years of school in Hargeisa before going to Abaarso in the ninth grade, the school had just been founded when I went and it wasn’t very well known.
How was life at your school? When did you get to see your family? Do you stay in touch with your school teachers?
I cannot speak for everyone but in my case, I did not have a home in Hargeisa so Abaarso was very much a home for me. Even during the breaks and summer I was there. My life was a lot better but maybe for some other students it was not. At Abaarso I was one of the first students at the school. Almost all of the students were my best friends. Abaarso is in the middle of nowhere and we were 50-something people, so we got to know each other a lot. I didn’t have a family in Hargeisa and there was no way I could communicate with my family, they don’t have phones, internet or anything. Abaarso became my family.
During breaks, I used to sometimes take a truck back to try to find my family and I usually did and I’d stay with them for a bit and then come back. My parents usually move around in a region that is not that large so if you get to the main village, someone will tell you where they were last time. From the main village it’s probably going to be a day of walking and the next person you see will tell you probably where they are. In Hargeisa, I went to an Arabic school where they didn’t teach English at all, but then I switched to public school and they had English class but since I was so far behind that I couldn’t do it. At Abaarso I just had to learn English.
I stay in contact with all of my teachers, we are that close! My main contact I’d say is Jonathan (the school’s founder). At Abaarso we understood that that there was something better that we would get to, we understood there was a possibility.
How did you prepare for college?
We actually took our SATs in Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa. We had to take a bus there which was like a two-day ride. Abaarso was able to find a bunch of books to prepare us for the tests. For people in Somaliland it is so difficult to register for exams like the SATs because people don’t actually use credit or debit cards, they don’t have bank accounts because they usually use cash. Abaarso took care of all of that and it made a huge difference by making these things possible.
Why did you choose MIT?
After a year and a half at Abaarso, we got an offer from a school in Worcester that Jonathan Starr went to. They offered to take one Abaarso student for a year so I went to Worcester Academy for a year and so there I was able to visit some colleges. After that year, I went back to Abaarso. MIT had giant buildings, labs everywhere and people were doing a lot of hard things and when I saw those things on the tour, I decided that this looked like what I wanted to do.
What is your plan moving forward?
I would say to become an entrepreneur, start companies and organizations that will make a difference back home. I want to focus on organizations that will directly or indirectly educate people and more specifically will introduce them to technology. The internet is available in Somaliland but it is extremely slow so that is one of the problems I want to solve.
https://thetab.com/us/2017/06/08/mubarik-mohamoud-69490
“I used to herd goats… and now I finished a degree at MIT”
‘I’m going back to MIT for a masters in the fall’
As a child, Mubarik Mohamoud’s life dream was to own 100 camels. He is now graduating from MIT with a diploma in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. A student from Somaliland in East Africa, he is returning to MIT in the fall to complete a Master’s before returning to his home country.
As a winner of scholarship founded by an ex-hedge-fund analyst that prepares kids in Somaliland to study in the US, Mubarik shared his moving story with us.
Tell me about your childhood – how old were you when you first went to school?
I was born in Ethiopia in region called Ogaden which is close to Somalia. Growing up I was a nomad. My parents had goats, camels and also sheep, so my life-calling was herding. I started out herding baby goats and had a camel at the end. My personal goal as a kid was basically to have 100 camels. That was the culmination of success in my life. There were some conflicts in Somaliland so there were some refugee camps set up in Ethiopia around where I lived. When I visited the camp I saw this school and different life that I could pursue.
After that point I was not convinced that I wanted to continue my life as it had been, so I told my parents I wanted to go to school. For them there was no place for me to go, if I went to Somalia there was no-one for me to stay with and if I went to Ethiopia I didn’t know anybody. They said they didn’t see a path. In the end, I ended up with a Sufi religious group. I stayed with them for a couple of months and they were sufficiently close to the camp that I was able to go to Somaliland. We used to memorize the Quran and some Hadith, which are basically the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. I cannot exactly say how old I was because age is not a thing in nomadic life, the way it’s counted is different. I was probably anywhere between nine and 11 when I went to that school.
How did you get to Somaliland and to Abaarso? How long had it been since the school had been founded?
The Sufi group lived close to the refugee camp and there was a significant influx of people going from that town to Hargeisa which is the main city in Somaliland. I understood how the system worked when I was with the Sufi group, it wasn’t that difficult for me to hop on a truck and after a 12 hour drive, I was in Hargeisa. The Sufi group had very little interaction with the people around them. Once in Hargeisa, I didn’t know anybody there but I found some people who where mildly related to me to guide me. In the beginning, I was able to stay with someone to start school but afterwards things got a little trickier but I stayed with relatives and friends. I did four years of school in Hargeisa before going to Abaarso in the ninth grade, the school had just been founded when I went and it wasn’t very well known.
How was life at your school? When did you get to see your family? Do you stay in touch with your school teachers?
I cannot speak for everyone but in my case, I did not have a home in Hargeisa so Abaarso was very much a home for me. Even during the breaks and summer I was there. My life was a lot better but maybe for some other students it was not. At Abaarso I was one of the first students at the school. Almost all of the students were my best friends. Abaarso is in the middle of nowhere and we were 50-something people, so we got to know each other a lot. I didn’t have a family in Hargeisa and there was no way I could communicate with my family, they don’t have phones, internet or anything. Abaarso became my family.
During breaks, I used to sometimes take a truck back to try to find my family and I usually did and I’d stay with them for a bit and then come back. My parents usually move around in a region that is not that large so if you get to the main village, someone will tell you where they were last time. From the main village it’s probably going to be a day of walking and the next person you see will tell you probably where they are. In Hargeisa, I went to an Arabic school where they didn’t teach English at all, but then I switched to public school and they had English class but since I was so far behind that I couldn’t do it. At Abaarso I just had to learn English.
I stay in contact with all of my teachers, we are that close! My main contact I’d say is Jonathan (the school’s founder). At Abaarso we understood that that there was something better that we would get to, we understood there was a possibility.
How did you prepare for college?
We actually took our SATs in Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa. We had to take a bus there which was like a two-day ride. Abaarso was able to find a bunch of books to prepare us for the tests. For people in Somaliland it is so difficult to register for exams like the SATs because people don’t actually use credit or debit cards, they don’t have bank accounts because they usually use cash. Abaarso took care of all of that and it made a huge difference by making these things possible.
Why did you choose MIT?
After a year and a half at Abaarso, we got an offer from a school in Worcester that Jonathan Starr went to. They offered to take one Abaarso student for a year so I went to Worcester Academy for a year and so there I was able to visit some colleges. After that year, I went back to Abaarso. MIT had giant buildings, labs everywhere and people were doing a lot of hard things and when I saw those things on the tour, I decided that this looked like what I wanted to do.
What is your plan moving forward?
I would say to become an entrepreneur, start companies and organizations that will make a difference back home. I want to focus on organizations that will directly or indirectly educate people and more specifically will introduce them to technology. The internet is available in Somaliland but it is extremely slow so that is one of the problems I want to solve.
https://thetab.com/us/2017/06/08/mubarik-mohamoud-69490
