U
uncleruckus
Guest
Nuruddin Farah, Author of Hiding in Plain Sight.
What does it mean to be Somali today? What identity does one proclaim when they have been uprooted from what is familiar to them? Which part of the world does one call home when they constantly feel like strangers, unwanted and treated with suspicion by their hosts?
The unending state of lawlessness and instability in Somalia has seen desperate citizens seek refuge in many parts of the world. Kenya has had her fair share of refugees from Somalia and, indeed, government officials and foreign missions have often had to live and run their operations from Nairobi.
What this means is that there exists a huge population of Somalis in Kenya and other foreign countries, who do not have a place to call home. One could say, some Somalis, especially those exiled when young and those born in foreign lands, really do not know who they are. This all important question of the Somali identity is among an array of issues that the acclaimed Somali writer, Nurrudin Farah examines in his latest novel, Hiding in Plain Sight (Oneworld Publications, 2015).
Hiding in Plain Sight tells the story of Bella, an outstanding fashion photographer in Rome, born of a Somali mother and an Italian father. Her brother Aar, who works for the United Nations, is killed in a terrorist attack in Somalia, ostensibly by political extremists.
Bella has to put everything aside and travel to Nairobi, Kenya, where Aar’s children study in a boarding school. With Aar’s wife having abandoned him and their children years ago, Bella knows that she is now the only parent that her niece and nephew have and she has to find a way of taking care of them.
Aar’s estranged wife now lives in India with her lesbian partner. While Aar’s will is very clear, that Bella should have the sole custody of his children in case of his demise, his estranged wife reappears and demands marital rights. Fortunately, she quickly realises that she has no credible claim to her maternal rights and allows Bella to take care of the children. Besides, while the children acknowledge the fact that she is their mother, they do not seem to have quite forgiven her for abandoning their father or for being a lesbian.
http://www.waryapost.com/dilemma-of-being-somali-today/
no right by the way Somali identity is a very broad term it mean's one thing to you, and it mean's some thing else to some one else, by the way this just a article to read and is not written by me nor do i have the same view's as the writer as we are two different human being's, is just that some thing to read please stop with the assumption's 
this is not the 1st time people keep thinking i am a old guy why i don't know 
