I always get uber-excited when I discover something new and useful. A friend of mine who also works at the VOA told me about a local TV and radio channel where people and journalists can volunteer to host their own shows. You get to do the whole nine yards from hosting the show to being the engineer, the reporter and the producer. So watch out for Idil's very own radio show and I'll be able to stream it online so I'll be putting it on my blog!
I've just recorded the material for tomorrow's edition of my Diaspora program and I was speaking to a Somali gentleman who's had polio from the age of 5. He's been on crutches almost all his life but the spirit this man has is equal to none. I was very moved. He runs a small taxi company and still works as a taxi driver. He's worked for various different companies but has never had any diability allowances or thoughts of letting the government take care of him. He runs a disability organisation in Arizona where he tries to gather support for disabled Somalis back in Somalia and get them materials such as weelchairs, crutches etc.
Very inspirational.
This Friday I'll be covering an upcoming Somali youth conference in Virginia, a first of its kind. The youngsters who organised it are trying to rally the Somali youth together to encourage and inspire one another so that they can support each other to deal with any issues they come across. I think it is an admirable effort and I look forward to the event.
On a personal note I had my little nephew stay with me from Seattle over the weekend. He came to attend a dental conference as he aspires to go to dental school. We had a great time exploring the sightseeing sides of DC (I particularly enjoyed the sightseeing since I'm still a tourist!). I managed to catch 'The Ugly Truth ' at the cinema with Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. Hilarious, absolutely hilarious. Anyone that hasn't seen it yet, I highly recommended.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
movin on with the beat..
beat drums of the VOA that is! I'm on a creative roll but the trouble with that is I can't seem to look anywhere else but work! Go figure. I'm glued to my office desk.
I am having a ball though, work is tremendously busy with breaking news comin in literally by the hour. Friday alone I did a 16 hour stint working on the afternoon and evening edition and then on a surviving journalist's report for the breakfast show as well as my weekly review program. In between I squeezed in news recap of the week for Nightline Africa and the final feature for my Africa News Tonight Somalia series which will air next week. It will also be available online. I came home not being able to find my bed quick enough! I wanted my brain to shut down completely and it did, for the following 12 hours. I woke up on Saturday, fixed some lunch and took myself and one of my dust collecting books to the pool downstairs. Instead of reading though I couldn't shake off the thought of the journalist whose story I was covering. He had escaped an attempted assassination by a group of armed men for the sole reason of him doing his job. Ever since 2007 there has been this rampage of Islamist militias hunting Somali journalists to wipe them off the face of Somalia. They have killed more than 15 so far and many of them still live in fear of losing their lives receiving death threats almost on a daily basis. It is undescribable what is going on in Somalia these days. Life has become unworthy.
Another story that has been keeping us busy is the two Frenchmen that have been kidnapped in Mogadishu last Tuesday. They were apparently invited by the government to help train the Somali security forces. What I'm baffled about is why on earth they would go to Mogadishu knowing very well the conditions on the ground there. They are now in the hands of Al-Shabab who are getting ready to try them in their so-called sharia courts but this is the joke; they are planning to fine them rather than cut off their limbs! could it be that Al-Shabab is running out of money?? Another relevant piece to this unravelling puzzle is the involvement of the Somali pirates who claim they have orchestrated the organising of the kidnap. I'm leaning towards believing that they are involved and that maybe they have forged an underground alliance with Al-Shabab especially since Al-Shabab is now asking for money rather than plucking out their eyeballs or something. They'll probably ask for a million for each one and then split it with the pirates. Watch this space!
My weekend has been restful to me but more than likely boring to others. I've caught my apartment up on some much needed cleaning and my eyes on re-runs of Waiting to Exhale and the Jacksons. I got all excited when I bumped into BBC America screening Graham Norton! You tend to look forward to the smallest things like watching TV and doing the laundry when you don't get to do it as often as regular folks do!
Next week is looking to be as hectic as the one that has just ended but I'm looking forward to it as I'll get another go at putting my creativity to good use.
I am having a ball though, work is tremendously busy with breaking news comin in literally by the hour. Friday alone I did a 16 hour stint working on the afternoon and evening edition and then on a surviving journalist's report for the breakfast show as well as my weekly review program. In between I squeezed in news recap of the week for Nightline Africa and the final feature for my Africa News Tonight Somalia series which will air next week. It will also be available online. I came home not being able to find my bed quick enough! I wanted my brain to shut down completely and it did, for the following 12 hours. I woke up on Saturday, fixed some lunch and took myself and one of my dust collecting books to the pool downstairs. Instead of reading though I couldn't shake off the thought of the journalist whose story I was covering. He had escaped an attempted assassination by a group of armed men for the sole reason of him doing his job. Ever since 2007 there has been this rampage of Islamist militias hunting Somali journalists to wipe them off the face of Somalia. They have killed more than 15 so far and many of them still live in fear of losing their lives receiving death threats almost on a daily basis. It is undescribable what is going on in Somalia these days. Life has become unworthy.
Another story that has been keeping us busy is the two Frenchmen that have been kidnapped in Mogadishu last Tuesday. They were apparently invited by the government to help train the Somali security forces. What I'm baffled about is why on earth they would go to Mogadishu knowing very well the conditions on the ground there. They are now in the hands of Al-Shabab who are getting ready to try them in their so-called sharia courts but this is the joke; they are planning to fine them rather than cut off their limbs! could it be that Al-Shabab is running out of money?? Another relevant piece to this unravelling puzzle is the involvement of the Somali pirates who claim they have orchestrated the organising of the kidnap. I'm leaning towards believing that they are involved and that maybe they have forged an underground alliance with Al-Shabab especially since Al-Shabab is now asking for money rather than plucking out their eyeballs or something. They'll probably ask for a million for each one and then split it with the pirates. Watch this space!
My weekend has been restful to me but more than likely boring to others. I've caught my apartment up on some much needed cleaning and my eyes on re-runs of Waiting to Exhale and the Jacksons. I got all excited when I bumped into BBC America screening Graham Norton! You tend to look forward to the smallest things like watching TV and doing the laundry when you don't get to do it as often as regular folks do!
Next week is looking to be as hectic as the one that has just ended but I'm looking forward to it as I'll get another go at putting my creativity to good use.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Thank God for the weekend
I have had the most restful weekend ever. I slept from 6pm Friday til 1pm Saturday with a brief interruption for the need to eat. I spent most of the day reading books, swimming and watching movies and went back to bed as early as 10pm! I woke up this morning totally refreshed and rejuvenated like I can take on the world.
Work has been particularly busy for the past week with the government forces still in a fierce battle with the opposing Islamist groups. Nothing seems to be changing in the dynamics of Somali politics and state of affairs and the civilians continue to drop.
The biggest story on this side of the Atlantic I suppose was president Obama's speech to the African world. He delivered a speech from Ghana's capital Accra where he remained for around 24hours. During this time he visited hospitals as well as the historical Cape Coast. I remember when I went there and the amount of emotions this place evokes in one who can relate to the plight of the slave trade. Obama being half African must have been moved deeply.
On a more domestic level one of the Somali American boys who were allegedly recruited by Al-Shabab has died in the recent wave of violence in Mogadishu. This has caused a huge stir amongst the Somali community but more within the national security agencies such as the FBI. A friend of mine just told me actually Somalis in Minnesota have created a code name for the FBI; Fatima Bashir Ismail! Genius! You hear them conversing with each other referring to how much of a bug-a-boo 'Fatima' has turned out to be! lol I was in stitches.
I'm getting itchy feet again to go on holiday. I think I'm geared by mum and the kids being in Spain and Jen's newly found mobility in Barbados (which means she can drive me around the whole island!). Should I go for a quick weekend break to bim... If only Al-Shabab went on holiday and gave us a break from reporting!
Work has been particularly busy for the past week with the government forces still in a fierce battle with the opposing Islamist groups. Nothing seems to be changing in the dynamics of Somali politics and state of affairs and the civilians continue to drop.
The biggest story on this side of the Atlantic I suppose was president Obama's speech to the African world. He delivered a speech from Ghana's capital Accra where he remained for around 24hours. During this time he visited hospitals as well as the historical Cape Coast. I remember when I went there and the amount of emotions this place evokes in one who can relate to the plight of the slave trade. Obama being half African must have been moved deeply.
On a more domestic level one of the Somali American boys who were allegedly recruited by Al-Shabab has died in the recent wave of violence in Mogadishu. This has caused a huge stir amongst the Somali community but more within the national security agencies such as the FBI. A friend of mine just told me actually Somalis in Minnesota have created a code name for the FBI; Fatima Bashir Ismail! Genius! You hear them conversing with each other referring to how much of a bug-a-boo 'Fatima' has turned out to be! lol I was in stitches.
I'm getting itchy feet again to go on holiday. I think I'm geared by mum and the kids being in Spain and Jen's newly found mobility in Barbados (which means she can drive me around the whole island!). Should I go for a quick weekend break to bim... If only Al-Shabab went on holiday and gave us a break from reporting!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
an early daydream occurred
I just came back from the office and as I laid my head down against my pillow, my mind went back to 1998 when I went to visit my maternal grandmother in Galgadud, Somalia. During my stay there I went to the rural areas to see some of my paternal grandmothers (note; most Somalis will tell you they have more than one grandmother, who aren't their parents' mothers but the mothers of their parents' siblings.)
One of them, a very charming old-fashioned typical Somali grandmother, used to tell me tales of foregone history and past traditions. This was the first time I learned the history of the clan system. She had a hard time pronouncing some of the names of the Somali clans so she created nicknames that she associated with the pronounciations of the names. One particular day she was telling me the story of how my father's sisters got married.
One of them got married to a guy from the Murursade tribe but she couldn't pronouce that name so she called them 'xooggane' or 'xooganayaasha' because 'murur' has a close sound to 'muruq' which means muscle in Somali and 'xooggane' means 'the strong one.' As she explained how the ceremony of giving my aunt away occurred she kept refferring to them as 'the strong ones' and the funny thing is she isn't saying this particular tribe is stronger than the other tribes but rather she is using the phrase as a reference to help her remember who her daughter's in-laws were.
I wish we could go back to the days of my grandma when clans were solely used for the purpose it was created for; a way to know where you come from, to know your ancestors, your family, your forefathers and to have a sense of community.
With that picture in my mind I cannot comprehend how history has evolved into using that system for people of the same breed and background to belittle each other. I was having a conversation with one of my friends earlier on today. He told me how a group of people of the same immediate family chose to alienate one family member simply because of the person he chose to spend his life with. They do not know their nieces and their nephews and they are living in the same city! It is unbelievable.
I think of how some families are separated due to wars, displacement and political asylum in some instances and what they would give to see their families again and how short life generally is. What is the essence of life if you cannot spend it with your family, if you do not share your joys and moments of sorrow with them?
It baffles me that after the experience of the civil war that most Somalis either immediately experienced or were affected by it in some way, some people still have the audacity to alienate their family members when they have been lucky enough to survive and be united!
One of them, a very charming old-fashioned typical Somali grandmother, used to tell me tales of foregone history and past traditions. This was the first time I learned the history of the clan system. She had a hard time pronouncing some of the names of the Somali clans so she created nicknames that she associated with the pronounciations of the names. One particular day she was telling me the story of how my father's sisters got married.
One of them got married to a guy from the Murursade tribe but she couldn't pronouce that name so she called them 'xooggane' or 'xooganayaasha' because 'murur' has a close sound to 'muruq' which means muscle in Somali and 'xooggane' means 'the strong one.' As she explained how the ceremony of giving my aunt away occurred she kept refferring to them as 'the strong ones' and the funny thing is she isn't saying this particular tribe is stronger than the other tribes but rather she is using the phrase as a reference to help her remember who her daughter's in-laws were.
I wish we could go back to the days of my grandma when clans were solely used for the purpose it was created for; a way to know where you come from, to know your ancestors, your family, your forefathers and to have a sense of community.
With that picture in my mind I cannot comprehend how history has evolved into using that system for people of the same breed and background to belittle each other. I was having a conversation with one of my friends earlier on today. He told me how a group of people of the same immediate family chose to alienate one family member simply because of the person he chose to spend his life with. They do not know their nieces and their nephews and they are living in the same city! It is unbelievable.
I think of how some families are separated due to wars, displacement and political asylum in some instances and what they would give to see their families again and how short life generally is. What is the essence of life if you cannot spend it with your family, if you do not share your joys and moments of sorrow with them?
It baffles me that after the experience of the civil war that most Somalis either immediately experienced or were affected by it in some way, some people still have the audacity to alienate their family members when they have been lucky enough to survive and be united!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
a legal alien...
is what I feel like from time to time. I find myself being amazed at little discoveries such as overweight squirrels, mice and street cats that truly reflect the society they live among. I keep making a fool out of myself since I still can't tell the difference between a pregnant woman and an overweight one even after being here for 6 months. I offended a lady in my apartment building today as she rode the lift with me. I congratuled her on her pregnancy and followed that up with 'when are you due to give birth, madam?' She sternly replied "I AINT PREGNANT, I'M VOLUPTOUS!" I couldn't get out of the lift quick enough...
So today is Somalia's independence day, when we gained independence from the colonisers. But we seem to be far worse off today than those days we fought for our freedom. Today we are our own colonisers holding each other captive in a constant wave of violence, torture and killing. When will this stop? When can the innocent civilians rest their heads safely against their pillows without fearing if they will survive another day, if they can quiten their chirping stomaches, if they can dodge another bullet? when can young children be just that, children? Why do they have to fight the battles caused by their ignorant elders and why do they have to take the responsibilities of raising their younger siblings, a responsibility neglected by the adults around them?
I truly fear Somalia is doomed for a destination in the pages of history, an ancient tale to tell the children of the future. A tale told by witnesses of the global world, historians and outlandish Somali-somethings who will be the produce of the Somali Diaspora. I keep asking myself where are we headed and what are we striving for?
So today is Somalia's independence day, when we gained independence from the colonisers. But we seem to be far worse off today than those days we fought for our freedom. Today we are our own colonisers holding each other captive in a constant wave of violence, torture and killing. When will this stop? When can the innocent civilians rest their heads safely against their pillows without fearing if they will survive another day, if they can quiten their chirping stomaches, if they can dodge another bullet? when can young children be just that, children? Why do they have to fight the battles caused by their ignorant elders and why do they have to take the responsibilities of raising their younger siblings, a responsibility neglected by the adults around them?
I truly fear Somalia is doomed for a destination in the pages of history, an ancient tale to tell the children of the future. A tale told by witnesses of the global world, historians and outlandish Somali-somethings who will be the produce of the Somali Diaspora. I keep asking myself where are we headed and what are we striving for?
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