Trekking through the fields...In between beauty and catastrophe

Last month I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to visit some of the famine affected areas of Somalia. As most people know by now, Somalia faced the worst drought in 60 years in 2011 and by August, the United Nations declared famine in six regions of Somalia, threatening the lives of over 250,000 Somalis and requiring urgent humanitarian assistance for millions of people across the Horn of Africa. In February 2012, the UN declared the end of the famine but of course the needs of the people were still ever present. I wanted to see what the conditions on the ground were post-famine and how the lives of those displaced by the famine were.

A group of us traveled to Mandera and crossed the border to the cities of Beledhawo, Dolow and the small villages in between. Before arriving in Mandera, we stayed in Nairobi for a few days where on the first night I was greeted by the buzzing sounds of mosquitoes. Last time I was in Africa was during a work trip to Ghana some 8 years ago so mosquito music had gone to the back of my head! Needless to say the mosquitoes had a feast biting me. Last time I was in Nairobi was also a long time ago, 14 years to be exact. Much has changed. One senses the city has indeed become a global hub for all things Africa. But what I was happy to encounter to not have changed is the humility and friendliness of the Kenyan people. Eastleigh is of course still 'Eslii' but the neighbourhood's businesses are booming more than ever. If one can bear with the dirty streets and rubbish piles, you'll find the nicest 5 star hotels, complete with a sewage view...

 At 5.30am on the second of April, we arrived at Wilson airport to fly to Mandera. Mandera was hot, humid and dusty and tension was in the air. Just a mere few days earlier, clashes between the local tribes occurred which led to many of the residents fleeing into Somalia or the rural areas. Luckily things had been settled between the people by the time we arrived but schools were still closed and the city did not have the usual buzz of life. Soldiers guarded the streets by day and silence by night. I was keen to see Somalia, mingle with the people. I found them to be amazingly at ease with whatever their lot was. In Beledhawo, on the outskirts, there is an IDP camp called Tuulo-Amin. This camp holds between 1800-2500 displaced people and most of them fled from the Bay, Bakool, Mid and Lower Shabelle regions which were all affected by the famine last year. I met a beautiful young lady at the camp, Sulekha. She told me she fled her village in Bakool with her six younger siblings, leaving behind both her parents as they were too weak to walk. She also has children and a husband of her own. She is only 20 years old. These are the silent heroes of strength bearing the real burdens of responsibility.

 In Beledhawo, there is a dire need for the rebuilding of basic infrastructure. The city has been engulfed by constant warfare and people are scared to invest. This means basic healthcare, primary education and adequate sanitation facilities are in dire need.
Some 35 km away from Beledhawo is the city of Dolow. There is a vast contrast between the two cities. Dolow has not been affected by the conflict as much as Beledhawo has so one will find Dolow to be more built. There is an airport where aid agencies can deliver aid directly, the town centre has some healthy businesses and people's basic needs seem to be met. Here too, there is a large IDP camp populated with over 2000 people, mostly from the same regions as those in Beledhawo. Because these people look to be of African descent, the other local Somalis discriminate harshly against them. This often affects the way food is distributed in the camp.
Outside of Dolow, in the rural areas, population has grown dense and pastoral people do not move around anymore. The famine wiped out all of their livestock and although it has rained, people have nothing to move with and can therefore not rebuild their lives. Walking through the rural areas, it is immensely dry. The greenery of the land has vanished. The rain that fell between September and December last year did not make much of a difference to that part of the country and this speaks of the magnitude of the effects of the drought. The rain actually brought a surge in waterborne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera and malaria and without adequate healthcare coupled with lack of hygiene, people continue to die in the thousands.

I flew back to Nairobi and back home with a heavy heart and much to ponder on. For one, I was happy to find that the security conditions in South Somalia were gravely exaggerated. People were all but advising us against going there but I firmly believe we as a people will never be able to bring effective change if we continue to be scared, watching from the sidelines. I found the most pressing need in that area at this moment to be healthcare rather than food aid. Although food is immensely needed, local aid agencies as well as some international ones are actively distributing food on a regular basis, albeit in short supply. Also many Somalis have relatives abroad that send them remittances.
With regards to healthcare, the whole region shares 4 doctors, two of whom are private and people cant afford to pay for healthcare and the other two, who are meant to be based in the Beledhawo hospital are instead in Mandera, citing 'security issues'.
Alongside healthcare relief, methods to move people from emergency relief to development for them to be self-sufficient again should be put in place. In addition to the human catastrophe, environmental degradation and deforestation have robbed the country of its life. All these elements combined, the likelihood of another famine becomes unfortunately inevitable.

the City of Leicester: virtue in action

A much overdue dedication to the local authorities and residents of my hometown, the city of Leicester, for their stance against the EDL. As many of you know, they came to demonstrate in our city 2 weekends ago using the four Somali girls who had beaten a local English girl as an excuse to incite hatred amongst the locals. But instead of countering their vile actions with similar demonstrations and eruption of violence, which is synonymous with EDL protests, the local community put together a well-organised awareness raising campaign shown through the local and independent media about the Somali people in Leicester. Somalis also took active part in working closely with all the other communities to achieve this.
This was enhanced by the local authorities declaring a free library day on Saturday allowing youngsters to borrow and read books, dvd's and cd's for free and if they owed fines to the libraries, it was written off. Furthermore all the local leisure centres declared an open day where everyone could use the facilities for free.
This not only helped to keep people off the streets to avoid any potential clashes but it also brought people together from all ethnicities and neighbourhoods, symbolising the truly multicultural unity of Leicester. People also came together to work alongside the police to patrol locally owned businesses and generally maintained a happy-spirited sense of solidarity. The rare occasion when good truly repelled evil!

The week before last saw me wrapping up the second half term break session mentoring the Somali youth of Leicester, this time they learned about communication and presentation skills through making videos but they also engaged in workshops where they were familiarised with conflict resolution and engaging with the politics of the country. One learns much from the free-spiritedness of children and their sense of being inquisitive, an art-form we unfortunately shed as we grow into adulthood. Our children really are a beacon of intellect and my only hope for prosperity coming back to Somalia really lies with them, passionately.

Speaking of Somalia, the London conference overshadowed much of whatever else that was happening in the world on Thursday. As usual many senior figures were present and much was promised. Whether those promises will come into fruition is the million dollar question..

power of literature in bringing social change

A few days ago, I facilitated a social event that explored the issues of FGM within the African societies back in the continent as well as those here in the Diaspora. The issues were brought forward through a theatre play followed by a panel discussion. What was particularly a breath of fresh air for me was that the panel discussion included male Muslim scholars that were not only able to voice the teachings of Islam on circumcision but also speak out and advocate against the barbaric traditions that are often interwoven with religion when it comes to FGM.

Some of the interesting dimensions that I picked up on from the event were how vocal the youth of the African Diaspora were, particularly the Somali youth,in expressing their dislike towards this practice with many of them detailing their preference to the contrary.

It has been a long struggle if one reflects on the fight against FGM in the Somali as well as the African context but much has been achieved, many are enlightened and on the whole much of today's society is fortunately equipped with enough education to stop practicing this tradition. However the fact remains that it is not an eradicated practice and if we take heed from what some of the attendees of the event have related to us, FGM is rampant in many parts of the motherland and its practice is sacredly being passed on to the new generations.
Thus, as always, the fight must continue...

the year of optimism

The year 2012 has fast come. Time flies far quicker than I can keep up with these days. I am however trolling along with an optimistic outlook on what's ahead of us this year. I'm getting to know the land of the Welsh and I must say, it has been a pleasant breath of fresh air thus far. I find myself directionally challenged lost in the most popular areas, but then again, one cannot bring a testimony without the tests...
My PhD is slowly taking the shape of a full time job (much of it spent trying to find the library!) that occupies my mind on a full time basis, but only noticed how consuming it is just now, as I reflect. It is a fine bubble to be in!

One of the issues I've been pondering on lately is that this year is the year of massive soldier withdrawal from Afghanistan.The United States is pulling out approximately 33,000 by the end of 2012, which is one third of the 101,000 American troops who were in Afghanistan in June, the peak of U.S. military presence in the war.Canada withdrew 2,850 combat forces and France and Britain will each send about 400 home while Poland is recalling 200 and Denmark and Slovenia are pulling out about 120 combined. On one hand it is good to see that this war might finally be coming to an end, hoping the Afghan troops can maintain law and order in their country.

I dread the conditions the returning soldiers will be facing though, as many of those who had come back from Rwanda, Iraq and Vietnam for example had severe stress and depression related illnesses leading to endangerment to themselves and others at times. Statistics that reflect the mental health conditions of returning soldiers and veterans and their levels of post-traumatic stress disorders are astounding. What's ironic is that these same soldiers are revered and well looked after by their governments prior to their departure.
I was watching a documentary not long ago that highlighted this issue titled 'A War in the Mind' and what baffled me was the lack of after-care there is available for these soldiers. It is almost as if they're of no more use, so they get disposed of and this is precisely what leads some of them to commit the ultimate act of violence against themselves.
For many of these soldiers, and probably for those that will return this year, admitting the symptoms is often the hardest in a “suck-it-up” military culture of macho toughness that stigmatizes men for the “weakness” of being emotionally troubled. What isn't often taken into account is that once a soldier returns from a battlefield, the horrors of war remain engraved in their memory long after the war has ended.
Being successful does not mean winning a war but rather being able to go to sleep with a clear conscious and waking up with a noble perspective.

a tale of blame shifting

My little brother recently shared a story with me that served as a great reminder for me. He began his tale with 'Once upon a time, a devilish creature went to a kiosk in a small village and rubbed a streak of sweet jelly on one of its walls. An old wise man walked up to the creature and asked him why he's always misleading humanity to which the creature replied "I am not to blame for humanity's decisions." The old man walked away upset.
The jelly attracted a fly which got stuck on the wall. A customer that came to buy something from the kiosk brought along his cat. Whilst conversing with the owner, the customer's cat got attracted to the fly on the wall, and the cat then attracted the dog of the kiosk owner. Long story short; dog ended up killing the cat and a huge fight ensued between the customer and the kiosk owner. Their fight draw in the entire village and the kiosk owner gave the customer a final blow that led to the customer's death. A village-wide outcry led to a nationwide outcry and before long,a civil war broke out between those that supported the family of the kiosk owner and those on the dead customer's side.
The devilish creature came back to the old, wise man and said "You see what humanity is capable of without our involvement? All I did was rub some sweet jelly on a kiosk wall..."

We often hear many shifted blames and complaints about how others are in the wrong yet we rarely reflect on our individual parts of society's ills. This story served as a reminder for me and wanted to share it with you all hoping it might have similar impact.

reflections of a hopeful student

The past few weeks have cocooned me into my own world of literature. When I started my PhD course in October, I was still in an idealistic state of mind reading 5-6 books a week of authors I personally liked and much of it was general media and conflict literature.
I had my first 'awakening' when I got feedback for my first literature review draft. Since then I've figured out I ought to be reading around 30 odd books, a wide range of journals and empirical data on a weekly basis in addition to critically analysing them! Swamped with this much information, one's mind can often get bogged down. But I've also had a good few 'Eureka' moments where ideas flowed out of my mind.

So far my studies have taken me along a humble path, realising the scope of knowledge there is out there and the human limitations when it comes to acquiring it. Every day I learn something new and every day I face a new intellectual challenge. It is a balancing act of patience, humility and optimism which I hope will gradually move me forward in to the realm of ongoing progression.

I am thoroughly enjoying it, far more than I had anticipated. Einstein's statement 'the more you seek knowledge, the more you realise you know nothing' often crosses my mind :). I feel I am growing on a daily basis and for that I am grateful.

Post Somali Week

Though I'm still recuperating, I wanted to write a quick note of appreciation as I had a blast at Oxford House's Somali Week in London. I came back Sunday morning exhausted but filled with exuberance and hope for the heights Somali literature can reach in the future.
Many prominent artists, writers, publishers, poets and literary experts gathered for that one week and every day was a different flavour bringing many people across the spectrum together. Wednesday was particularly close to my heart as it was the evening dedicated to Women's Literature and the contributions they made to the development of society.
I've met some awe-inspiring youngsters and inspirational women and men that I hope to stay in touch with. If events like these were replicated across the country and perhaps even in the countries where there are large Somali communities, the image of the Somali people would be tipped towards the positive side.