Somalia is a country renowned for its rich cultural heritage and diverse arts. Sadly, two decades of statelessness has seen the destruction and neglect of numerous libraries, theatres and museums. Insecurity has also caused many talented poets, playwrights, artists and writers to flee the country. As a result much of Somalia’s cultural memory has now been lost.

Cultural dialogue is crucial in the context of conflict resolution, reconciliation and peace-building. It can also act as a tool in reinforcing a sense of community and shared connection, especially amongst young people. Cultural dialogue can also play an invaluable role in the achievement of the stabilisation of Somalia as well as in promoting recovery and aiding development.

British Somali culture has flourished in London over the last decade, with the emergence of popular Somali women poets, writers and artists.

SRDF invites you to join us for an afternoon celebrating Somali women’s cultural achievements while experiencing Somali entertainment first hand.

http://somaliculturaltea.eventbrite.com/

I attended the Somali: Local Perspectives event on the 4th of May at the School of African and Oriental Studies.

The panel was made up of incredibly experienced NGO workers, some of which had returned from Somalia just a few days before, assuring us that we were receiving the most up to date of opinions and reflections.

Topics ranged from the typical to the extraordinary. We started with the speakers outlining their work in Somalia and their initial observations. What struck me was the incredibly amount that has been coordinated, from crisis centres addressing gender based violence, to educational initiatives as well as political organisation although we had been told right at the beginning that ‘ we had to leave politics out of this discussion,’ in order to focus on the issues.

The evening was not without critical debate, with issues such as corruption, the power of warlords as well as the increasingly redundant role of NGO’s as argued by one of the audience members. This was particularly interesting given the professional background of the panel. The debate was widened when an audience member asked that we discuss not just Somalia, but the Pan African struggles of African states in trying to to achieve self-actualization.

What was made very clear was that everyone has a role to play in the rehabilitation of Somalia, whether you are part of the Somali diaspora, part of the NGO sector, or just a interested outsider like myself, we all prove to be a stakeholder in the future of Somalia.

“We are a people of poets” Simeera Hassan, a British-Somali archivist, tells me while holding a hand-crafted wooden drum, “According to the tradition, a man recites poetry to the woman he is courting. And even when there is a family dispute, they come together and resolve the issue through exchanging poetry.” This is a story that has been repeated and passed down generations, reflective of how memories are kept organic, alive and shaping identity. Somalis are thought to be London’s oldest African community, yet there is a sense that there is very little awareness of the historical roots that they have in the UK.

Immigrating to London during the early twentieth century meant that old stories and lifestyles were lost. New stories were forged. This history has become increasingly relevant, at a time when second/ third generation British-Somalis are starting school and university, and also as the population of Somali-born residents is growing – which in Tower Hamlets has more than doubled in a decade. This project is of incredible personal relevance to Simeera herself, a daughter of a merchant seaman father who came to Britain and lived on Ensign Street, in “London’s coloured quarter” in 1947 from Burao, northwestern Somalia, who had worked his way up from loading coal in merchant ships. She was compelled to find out about his journey, contribution to society and understand her roots.

Powerful black and white portraits of Somali community members, photographed by Sarah Ainslie, are central to the exhibition and each is accompanied with a pithy quote of their personal recollections. These are beautiful dignified faces –aged and weathered by struggle and the traumatic experiences of war, yet at the same time the retired seamen and elderly women have expressions full of life, drawing you in. Simeera tells me the stories behind each face, and it’s incredibly moving. It reveals a microcosm of humanity’s tale, of the trials and adventures that come with moving away from the nomadic village to the intensity of an urban metropolis. One of the most touching stories was that of community elder Dudi Aden, who had exclaimed to Simeera while she was collating the oral testimonies, “why would you want to interview me, I’m just a nobody?” Yet it turns out that she had been a specialist hut-designer in her village in Somalia.

 Another portrait introduces Ismail Ibrahim, a retired seaman wearing a pinstriped suit and tie in his portrait picture, recalls life in Britain when he first emigrated: “daytime we stayed in our cafeteria, we played cards… night time we dressed up go dance hall.” But apart from the memories of dancing lessons, I learn that he had fought in the first Gulf War and had seen his daughter and mother-in-law shot during the Somali Civil War.

 War veteran, Ahmed Suleiman Hassan, has a piercing stare and white goatee beard in his portrait. He is incredibly patriotic, still parading his medallions and lives in the Queen Victoria’s Seamen’s rest in Poplar. He recounts that, “in 1942 I had been torpedoed by the German ships. I was 3 days at sea no food no nothing, two days and one night I was at the shore side, I used to eat dead fish, trees, flowers, for one week, then they found me, they saved me and took me to South Africa.” But it strikes me that people like Ahmed don’t tend to feature in the national conscious of who constitutes as a War veteran and don’t receive much acknowledgement either.

 As a young British-Somali woman, Simeera explains how the older Somali generation is concerned about the challenges that the younger generations face, and are worried that they are not interacting enough with society as a whole. Old posters and pamphlets show much integration at community events: asian and white women also attend a gathering at a Somali women’s community centre in 1984. At the same time, the concerns remain that the younger generation will lose touch with their traditional roots, and that simple things like craftwork that have been passed down throughout the family are being lost. The exhibition hosts a few artifacts, which provides a very tangible connection with history and the lost trades, including a wooden hand-carved milk container, a red hand-woven woman’s sarong and camel bell. At the end we listen to the compiled audio oral testimonies, and it is a moving moment of reflection.

Visiting this archive reminds me of the questions posed by French academic Pierre Nora in his monumental thesis Les Lieux de Mémoire. We are at a particular historical moment, where we are conscious of the break with the past, and this is tied up with a sense that we have been torn away from memory. As a result we immortalize memory and create lieux de mémoire, or sites of memory – museums, archives, exhibitions, memorials – precisely because real environments of memory, milieu de mémoire, no longer exist. However, if this didn’t happen, there would be no story and these elders would just be another statistic.

This is a small exhibition, but the significance is that it is an example of the democratisation of history, and it is a positive initiative which will help develop a collective consciousness for a community that may feel that their past has been repressed. Furthermore, the project offers access to an online genealogy and film nights, which is another, more personal, element to this. Although I would have loved to have seen a video, documenting all the oral testimonies and would have visually captured invaluable sources and links from the past, tying the project together. With this acceleration of history, the efforts of your predecessors can so easily be forgotten. I feel this initiative is especially poignant for me, and the captivating tales my father, a Bangladeshi immigrant from Sylhet, used to tell me helped shape me as a proud Londoner. But I wish I knew more. The East End has been home to French Protestant Huguenots, Jews, Bangladeshis and many other immigrants, and this interwoven history is something we should hear more about and should be included in the wider narrative of British history.

 Simeera Hassan was awarded with a traineeship at Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and The National Archives. The exhibition was on display from the 8-31 March 2013, E2 6HG

Acknowledgments: National Archive

Photographs Courtesy Tower hamlets local history library and archives

Mogadishu — Aspiring Somali artists will soon have an opportunity to show off their singing and musical skills in the talent show “Hirgali Hamigaaga Faneed”, or “Awaken Your Inner Artist”.

The new programme is expected to air Friday nights on Somalia’s Universal TV and National TV channels. On the programme, young men and women showcase their talents by writing and performing songs, poetry and comedy sketches in a competition judged by a panel of Somali artists.

Show presenters told Sabahi they are recording the show and finalising agreements with the networks, and would announce a date for the first broadcast in the coming weeks.

So far there is a panel of three judges — singer Sugal Abdullahi, poet Maki Haji Banadir and singer Habibo Abdi Mohamud, also known as Habibo Wanaag — but that may change.

Mohamud, a former member of the musical group Iftin who recently returned from Sweden, said the competition would be open to singers, poets, comedians and performers from other disciplines.

“This competition will take place in three rounds, similar to how it is done in competitions in many countries around the world,” she said.

In the first round, singers will perform without music accompaniment. Those who move on to phase two will be able to perform with music accompaniment of their choosing, and in phase three they will have to perform songs assigned to them randomly. Other performers will be asked to write and perform improvised material using subjects or words provided by the judges as inspiration.

The programme is a collaboration between the Centre for Research and Dialogue (CRD) and the Somali National Theatre, which aim to revive Somali arts and literature as a means to promote peace.

“The purpose of this programme is to increase peace and promote social integration,” said Abdikarim Farah, deputy administrator of the Somali National Theatre.

Farah said the programme would have hit the airwaves long ago, but a bombing at the National Theatre in April 2012 delayed its start. Since then, and until the theatre is completely renovated, the competition has rented a studio with financial help from the CRD, he said.

Farah said participants could win money and other gifts for their talents, the details of which will not be announced until after the show airs.

At least eighty contestants have signed up for the competition, according to programme organisers. Every week, 10 contestants receive phone calls inviting them to participate in recording sessions the following day.

Organisers told Sabahi the admission process is still open and radio promotions continue to attract new contestant hopefuls eager to sign up for the competition.

“I have always wanted to become like the most famous artists in our country,” said 24-year-old contestant Abdullahi Hassan.

Hassan told Sabahi he had never before had an opportunity such as this to reach his dreams.

“When someone wants to become an artist, it is not easy to purchase equipment without money or the help of experienced mentors,” he said. “However, today I have high hopes of continuing my artistic aspirations. I have completed the first round of the competition and I am hopeful about the next rounds.”

Source: allAfrica.com

College textbooks have been in short supply in Somalia since the civil war, but now Mohamed has a better chance of accessing the books though a new electronic library that opened last month at the privately-run campus.

“I am happy about this service because it will be help improve and strengthen students’ knowledge … it has made studying easier for me,” she told Sabahi.

The electronic textbook library became the first of its kind to open in Somalia when Gollis University officials unveiled it at the Hargeisa campus on February 12th. Students can now sit at a computer workstation and access textbooks on the screen in front of them.

Aidaros Mohamed Abib, the university’s academic dean, said the electronic library is free for the university’s 3,500 students.

“At any one time, 30 students can sit there, having the ability to use books used by the different college departments — most of which are engineering, science, medicine, management and administration books,” Abib said.

Abib said he hopes the university will be able to increase the number of computers in the library to accommodate more students at a time.

In addition, next month Gollis University plans to launch an online portal, where students and non-students alike can pay a nominal fee to access textbooks from any location via the internet.

“We will establish an [online] portal accessible from anywhere, and issue memberships to anyone who is interested,” said Walid Mohamed Ali, director of the university’s information technology department.

Once the portal is up and running, it will provide access to 50,000 college-level textbooks as well as 10,000 video and audio lectures online, he told Sabahi. Most of the textbooks are published in English, but some will be available in Arabic.

Establishing an electronic library will help redress the critical shortage of textbooks and reference books in Somaliland, but the region still has too few public libraries and too many textbooks are published in languages other than Somali, said Khadar Abayare, a professor at the University of Hargeisa.

Hargeisa only has two libraries open to the public: the privately-run Gandhi Public Library and a centre run by the British organisation African Educational Trust, said Hodo Sultan Aden, head of the Mohamed Mogeh Association for Reading, Writing, Tradition and Culture.

“Reading is an important element that is missing now, and students are limited to the explanations given by teachers,” Aden told Sabahi. “This is a challenge that inhibits the quality and learning growth of university students in Somaliland.”

Source: allAfrica.com

Click here to watch the video posted on The Guardian website

Source: The Guardian

It is estimated that 4.4 million of young Somalis are out of education, a devastating figure in terms of the nation’s future and hopes of development. Led by Ministers of Education and supported by UNICEF, the Go2School initiative aims to educate 1 million Somali children and young people between 2013-2015, bringing education to those restricted from schooling due to social circumstances and a lack of qualified teaching staff.

Somali Relief and Development Forum are supporting the Go2School initiative by working with United for Somali Students (USS) to mobilise the Somali diasporas within the UK, encouraging those interested in teaching across the Horn of Africa to register their interest and takes their first steps towards transforming Somalia’s education system.

For further information and to register your interest in the Go2School initiative visit the Teach Somalia website

We’re proud to announce that the inspirational Shaykh Said Rageah, Shaykh AbdulRashid Ali Sufi, Shaykh Mustafa Haji Ismail and more will be discussing the characteristics of those ‘Who are the Servants of the Most Merciful?’ (v63-76 Surah Furqan) at our London and Birmingham Islamic Conferences. Please note, the event will be in Somali.

And the servants of Allah Most Gracious are those who walk on the Earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say, PEACE!’

Exploring the Surah Furqan’s teachings of humility, humbleness and the importance of generosity within a modern context the Sheiks will offer invaluable guidance on leading a righteous and worthy life within today’s society, placing the conferences as unique and significant events for the Islamic community.

Help us help Somalia
In addition, attending the event will provide you with the opportunity to bring a better future to Somalia’s most needy, as SRDF will be fundraising for the development of essential groundwater wells, eye care provision and education projects during the conference.

Tickets are just £12 with a limited number available at an early bird price of £10

To book call 020 7845 7603 or 07950874256
Order online at srdfconference.eventbrite.co.uk

The project was funded under the UK Stabilisation programme which will support the government’s stabilisation and recovery efforts in newly recovered areas of southern Somalia.

Speaking in Mogadishu alongside the Somalia Minister of Interior, Abdikarim Hussein Guuled, Ambassador Matt Baugh said:

“The UK Stabilisation Programme works with the Somali Government to help extend its reach and capacity, improve stability, and establish the conditions for longer-term recovery in southern Somalia. We welcome the government’s progress since transition in liberating areas from Al Shabaab. I wish to reiterate our commitment to support the government and the people of Somalia in their efforts to a build a more peaceful and prosperous Somalia.”

The UK has already allocated £3 million to the programme and will make an additional contribution over the coming year.

The Balad project was implemented by the Nordic International Support Foundation (NIS) in support of the local administration and the Ministry of Interior. The project has rehabilitated 1.7 km of primary road and repaired the main bridge of Balad town. This will improve access for local businesses and economic opportunities for the community. It will also help support the local administration through the provision of public services.

On the Balad Road and Bridge refurbishment, Ambassador Matt Baugh said: “This project is already supporting local commerce by facilitating the transit of goods between Mogadishu and central and northern regions as well as creating the necessary physical infrastructure for future development activities.”

During the four month construction period, the project employed over 900 local people, playing an important role in the economic recovery of the area.

Source: allAfrica.com

BURAO, Somalia, 12 February 2013 – The first year of Ubah Ismail’s life was difficult. At 5 months, she had pneumonia, followed by a severe intestinal upset that left her with diarrhoea for much of her sixth month.

Like hundreds of thousands of other Somali children affected by illness, Ubah lacked adequate complementary food and access to clean water. By the age of 7 months, she required treatment for severe malnutrition.

Addressing malnutrition – permanently

Ubah, who is now a year old, and her mother, Khadra Ibrahim, benefited from an innovative community-based approach to addressing acute malnutrition in Somalia permanently – an approach that goes beyond providing food and medicine to children like Ubah.

The package of treatment and care includes ensuring that more and more families are visited by health volunteers so that children suffering from malnutrition are identified early.

It includes home-based special feeding regimes, as well as enhanced access to oral rehydration salts and zinc, for those children suffering from diarrhoea.

And it includes encouraging mothers to take measures that will drastically reduce the chances that their children will suffer malnutrition again. They are taught the importance of exclusive breastfeeding, appropriate complementary feeding practices and good hygiene. They learn how poor nutrition is often caused by inadequate dietary intake and illnesses that leave the children unable to absorb food.

The integrated approach was launched because the nutritional status of Somalia’s children deteriorated, following drought in 2010–2011. It was implemented by UNICEF in partnership with Medair and PSI, supported by the Government of Japan, AusAID and the Saudi National Campaign for the Relief of the Somali People.

Health promoters

Aisha Mohamed and her team of 15 volunteers are a major part of the reason that mothers in Burao now know how to prevent malnutrition. Each member of the team is responsible for 15 households, which they visit regularly to keep an eye on younger children and on mothers, especially if they are pregnant.

These ‘health promoters’ hold discussions with mothers individually in their homes and in groups at health centres that focus on infant and young-child feeding and maternal nutrition issues.

One by one, Aisha lists the ways in which women can help themselves.

“Good antenatal care, including making sure you yourself have good nutrition when you are pregnant,” she starts. “Have your baby in a proper health facility. Breastfeed exclusively for the first six months. Immunize your children. Keep your house clean and wash hands with soap before cooking and eating and after going to the toilet. Keep utensils clean. Purify your drinking water.”

All of these are simple activities that cost even the poorest families next to nothing, says Zeinab Adan, a midwife who helps manage a major mother and child health centre in Burao town.

“Breastfeeding is the best example,” she says. She has just held a discussion with 30 new and expecting mothers.  “It is free. It is healthy. Almost any mother can do it, if they learn how from us. It has no disadvantages at all.”

Integrating prevention, even during emergencies

In 2010–2011, in response to the drought, Medair, a UNICEF partner in Somaliland, sent teams of health workers far into the countryside each week to seek out children suffering from acute malnutrition. Severely malnourished children were referred to outpatient therapeutic programmes, where mothers brought their children for weekly checks on weight, upper-arm circumference and signs of fever and were given supplies of peanut paste-based therapeutic food.

“This was a normal response to the crisis,” says nutrition manager for Medair in Burao Abdullahi Abdi. “What was different this time was that, even during the emergency phase, we were integrating lessons about preventing malnutrition into our response.”

Those messages reached many women, but there is a great need for them to reach more, Mr. Abdi says.
The integrated approach has been successful, but malnutrition is still a risk in Burao, and still needs monitoring.

At a health centre across town, Fauzia Hashi is among the women and children queuing so the children can be treated for severe acute malnutrition. Asked if she knows about exclusive breastfeeding, good hygiene at home and immunizing her children against measles, she frowns.

“It’s only when I came here for the first time three weeks ago that I learned about this,” she says. “We need to know more about it – it can save our children from falling sick again.”

Source: Unicef