Brave refugees strive for self-reliance
Somalia and Yemen don’t share much in climate, cuisine and culture. Yet Ismaeel Ahmad (24) prefers his Aden flat over the entire world.
"Even if there is a Saudi plane ready with a seat for me, I won’t leave Yemen where I live a respectful life of a mua'allim (teacher),” says Ahmad, who once longed to live in the oil-rich monarchy in the Arabian Peninsula.
He teaches English and Arabic languages to 50 odd students, Yemeni nationals and Somali refugee, boys and girls. In the ongoing batch, I have 19 students learning English and 29 Somali students seeking Arabic language speaking skills.
Ahmad, scholarship-winning student of the Mogadishu University, is making vital difference in lives of his homeless countrymen as well as the Yemeni hosts.
“While my Yemini students learn English as their second language, Somali refugees need English to communicate with their families back home via the Internet,” says Ahmad, explaining that Somali language is written in English alphabets.
The youngest among 9 siblings, Ahmad was born in Somali capital Mogadishu. He memorized the Muslim’s Holy book, Qura’an, and learnt basic mathematics from a religious school by the age of 10.
By the early 1990s, Somalia had fallen hostage to its geo-strategic setting, and multiple foreign influences fueled an Islamic insurgency. The weakening Somali government sought military support from neighboring Ethiopia in 2006 to fight against the Islamist umbrella group named Islamic Court Union in Somalia, parent body of Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen and Al-Shabab Movement.
With sole superpower United States backing the presence of Ethiopian troops, life only worsened for the any given Somali. Till todate, at least 400,000 Somali people have lost their lives while financial losses are impossible to estimate.
Ahmad’s parents feared their only child’s kidnapping at the hands of Ethiopian forces for he had grown a beard and used to wear Sunni male dress.
“Initially, my parents would not let me go the mosque for prayers for fear of conscription by Al-Shabab militia,” he recalls.
Al-Shabab used to force Somalis to practice rigid version of Shariah instead of mainstream moderate Sufi Islam.
Though Ahmad made it to the university with flying colours, his parents bought him a seat on human smugglers’ ship bound for Saudi Arabia via Yemen. His aunt lives in Saudi Arabia.
The family hoped for Ahmad’s job in Saudi Arabia would fund them as well as his wife Nafisa (23) and three children Safiya (7), Abdul Rahman (5) and Sabreen (3).
“Not only the Yemeni people are hospitable but here I also found Somalis in good numbers,” says Ahmad.
While attending seminars and trainings by UN and other partner agencies for refugees, he discovered widespread need for learning English and Arabic.
“During my secondary school days, I had set up an education center with the help of two friends that helped us not only pay school expenses but also help our families,” recalls Ali with a proud smile.
The tuition fees for month-long course is incredibly affordable i.e. 2,000 Yemeni Riyals or $10. However, he teaches orphans and poor kids for free.
He repeatedly thanks the Almighty for “blessing with funding to set the language school, Al-Furqan Center”. The one-room center never closes.
“We have morning classes for primary school students, both Yemenis and refugees,” he explains. The dormitory transforms into an Arabic classroom for refugees at noon while English courses for Yemeni college are scheduled for the evening.
He has two more colleagues to share his burden, one being his former student.
On the sidelines, Ahmad works as a community mobilizer for an NGO, raising awareness for refugees to apply for mini-grants for livelihood generation.
“It’s satisfying to see homeless refugees standing on their own feet after my humble training to set up small businesses,” says young Somali who has seen and contributed more than his age.
Twice a year, Ahmad trains 20 multicultural men and women each for self-employment.
“On average 15 participants in each of the two sessions get reasonable degree of success in income generation,” Ahmad analyses.
After less than two years, Ahmad not only lives an honorable life but also supports his aging parents, pregnant wife and three children in strife-stricken Somalia.
In the heydays of his center, Ahmad could bring his wife and children to Yemen.
“I had to send home my family as Yemen is a lot expensive than Somalia,” he says with a grim face. Ahmad is contended that his parents are happy with their grandchildren.
Though life in Somalia has not returned to normalcy, Ahmad’s aging parents don’t feel like moving to Yemen even if he manages to afford the costs.
Ahmad’s moderate thoughts have not been affected by political streams in Somalia. He believes in an undivided peace and equilibrium for all.
About his future plans, Ahmad replies with a sigh, “I would seek more funding to open a larger education center with better educational facilities.”
His very own passion for more education gets stronger by the day. “I desire to earn scholarship for my graduation degree that I could not obtain in Somalia.”
While pursuing his cross-cultural ambitions, Ahmad keeps a close eye at developments back home. “When peace would be restored in Somalia, I hope to see more educated, tolerant and self-respecting refugees rebuilding my homeland,” he says in somber voice.
Since ages, tribal pride has taken the toll on human lives in Africa and Somalia has been no exception. Somalia’s six main clans - Darod, Dir, Hawiye, Isaaq, Rahanweyn and Meheri - have been always fighting for power and resources.
“Ethnic pride and religious self-righteousness has eventually left the resource-rich country backward and lawless,” Ahmad opines.
More recently, Somalia has been making headlines for notorious pirates along its lawless coastline.
Tireless Ahmad sees education as the sole remedy for ills confronting Somalia and Yemen alike.
References:
Somali–Ethiopian conflict: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10524929 [2]
Al-shabab: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Shabaab [3]
Clans in Somalia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_people [4]
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