A Somali's conundrum
The missing jigsaw piece
Welcome back to another TWB edition guys! This is my 10th post so far who would've thought? Today's a Saturday which means that I have an attempt to Spice up your lackluster lives. Somalis have become the forgotten people so let's talk about that…
A couple of decades ago the Somali civil war broke out, and the country went to shit. Since then, we've become like the children of Israel, scattered across the globe.
A huge part that I feel like isn't being mentioned enough is the chink in our “identity”. I'm Somali, but I've never been there. Ever. I speak English most of the time. Do you see where the problem lies? This also poses a problem for us Somalis that don't live in Somalia. It’s sort of an identity crisis, being Out of touch with your culture.
I've grown up on bleak English land, and now I live In Cairo, but I'm Somali. It's a bit strange. I've never known what it's like to be in my own country, surrounded by my own people. It would be nice. That begs a question, do you have to live in the country that bears your origins? For me it's the norm living far away from my place of origin, and it doesn't strike me as a life-shattering problem. Personally I don't understand the need to be patriotic.
Somalis are probably one of the most divided people ever. Toxic tribalism takes the cake though. People have actually died because of that. Damn. The part that pisses me off is when Somali elders tell you that it should be your life mission to rebuild Somalia, and to mop up after their mess. For me that's not a priority in my life, at all. I can picture my future self living anywhere in the world, I've been doing it for 18 years. I don't HAVE to live in Somalia.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments section 👇🏾
1-Do we have to be patriotic?
2- Are you a foreigner in the country you're residing in?
3- As a Somali, do you feel an obligation to rebuild the country?
That's it for this week folks. This is the second last post of the year, but don't fret, I'll see ya next Saturday!
1-Do we have to be patriotic?
yes🫣
2- Are you a foreigner in the country you're residing in?
you’re a foreigner anywhere that isn’t your mothers land.
3- As a Somali, do you feel an obligation to rebuild the country?
yess. we owe it back to our parents, they brought us here for a better and brighter future.
if you don’t feel that obligation for your parents, to be able to see their own home country become the great nation it once was in their life time, then do it atleast for your future offsprings.
it’s kind of sad to think that 3/4 generations down the line, our heritage of somalia would just be “history” if we continue to reside and create generations of children in a country thats not ours.
england, or anywhere somalis are, are not our country of origin. to build a future and have your children and their children reside in a white mans country is not what our parents had in mind when they were fleeing somalia. our parents did not flee the war to live in a wadan gaal forever. their parents and grandparents didn’t fight off colonialism just for thousands of somalis to build a big name for themselves everywhere else in the world but somalia. so many somalis across the globe are making a name for themselves, and doing big things. so many politicians in the wrong countries, scientists, engineers. imagine all of that going towards somalia, somalia would be rebuilt in a couple years.
i think most diaspora somalis need to remember that we are in these countries temporarily. our parents have brought us here for a better future, to get a better education and a safer upbringing. now that somalia is rebuilding itself (though slowly but steadily) why would we continue residing in such nations where they see us as “foreigners” or even worse.
at the end of the day, we are somali, and we have a country we belong to. though we may have the British passports, or US passport, we really aren’t from those places truly. Remember, we are here to get that education. let’s use our education and bright thinking to rebuild a country that was torn from our parents, and robbed from our generation.
Serving your country till the last breath is a noble mission.