(Reuters) – Menaced by a gang of fellow Somalis on a London bus, Adam Mataan took a stand against the tribalism he fled in his homeland, and emerged stronger for confronting what he and like-minded Somalis see as deadly clan divisions. The former refugee now wants millions of compatriots to do the same. [...]
Fed up of watching -from the comfort of our living rooms- untold horrors unfold in the Horn of Africa, fed up of hearing plans made but not seeing much done, fed up of making excuses for ourselves -excuses like we were too young or too poor or too far away from the problem to make [...]
Liboi Town 11 am, Monday 18th July 2011 The five of us clutch onto our tools of trade; cameras, pens, paper, mental snapshots. We are desperate to document the things we see, desperate to scratch them with a stick onto the sands of time. What I’ve been seeing seems too big for my eyes, and I [...]
Liboi town: 8.30 am, Monday 18th July 2011. The waiting is so intense, it’s as if we are waiting to start waiting. We sit in the car at Arif Centre, by a structure that reads: Peponi Hotel- For Quick Snacks. A bus is docked a few metres away and veiled women, in single file, climb [...]
Dadaab Town. Sunday 17th July 2011. 2.30 pm All five of us sit in the shade of a tree. I stare at a sign that says ‘Silence’, right above Matt’s head. I wonder, does it mean we should eat in silence? Is it a reminder to talk less and swallow more food for thought? The [...]
GALKAYO, Somalia, June 30 (UNHCR) – Barely a year ago, life was a constant struggle for survival for 18-year-old Barre Abdirahman in the central Somalia town of Baidoa. Limited employment opportunities, intense fighting and the threat of drought had reduced the local population to poverty and a bleak future. “There was no good life there; [...]
by Ahmed. A. Hirsi Analysing and defining the concept of ownership is tricky at best and a mine field at worse. The concepts itself encompasses many different areas or fields for example; political, legal, and sociological. On one hand most dictionaries define the concept of ownership as:the state of being an owner; the right to own; exclusive [...]
After eighteen days of pro-democracy demonstrators on the streets of Egypt, President Mubarak resigned this morning as he left Cairo for his resort home in Sharm el-Sheik. Omar Suleiman, who was named Vice President of Egypt on Jan. 29, 2011 after protesters shocked Mubarak’s regime, announced that the former President Mubarak had handed over his [...]
So there you have it: there is nothing to see. The epiphenomenon ‘Farmaajo’ is no longer the 1st minister of the monstrous TFG of Somalia. Although ‘Farmaajo’ looks like a Somali man, talks like a Somali man, and is apparently beloved by the Somalis at large—the Somalis are not human, so they have no need [...]
Britain is one of the worst countries in Europe for families, according to a study released today by the Relationships Foundation. High levels of debt and poverty, coupled with long and unsocial working hours, are major contributing factors, the report, Family Pressure Gauge, reveals. Its research paints a picture of a country where, in [...]
By Colin Freeman 9:00AM BST 15 May 2011 If any mayor in Britain fancies twinning their town with Mogadishu, now is a good time to apply. The war-torn capital of Somalia may not be as handy as some places in France and Spain, and exchange visits will involve donning flak jackets rather than touring vineyards. But they [...]
![Samia Yusuf Omar competes for Somalia in the Beijing Games in 2008 in the 200m heats [GALLO/GETTY]](http://aduunyo.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2011513111444210833_20-150x150.jpg)
“It was the happiest moment we ever had because we took our flag. We raised our flag. We felt like we were very important people.” The 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies hold much more sentimentality for Somalia’s Samia Yusuf Omar, but it was her performance in a single 200-metre heat that sealed people’s [...]
I was fortunate enough to be present at an exhibition of traditional Somali cultural artifacts, held at the Harrow Civic Centre on 30 April 2011, which was well attended by the members of the Somali community of London. Some had brought their young well-urbanised children along, in order to expose them to a proud but [...]
(OBV) The French government claims that the recent controversial lawbanning the wearing of the burka is aimed at helping Muslim women integrate into society. But the ban has had exactly the opposite effect writes community activist and founder of the Khat Alert campaign Muna Hassan (pictured). France, home to the largest Muslim population in Europe, with an [...]
by Idil Farah Friday, May 06, 2011 Being a Somali Feminist sure sucks. I once attended a women’s conference in Alberta, and the topic of discussion revolved around the lived experiences of Muslim-Canadian women who are forced to operate amongst two often-competing paradigms. A semi-prominent social scientist began her treatise against the illiberal cultural practice [...]
