Purely Fictional Presidential Address in the year 2029

My fellow countrymen and women, distinguished members of the diplomatic corps, the media, Ladies and gentlemen…

To say it is a pleasure to be standing here before you today, is an understatement of the tallest order. To be standing at all, is an answered prayer.

My story is long and painful, but it is, I am afraid, just a chapter in the story of our nation. Many decades of civil war, anarchy and lawlessness left our country a wasteland of graves, broken dreams and both political instability and disability.

Today, we stand tall. We stand, at all, because even when we fell, we picked ourselves up and kept going. We are, because even when we fled, we dared to look back where we had ran from and make a commitment. We made the commitment to never forget our homeland.

So to foreign lands we went and to those nations that hosted us, I say: Thank you!” To those that lobbied our cause, you have my sincere gratitude. To those who prayed for us: May God bless you too. 

It has been said that every adversity has a benefit of greater or equal value. Well, mercifully, we were driven to countries with great educational resources. In our youth we grew up in worlds of possibilities and know not the word “Can’t”. Today, I present to you a nation rebuilt, not by the UN or any well-meaning International agency, although I acknowledge with thanks, their effort. I give you Somalia, by Somalis, both at home and in the Diaspora. A new Somalia by Somalis who never stopped believing that this day would come.

I give you a green Somalia whose water resources have been widely used to change the formerly dusty wilderness into rich agricultural lands that now feed its people and has a huge surplus for export.
A Somalia that is now a major exporter of mutton, poultry and dairy products to the middle East; that is the world's fifth largest exporter of dates and Aloe. A Somalia whose universities are now ranked among the best on the continent; a health care system that ensures that every man, woman or child has access to medical care, if, when and where they need it. A Somalia that is well governed through a unique participatory system of government that is the subject of study by many who marvel at how well it is working and the envy of many; a Somalia that is a model of economic success in the use of its Oil & Gas for the development of the entire country and the uplifting of its people from poverty.  I give you a people whose entire populace has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world; a people once divided but today, united and bound by the bonds of nationhood.

Ladies and gentlemen, I stand tall because I remember, as if it was yesterday, one particular day when I was so hungry and bone-tired that all I could do was sit. I sat there, a young woman just 18 years old, beside a tree that gave no shade, no cover, no protection. I sat there, thinking, dreaming and envisioning this day that has finally come. I stand because all that befell me then gave me the resolve to make sure that my beloved nation would one day stand among the world’s nations, as a sovereign, peaceful nation exuding hope and joy to its people and by its people to the rest of the world.

(Please note that this is purely fictional and is the imagination of one who dreams of a Somalia that will attain all these and more. It is written with utmost respect for the people and leadership of Somalia)
                         

Thank you and Long Live Somalia!

I will do my little bit...

I watched them die...
People
By the thousands I saw them
Draw their last breath
Some roll over
Others keel over
Signifying that all
Was indeed over


I did not know then
But I do now
That they needn't have died
Of dehyration
Hunger
Or disease
Old, young and very, very young
They were
These people
That died before my very eyes

A few did not die
Like me
Because some men
And women in white coats came
Caused us a moment's pain
With needle and syringe
And gave us life
And while I watched
I asked questions and made up
My mind

Today I am a doctor
I will not dwell
On what might have been
Because it ain't
Or bemoan the loss of life
While there is still breath
In so many more
Instead I will honor the memories
Of my parents, my three siblings
My twelve uncles and nine aunties
And of course my four grandparents
I will do my little bit
All I ask is that you, too
Do yours
If you will...

Is anyone really listening?

Is anyone there
Beyond this dust basin
The hopelessness
The tears and despair

Is there anyone listening
Meaningfully listening
To my plea
To end this senselessness
That sent my twin brothers
To a dusty grave
At the age of three

The United Nations has failed me
The government
What government?
The world has totally shirked
Its obligation
If ever it had one
Towards me

So I will walk
Just walk
In what direction you ask?
As if it matters
Until I get somewhere
Anywhere
Dead or alive

Yes,
I will keep walking
Because I have a feeling
That there is more to the world
Than this emptiness
That I feel inside and see around me

Maybe I will get to
I don't know
The Cape of Good Hope
While there is still hope in me
Maybe I will get to the Horn
Of Africa
And there stand
And ask

I will blow my horn
And when they stand before me
I will ask
Why, Africa,why?
Why have we let the children die
Why will no one hold the hand of the elderly
Or show direction to the youth
Instead of allowing them
to fall prey
To anger and bitterness

They all turned a blind eye
To the need for the youth
To be mentored
Guided
Sheltered
From the machinations of evil
So instead of joining university
They joined "The Youth"
Aha, never heard of it?
 But I am sure
Of Al-Shabab
You must have heard

These my friends
Or friends you would be
If you cared just a little
These are the fruits
That Somalia is reaping
And her neighbors around her
For poor governance
No governance
And the world
Shirking its duty?
Obligation?
Responsibility?
Whatever...
Just do what needs to be done.

Some things can wait.
Standing up for what is right is not one of them!

A place they call Somalia

I hear them talk

Always in either hushed tones

Or voices laced with melancholy

Nostalgia

And very, very rarely

Do I ever hear laughter

When Mummy and Daddy

Speak of, talk about, discuss

This place they call

Somalia

I asked

Once

A long, long time ago

Where this place was

This place they call Somalia

And with tears in her eyes

She said, “Child, it is a long, long way

From here”

“Yes, son, it is so far in more ways than one

And yet so close to my heart”

I waited

Breathe held

For her to elaborate

Thinking she would

In miles give it distance

As the crow flies

Maybe in days of a camel ride

But I waited and waited

As the tears flowed freely

Down her milk-chocolate cheeks

Revealing pain

Like none I had ever seen

Composed

She went on

“My son, Somalia is a very special place

Even though bullets whiz through the air

Where birds once flew

In my youth

And young men walk about touting guns

Old before their time

Talking of how many magazine rounds

They still have in their weapons

I dare not ask where the rest

Were spent

Or rather on whom”

“It is a place I dreamed I would find my love

And that I did

Dreamed too that our children would grow

To love Somalia as I did

But alas

The nightmare began

Shortly before any of you were born

And now I am content

That I even have a place

To call home

As I relive my dreams

Here in this place we call Jo ’burg

You youngsters fondly call Jozi

Whose official name is Johannesburg

So far in reality

From that place we call Somalia…

"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give." Sir Winston Churchill

Due to civil war that has spanned over three decades and the subsequent lack of a formal government in Somalia, a country on the eastern coast of Africa, coupled with South Africa’s favorable immigration policy towards refugees, South Africa became a refuge for several thousand Somali nationals.

Migration to a new country, particularly in the large numbers and with the socio-economic hardships that were part of their existence, came with challenges both for the immigrants and the host country.

There was an urgent need to mitigate these circumstances to ensure acceptance by the local communities as well as integration that would ensure that the migrants did not become a burden on their host country but in fact, a major contributor to the economy and development of the nation.

For the Somali people, culture, tradition and religion embody their very way of life. This includes their language, foods and cuisine, their way of dress and houses of prayer, the Mosques.

For the discerning businessmen, this phenomenon brought a host of business opportunities. Mohammed Abdi Mohammed, a young entrepreneur born in the small town of Embu at the foothills of Mt. Kenya, in the Republic of Kenya, but with family roots in Somalia, is one such businessman. 

Mohammed realized that the Somali community’s pressing needs were for the provision of the following:

•  Accommodation

•   Groceries

• Communication

• Travel

• Education

He therefore sought to serve his community by customizing his services to meet his customers at their point of need. This has translated to the following companies and subsidiaries:

1. Rental properties and guesthouses
2. Travel & Tour company
3. Supermarkets  
4. A school and an institute
5. A consulting company
6. Bulk airtime sales

For Mohammed, a successful, down-to-earth businessman, social responsibility is not an abstract principle but a passion. He created Mohads Foundation, an NGO, to serve his community both Somali and South African, from a compassionate, social and humanitarian perspective. This includes providing advice, guidance and a ready support network for immigration, health and work-related issues. A free community legal clinic has been the culmination of his immediate dream, but he feels there is still a great deal more to be done.

“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.”

-John Maxwell