
Somalia's first female singer, Daleys was born in 1936 in Baidoa, in south-central Somalia, and discovered her vocal talent at school.
"A woman singing was considered shameful," she says in Somali, with local music promoter Kawmayn Hussein translating. "There were demonstrations. I got pressure from my neighbours, my family. But my father told them, 'Let her sing.' "
At 16, she started singing at Radio Mogadishu, in the capital, and four years later dared to make a stage appearance at Cinema Hamar.
"After that, people accepted me and other female singers followed."
Daleys became the country's top female star. "She sang at half-time at our games," recalls Antar, 56, one of Somalia's top soccer stars throughout the 1970s.
The Africa Cup victory came against Burundi in 1973. Antar and his family moved to Toronto in 1989. Antar drives his own taxi and helps organize Toronto's annual international Somali Week Soccer Tournament.
Happy October



