Back from Somalia

[Xabashooow]

I am back from Somalia - you won't believe it...I was away for months and I am totally changed man....

Somalia is a mess and at the sametime still beautiful and amazing....my gosh, the food, so fresh..so tasteful... i gained weight walaahi ....the kids learning Islam and Quran ..maashallah...

Man I went Xamar, Merka, Jowhar, Kismaayo, Baydhaba, Beledweyne, Buulo burte....Mahadaay...balcad ....I even went to Baardheere, Buulo Xaawo, Siyaloow, Mandheere, Nairobi...


Somalia needs us honestly ..we have to all go back and do something to restore it...you won't believe this ..but you will see too many desperate people who are so sick and so poor but still smiling and proud...

you will see people who have millions ...so rich and so well-to-do ..who are trying to help the poor by setting up charities, free clinics, schools ....but they can't help all....there was a drought fund raising I was part of in Mogadishu and I couldn't believe my eyes when they told me the guys organizing the fund raising were from all Somali clans..the big shots were Ogaadeen and Isaaq..imagine that two bearded men from Jigjiga and hargeisa doing tabliiq and preaching and fundraising among people in Xamar...no care about your qabiil unless you are one of the warlords militias ..they are well known and when they come to maqaayadaha and biibitooyinka ....u will have to be careful....u got to belnd though cos you don't wanna these guys know you are from Qurbaha or dibadda..people will visit you, ask u money..even those who got business will ask u shaxaad ....

My gosh the women are all covered,.... yet they do everything ..they run business, sell Qat, sell shaah, clothing, gas ...u name it....even i saw some lady who owns a gun shop in Bakaara market...she was an old noisy lady..she dissed me so badly saying I look funny......


Somalia even though there is nothing and it is destroyed ...is still beautiful... I think we will someday go back to make it the african paradise ....believe me there are people who are coming up with development projects and working how to get investors come..they already have plans when there is a government so good and so stable ...people believe warlords are nothing..they believe the time of warlordism is about to end .....and time of somali cooperation , compitition, progress and stabilty will come ..they say god is great and didn't forget Somalis .....and thanks to our religious ulemma people have strong faithin Islam..they will question who you will answer t the day f judgement.....beleive it or not ..i didn't miss one Salaat while I was in Somalia ..even when i was travelling ...we didn't do the qasuurah or short version prayers....man I am totally changed ....I love my people and my country....I hope you all go back to at least experience and rejuvante your soul..cos you need it ..it is therapy honestly.. i feel optimistic and hopeful..one day I will be able to travel all east africa from Djibouti to Zambia being proud Somali and doing business....inshallah

[ERROR]

xabashow, thnx for the update and welcome back.

A friend of mine went to jabuuti then borame, hargeisa al the way to Kismayo a couple of yrs ago and he gav me some insight. He said if u wake up in the morning u won't see a single man. 100% of ppl who are going t owork are women.

[Gacalisa]

OH MY GOD BEENTA DHAAF really, insha allah i am gonan go.

i dont care what condition somalia is in, Insha Allah i hope to Allah that i go.

[Demure]

Wlc back Xabashoow. I know Somalia is messed up at this time but it is still not as bleak as people persume. I recomend a visit to anybody who hasn't been there for sometime.

[Unclebin]

Xabashoow

speak for your self. Did you go any where north of bulo burte? If not don't say somali is messed up with out seeing the conditions of your northern brothers


Anyhow how was bulo burte. Is it still green as ever?

[Demure]

Uncle Bin what conditions are you refering to in terms of the northern brothers..the relative security? The reality is All of Somalia is messed up today.

When was the last time you were there?

[Xabashooow]

Thanks guys..I feel i can't tell u all here cos a month and seven days is not enough ....to cover all but it was the best time of frigging life ...i feel like i wasted so many times in America....

you know something though....people were surprised with my Somali..they think I am more fluent in Somali than them..that my somali was so classical cos i spoke with clarity,and calmness and didn't shout at all. one of my old aunties told me , if people could be so quiet and soft spoken maybe she won't get headaches....


If you send money back home ..god bless you...keep it but make sure you tell your family to not let men get hold of the dollars ..cos all men do is chew qaat..when i asked my male cosuins and relative why they do chew qaat day in and day out ..they told it is cos they depressed and feel powerless in changing their situation....i didn't wanna come across some prick and say gimme a break ....to me they looked healthier than me , stronger than me ...but they wake up around 10 pm....sleep late ..do nothing ...while women wake up with the Athan ...pray..and do daily house chorus and then hit suuqa to make money..to take care families...Somali women are stronger and more hardworking than the men....

people will ask crazy stuff about America and Canada..but no one asks you anything about Europe..they already in tune with Europe and know it..they are all soccer fans ...even the young girls ..one of my nieces was an Arsenal fan and when she asked me if I knew any of the players....and i answered i don't know ..she thought i was a fraud and didn't come from Qurbaha...she wacthes soccer games, and musalsallah....speaks arabic and reads quran better than me ......and she is just 6 yrs old....can you believe it?

The only thing I didn't like was the garbage ..too many everywhere ..it is like people don't give damn about garbage, qashin and they litter and litter non-stop....the cars are junks..so bad...streets so bad....hygiene so bad....no infrastructure ...they neglected it and when i asked why..i have been told it is government job...and there is no government .....

but the poor people and seeing them is disheartening ..too many disabled ..too many sick..too little health care system..little medicine ..no or few doctors..i saw a doctor who does surgery and he was working with equipement his sister in canada bought him... she is a lab technician he said and she came one time and helped him with a surgery....and she is a lab technician....not medicine but chemical..her brother , the doctor still believes she is million times better than al his nurses and assistants....so even if you study something ...you will be useful in Somalia..i saw a guy from sweden who owns a private school teaching people about refirigeration, plumbing and tire changing in small shop....I asked him if he studied all these in Sweden and he said he studied electricity in Swedish vocational school but taught himself about the rest in books both in english and swedish ..he speaks good swedish..he showed a picture of him with swedish doctor in beletweyn one time ..the doctor was an eye surgeon....who was there for a week and the doctor couldn't believe to see a Somali swede back in this poor country....running business, still speaking swedish.... every day i will see something that is so interesting and sometimes i see shocking things...i saw a guy got shot for arguing with others after they played cards....i am serious he was shot and the guy who shot him just walked away and no one said anything.....i have been told the killed guy himself too had killed other people ...so it was a payback..what goes around comes around.....u have to be careful when you see these things...u get to keep your coolness..even though it is hard and don't make any scenes and ask too many questions.....but it is amazing how fast they bury the dead...someone makes money on burying dead bodies daily.....he has a car and it is his business to carry the dead to the cemetary and bury them..then he comes to collect the money from the family of the dead and they pay him and thank him....all of this without grief...people are used to this ...so it is normal and part of life....

i will keep posting it ..but i can't share all ..cos somethings i still need to contemplate .....but my spirit is up and good ....i loved being in Africa and Somalia ....I am sure i will go back next time i got a time off...

[Xabashooow]

unclebin, no i didn't go to the north, the furthest i went to was Beledweyne...but to tell you the truth ....trucks comimg to and from haregisa, boosaaso, burco , xamar or beledweyne are countless..business knowns no boundries, no qabiil, no south or north....and all trucks pay some "leejo" ..it is like a customs or tarrif and they know how to travel without being robbed or killed....there is some agreed upon pact among clans not to disrubt genuine business....and i guess it has to do with those Hawala companies and those in Dubai.....somali business is run from Dubai to Boosaaso to Mogadishu to Berbera....and it is these business people who made this possible...Somali currency is funny though....i couldn't count how much is how much in terms of dollars and for that I had my cousin with me as a dedicated money handler and accountant....

you won't believe they have mastered how to change SIMS in cell-phones and program it...those who got cell-phones keep it indoor....and when they make calls they pull aside and talk low if they in public or loud if they are in a safe environment.....

[simplicity-]

[quote="Xabashooow"]
i will keep posting it ...[/quote]

Waiting for your next post thanks.

[michael_ital]

Amazing account of your journey, fratello. can't wait to read more when you've had time to digest it all and recount it here.

[QansaGabeyle]

"Then they make calls they pull aside and talk low if they in public or loud if they are in a safe environment."

Now that is a real ghetto.

[Mad_Dog206]

ma adigoo habar gider ah baa Beled-Xaawo iyo Bardheere ag istaagi karo..kafurtu bilaahi afarta huraad inaay kaa jari lahaayeen.

[QansaGabeyle]

Mad dog, give the guy a break man. Besides you are making us out to look like a bunch of savages. We are hospital people ina adeer. You can speak for reer Cabudwaaq though.

[Mad_Dog206]

War qansa beentuu ninka naga dharjiyay eeg.

[Demure]

Labadiina horta, can you try to think Unmareexaan for a second?