To those who say that Africa continues to suffer from brain drain, meet Fahima Osman a Somali surgeon from Canada and a model for DOVE. Like countless others, Fahima’s journey is a path through refugee to heroine. As the first Canadian-trained doctor in her community and currently a volunteer in Somaliland, she has become an inspiration to women and refugees everywhere with her determination and success. This past month, actress Mandy Moore introduced Fahima who was being honored for her efforts by DOVE, the beauty care company. Much of Fahima’s success is attributable to her determination in school where she worked her way through university and achieved a scholarship to attend the prestigious Johns Hopkins medical school. After graduating as a general surgeon, Fahima graduated moved on to the true goal of her childhood - not only to become a doctor, but to return to Somaliland where she feels the best way to give back is by training and empowering young people to help themselves and future generations. For her efforts in giving back and for being the first Canadian-trained doctor of the largest African community, we salute her and ask you to join us. Read more about Fahima here and let DOVE know of your support by visiting and commenting on their Facebook page here.
Hollywood actress Diane Lane with Edna Adan in Somaliland, part of the “Half The Sky Movement”! Read Diane’s essay here as she learned about the challenges women face while giving birth, as well as the great work Edna is doing to improve maternal health. Click here to learn more about Edna and mark your calendar for the premiere of Half the Sky Oct. 1 & 2.
(via ilovesomaliland)
Ready, Set, Go! This summer a new documentary series will reveal the true story of life in Mogadishu by following three Somalis from the Diaspora returning home to the Somali capital. The project, “Return to Somalia”, needs your help! If you live in the UK, North America or East Africa and are are looking to relocate to Mogadishu this summer, get in touch with the project here and contribute to sharing a true and positive narrative of life in the Capital! Follow them on twitter here as well and share your thoughts!
Meet Chris Mullaly, an ordinary man, take on the extraordinary. After learning of the heart-wrenching stories on the famine situation in Somalia last year, Chris decided to establish the “Extraordinary Project” as a way to raise funds and help children. Chris has set a goal of reaching 1 million dollars with every person contributing just a dollar. Others have joined Chris in his endevour by volunteering free accounting services to help him ensure financial stability of the project. To better reach children in Somalia, Chris hopes to partner with an organization on the ground that is making a difference. For more, visit the “Extraordinary Project” here.
Meet Ilwad Ellman, one of the speakers at TEDXMogadishu today. Ilwad runs the Elman Peace and Human Rights Center in Mogadishu with her mom, Fartun whom we’ve featured before. Her father was an ardent peace activist in the 1990s, spreading the mantra “Put down the gun, pick up the pen” around Somalia, but was assassinated in 1996. lwad returned to Mogadishu three years ago while the conflict still raged on in the city. She works closely with victims of rape and sexual assault, as well as rehabilitating child soldiers by teaching them vocational skills. Visit TEDxMogadishu here to see a list of other speakers.
Last week, Toronto Star featured the efforts of Safia Nur Ahmend, a Somali nurse from Toronto on her first day volunteering at a pediatric hospital in Mogadishu. Safia graduated from Laurentian University and worked with Ontario’s Healthy Families program where she was assisting new and at-risk mothers. Her vow of returning home one day was recently fulfilled as a volunteer with the U.S. non-governmental organization, American Refugee Committee. Read more.
A new 300 student school should be opening in Somalia this coming August thanks to the efforts of Mahamud Elmi, a Somali-born Ottawa police officer, his colleagues and friends. Born in Somalia, Elmi lived in a refugee camp in Kenya for three years before emigrating to Canada in 1996. He founded the Somali Hope Academy project after he returned to Somalia for a visit with his family in 2008. With $63,000 raised from softball and basketball tournaments and a gala, Mahamud used the proceeds to purchase a school site and build a 10-classroom school. There is more work to be done and Mahamud will be returning to Somalia for another visit this July to see the project through! Read more.
Have you given back to your community lately? Be part of our +Give drive by volunteering in your community and engage in positive acts all around the world. Whether it’s by joining with your friends to give back reading materials to schools in Somalia or by speaking out about the situation in our homeland, we urge you to do it positively and invest in causes you’re passionate about and most importantly through giving back to our Somali community. The Somali Community Service Coalition of Seattle, Washington is one such organization doing great work. Started in 1995 with a vision of a stronger, more empowered Somali community in King County, it is the only East African community-based agency located in the greater Seattle area that provides cultural and linguistically appropriate services to Somalis and other East Africans.Here are other examples of Somalis engaged in their communities: Somali community service organizations in San Diego, Ohio, Minnesota and the U.S. in general; Ontario, Alberta and Canada in general, London, Manchester and the U.K. in general. There are of course countless others and here is an example of Somali mothers engaged to protect the health of their children in Minnesota. We urge to be involved, be inspired, be positive, and be Somali!
Have you Wished Creatively lately? If not, then support marginalized women globally to empower themselves and in turn their communities by purchasing one-of-a-kind, hand-made Jewelry by WI$H CREATIVELY, brought to you by Somali sensational duo Siham and Iman HASHI. The proceeds from your purchases will go towards supporting women to live self-empowered lives where they’re given the chance to be creative as leaders, and access resources that empower them socially and economically. Be Inspired! Be Positive! Be Somali!
Heard of Somali environmentalist and humanitarian Fatima Jibrell? Fatima is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Horn of Africa Relief and Development Organization and co-founder of Sun Fire Cooking. She was also instrumental in the creation of the Women’s Coalition for Peace. Daughter of a Somali merchant marine and wife to a diplomat, Fatima was educated in Syria and the United States with degrees in Social Work and English. Through her work, she continues to tirelessly work on issues affecting Somalia. For her efforts, she was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2002, the largest award for grass-roots environmentalists. Follow Fatima’s work at Horn Relief here and watch her participation in an expert panel on deserts and migration here. Be Inspired! Be Positive! Be Somali!
In case you missed it last week, 50 Cent teamed up with the United Nations food agency, the World Food Programme (WFP), to see firsthand the effects of hunger in Somalia and Kenya. The hip-hop mogul flew to Dolo, Somalia, on February 8. He has committed to provide 1 billion meals for the hungry, and is donating to WFP 10 cents from every sale of a new energy drink called Street King that he is promoting. Read more.
If you were asked to name one country that has consistently shown solidarity with Somalia, could you? That country on every Somali’s lips should be Turkey! We’ve featured the show of solidarity from Turkey’s President last August and the donations from the Turkish people as well as the commitment from Turkey to build another hospital in Somalia, to the point that new born boys and girls were being named after Erdogan and Istanbul!! Read The Guardian newspaper’s view on Turkey’s solidarity here.
Countless Somalis in the diaspora have gone back to Somalia to make a positive impact. Meet Hodan Ali, a nurse from Canada. Read about Hodan’s visit back here, chronicled by Canada’s Globe and Mail Newspaper. Hodan’s return to Somalia started when she and others in Canada raised funds for drought victims this past summer. Her work in Somalia had her side by side with doctors and nurses from all over the world putting infection protocols in place and training staff. Be Inspired! Be Positive! Be Somali!
We have various ways of meeting challenges head-on. For Ayan Hubsei, that challenge is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the situation in Somalia. Ayan is part of 7 climbers taking on this challenge with Islamic Help, a U.K. charity established in 2003 by a group of young people determined to make a difference in the lives of those affected by poverty and suffering. Let’s help Ayan meet this challenge by visiting her donation page here and learning more about her efforts to help Somalia!
Jonathan Starr, the founder of Flagg Street Capital now runs Abaarso Tech, a nonprofit that helps prepare Somaliland students for top-tier schools in the U.S. and U.K. Read more about his story here as Bloomberg Businessweek features his story of how he contributes to educating future generations of Somali students!
