Before leaving Hargeisa, I'd like to reflect back on my time spent in the city. My experiences in the Motherland thus far have consisted of both successes and failures. For fear of romanticizing my trip to the diaspora community, I'd like to enlighten readers with experiences or endeavours that have not worked out for me.
During my first month, I was overly critical of the lack of playgrounds and extracurricular activities for girls until I found out about SOCSA: Somaliland Culture and Sports Association. This organization, situated in the Togdheer region of Hargeisa, consists of a basketball court and a basketball coach exclusively available to girls, as well as computers, classes and training workshops for young girls and boys. After speaking with the Director, I created an English conversation group, an idea I got from conversation groups at the Resource Centre I worked at during my studies at the University of Ottawa. On Thursday and Friday mornings, the girls and I would meet up and work on pronunciation, vocabulary, etc. I proposed we each come up with a topic for the day, and after my lame attempt to start things off with a funny childhood story, I was immediately reminded that these girls and I, although we look the same, speak the same language, and share the same history, come from two completely different cultures. Instead, they proposed we talk about the conflict between Somalia and Somaliland, issues relating to skin whitning creams, etc. After a few weekends, the conversation group fizzled, mostly due to a lack of commitment from both myself as well as my students. However, for the diaspora community interested in teaching and coaching sports for young females, please check out http://www.socsa.blogspot.com/ for more information.
In addition to this disappointment, I also felt the need to experience teaching at the secondary school level, so, after leaving Maalim Dawud, I started teaching voluntarily at a local high school; Dayib Gurey Secondary School. To historical fanatics, the name Dayib Gurey made ring a bell. Gurey was a highly esteemed Somaliland freedom fighter, who has a whole area as well as a school named after him. However, most of the students at the school do not live up to his vision. After hearing plenty of horror stories from relatives that attend high school, including stories of teachers getting beat up after school, I chose this particular school due to the number of my relatives that I attend the school. Despite this security blanket, I didn't enjoy teaching at the school due to the obvious lack of motivation (the students didn't bring notebooks or other supplies to class) as well as their complete disregard for the school rules.
In sum, the purpose of this post is not to discourage the Somali diaspora from volunteering in Hargeisa, but rather to encourage young Somalis to dedicate time and effort to find an organization that is personally interesting and fulfilling. Otherwise, your experience will be less than satisfactory, a lesson I learned the hard way. Best of luck!
During my first month, I was overly critical of the lack of playgrounds and extracurricular activities for girls until I found out about SOCSA: Somaliland Culture and Sports Association. This organization, situated in the Togdheer region of Hargeisa, consists of a basketball court and a basketball coach exclusively available to girls, as well as computers, classes and training workshops for young girls and boys. After speaking with the Director, I created an English conversation group, an idea I got from conversation groups at the Resource Centre I worked at during my studies at the University of Ottawa. On Thursday and Friday mornings, the girls and I would meet up and work on pronunciation, vocabulary, etc. I proposed we each come up with a topic for the day, and after my lame attempt to start things off with a funny childhood story, I was immediately reminded that these girls and I, although we look the same, speak the same language, and share the same history, come from two completely different cultures. Instead, they proposed we talk about the conflict between Somalia and Somaliland, issues relating to skin whitning creams, etc. After a few weekends, the conversation group fizzled, mostly due to a lack of commitment from both myself as well as my students. However, for the diaspora community interested in teaching and coaching sports for young females, please check out http://www.socsa.blogspot.com/ for more information.
In addition to this disappointment, I also felt the need to experience teaching at the secondary school level, so, after leaving Maalim Dawud, I started teaching voluntarily at a local high school; Dayib Gurey Secondary School. To historical fanatics, the name Dayib Gurey made ring a bell. Gurey was a highly esteemed Somaliland freedom fighter, who has a whole area as well as a school named after him. However, most of the students at the school do not live up to his vision. After hearing plenty of horror stories from relatives that attend high school, including stories of teachers getting beat up after school, I chose this particular school due to the number of my relatives that I attend the school. Despite this security blanket, I didn't enjoy teaching at the school due to the obvious lack of motivation (the students didn't bring notebooks or other supplies to class) as well as their complete disregard for the school rules.
In sum, the purpose of this post is not to discourage the Somali diaspora from volunteering in Hargeisa, but rather to encourage young Somalis to dedicate time and effort to find an organization that is personally interesting and fulfilling. Otherwise, your experience will be less than satisfactory, a lesson I learned the hard way. Best of luck!
Thank you.
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