Somaliand's Two Largest Dilemmas!

Somaliland faces many major issues as an unrecognized independent republic. Something that made Somaliland identifiable for the last decade is that it’s last two elections was done very peacefully and serenely. People weren’t expecting that to happen. But it did. It was all over the news.  Although that didn’t fully help Somaliland gain its recognition, it helped it move one step towards it. To matters, out of millions, that Somaliland is facing as an unrecognized independent republic is ethnicity and poor infrastructures.  

In Somaliland, everything is about clans. Everyone, especially in the government, is always on about clans. Having a clan system is very useful and beneficial. It brings different people but with the same clan together; it units them. However, it has its drawbacks. During last year’s elections, I witnessed that most of the people care more about having a president who is from their clan than having   a president who is actually skilled to be a president. Almost everyone I saw voted for the party of the same clan. Not because they thought that that president will change this and fix that, only because he is from the same clan as them, he gets many votes. The government is not functioning as well as it was supposed to because of many clan problems. That is not very helpful and useful to a developing country.

For a country to be and look developing, its infrastructure has to be great. Somaliland’s infrastructure is not that great, but not that bad either. The thing that bothers me the most is its roads. Some of them are ok but most of the roads are rough, broken, and fill with huge holes. This is not bad only for the cars to et sabotaged, but also for people. My mom had kidney stones and couldn’t drive her car until she was cured. She couldn’t drive because whenever she drove into a hole the car would jump up and down and that would hurt her kidneys.  The government tried to fix this problem by starting off with the road between Berbara and Hargeisa. Although it’s a very useful idea, they should not disregard the inner roads in Hargeisa and other cities in Somaliland. Roads were not built and nobody cared about for so long. “Since the liberation of Somaliland, our cities and territories have deteriorated and there is no evidence of a plan or vision to improve the infrastructure, which has been neglected for so long.”[i]

If the racial ethinicity is eradicated and the roads are fixed, I believe, with all my heart, that Somaliland will be recognized, and will be equal and have the same opportunities as other recognized countries, inshaAllah!

 

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[i]  Farah M. Abdirazaq. “Somaliland’s Neglected Infrastructure”.  The Somaliland Times. N.p, n.d. http://somalilandtimes.net. 11/25/12

Somewhere Between Somaliland and America- Ethipoia

                 It wasn’t my first trip to Ethiopia. I went to Addis three years ago. But this time, it was completely different. In this trip, I went with my roommates. Before leaving Abaarso, we were super excited. I had to share rooms with them. So it felt little bit like Abaarso. But, this time, I even had to share beds with them. I hate bus rides. During my last trip there, I flew there. But this time, I had to ride buses. They were extremely boring and tedious, well at least for most of them. I had to remain seated for 11 hours, NOT COOL! When we got to Dire Dawa that was when the actual fun began. We stayed in a beautiful hotel called RAAS. My three stooges and I were very tired and hungry. When we got to our room, where there were only two beds, we immediately fought over the bathroom. One wanted to shower, two wanted to brush their teeth, and I wanted to use the toilet! After three hours of bickering, we came into an agreement. We decided that Najib takes his shower, Abdilahi and Ryder brush their teeth, and I do my thing; at the same time! It didn’t work out so well, but we were all satisfied. With Ryder’s leg on my face and Abdilahi’s snoring, it was impossible for me to go to sleep that night.

               Next morning, we woke up at 4:45 in the morning and took another 11 hours bus ride to Addis. This bus ride was way more fun than the other one. It had a small TV which was entertaining and they provided FREE snacks. The road from Dire Dawa to Addis Ababa was very smooth and downy. Ethiopia has the most beautiful landscape views I’ve ever seen. The view of lakes adjacent to dimly green grass where horses were at rest was a spectacular observation for an eye. 

                Finally at Addis. “Addis looks more like a place between Somaliland and the US”, said Mike. The tall skyscrapers next to lofty giant trees were extraordinary.  Our first night there was amazing. We had to go to sleep early because we were taking the SAT next morning.

               The moment of truth; the SAT. Something that shocked me was that I wasn’t nervous, not even a bit. I mean why I would be nervous, I practiced for the SAT only million times. I treated it the same way I would treat it any other practice test. It went very well. I was glad that the effort that I’ve put in for the past three years paid off. Let’s hope the scores satisfy the hard work that I’ve put in.