     Mette | Unrecorded Date
Hi everyone!
How do Somalis living outside Somalia feel about 'home'?
Where and what is 'home' to you?
Is home linked to a territory? To a specific place? To a nation? To a culture? To persons you care for?
Do Somalis all over the world form a deterritorialized 'global' nation?
Do you maintain links to Somalia? - how, when, where? - apart from these discussions in cyperspace....
I would really appreciate everyones input in order to gain an understanding of these issues. Thank you in advance. |
| Ciir | Unrecorded Date
Salaamu Calaykum
To: Mette
Hello Mette. We as Somalians are from Somalia of course and so our home is Somalia. However due to mis-understanding between us we are facing problems and as a result of those problems we are without land now. But me as an individual i believe that "Home is where the heart is." Everyones idea differs and so our opinions will be different. Have a nice day.
Amaano allah iyo amaano rasuul |
| Moh_Said | Unrecorded Date
Mette:
First tell us(somali)more about you.
WHO are you?Are you Somali or not?
If not I wonder why you are doing this research????? |
| Deeqa | Unrecorded Date
Salaam, everyone
Personally I think home takes on different meanings. I say home when I talk about my family's house in Canada, but I also call Somalia home ("back home in Somalia"). I am attached to Somalia as a whole, but there is no one village or city I think of as home. For me Canada provides a somewhat superficial home, one I only live in for practical reasons (safety, education, etc). But Somalia is a fundemental home, to which I pray I will return to someday. My attachment to Somalia is not practical, but emotional (when I think of Somalia I think of love, loyalty, belonging, not of safety, or education). My reasons for loving Somalia are difficult to explain, since for me home is where my family is (and my immediate family are in Canada). Perhaps I love it through my mother, to whom home is and always will be Somalia.
Given a choice between being with those I love and returning to Somalia, I think I would remain with those I love. But I can't really imagine NEVER returning to Somalia. It's such a basic component of my plans for the future.
As for whether Somalis "form a deterritorialized global village", I think most Somalis want to return home (Somalia), but they just don't see how that may happen in the forseeable future.
What links do I have to Somalia? Well, my mother went to Somalia in February and bought a house there, so I guess that is the biggest link (and investment) I can think of. My grandmother and various uncles and aunts also live there.
I hope I answered your questions adequately. |
| Mette | Unrecorded Date
Salaam, everyone
First of all thank you for sharing your ideas of 'home' with me.
I do agree, Ciir, that home is where your heart is. But I also know another version: Home is where your heart is - broken....
I realize that the number of versions of where home can be found, probably equals the number of individuals. This is what interests me: Different interpretations of home and belonging.
To Moh_Said: No I am not Somali. I was born, grew up, has studied, and still live in Denmark. Though I have moved from one part of the country to another, and I somehow feel I have a home both 'there' (where I grew up) and 'here' (where I am residing), its is actually not a problem as the two places are within the same nation-state, as I can move freely between the two sites (5 hours by train), etc.
If you wonder why home is interesting, I think Deeqa's reflections on home and belonging are very informative.
I have been talking to Somalis living in Denmark, asking how they feel about home and belonging - and was curious to know if their emotions about this issues are shared by Somalis living in other corners of the world.
To Deeqa - thank you for sharing your ideas. I think that for many (most?) people 'home' actually is related to the persons they care for - these persons might then be connected to a specific place: But if they no longer are to be found in that specific location, the place might loose its meanings as 'home'.
This is my 'first appearance' in cyperspace - and I find it an extremely interesting medium for sharing experiences and informations.
Hope to 'see' you all soon again.
Mette |
| DR_RUN_SHEEG | Unrecorded Date
EVERYBODY'S REAL HOME IS HIS OR HER GRAVE, BUT IF YOU MEAN WORLDLY HOME, THEN I THINK BEING A SOMALI, SOMALIA IS MY HOME. EAST OR WEST HOME IS THE BEST. LAMA HURAAN WAA CAWSKA JILAAL.
LATER SOMALI
ON MY BIKE. |
| Moh_Said | Unrecorded Date
TO Mette:
Thanks the response.
I feel sorry if it was your first time in the forums and i distrup to you,but you see Mette there is many reason's why i asked you where you from?and why you intrest our home? the one which is very important to me is i live in finland and the newspapers is our first enemy here.
they ask us(we somalian who live in finland)many question's"just same your question's"when we answer their question's perfect honest,guess what they write us,they write us always negative.so i thought maybe this guy is one of them...)
but i understand now you are not and i must answer your question which is where is `home`?
Somalia is my home i hav`ent been there since 1990, i live now a country which its cultural is not my cultural origin. i hope oneday i will go back to my country and i live there for ever and i hope it can't remain in a war for ever(insha-alah)
MACA SALAAAAAAM: |
| Anonymous | Unrecorded Date
Thanks to all. I was very interested by the topic.
I hope that it will continue.
Saadiya |
| Anonymous | Unrecorded Date
I consider Somalia my home, even though I was not born there and have only lived there for 7 years. I've lived in US most of my life but I've always felt like a foreigner, just visiting for a short time. I believe a person's identity develops at very young age, between 3-11 (or close) and therefore the place you spent that time will always be home. Even though I have assimilated in this culture, I love and miss Somalia, The way it use to be. |
| Mette | Unrecorded Date
Is home a place? A feeling? A person? A memory? Safety?
WHY is Somalia home to so many Somalian people even though they have never set their foot there?
Do you REALLY believe you will live in Somalia again one day? And if so - what need to happen in order for you to be able to do that? |
| Anonymous | Unrecorded Date
Mette-
I do agree home is a feeling/place etc. I don't believe I will be going back home in my lifetime, Considering the situation there. But I hope to god, If I ever have children, I will make sure they would be able to go back and make a difference....
Hopefully |
| Homeless | Unrecorded Date
Somalia can NEVER, NEVER, NEVER be my home again. I will never ever go back to that poverty stricken, with its backward people who never stop fighting, dirty country. A place that betrayed my dream of a home shall not be considered my home again. My home will always be where I will be able to live in peace and tranquility. |
| Marwaan | Unrecorded Date
....And where would that be Homeless? A place where you'll always be a stranger, would you call that home? As long as as you've that accent on your tongue, you'll be an immigrant where ever that is, no matter how you look like, how wealthy you're, you still be missing that puzzle, you can try to ignore it, but deep down in your heart it's still there. Let me remind you one thing, those people who created that mess are human as well, they came up with that evil act, who will then clean their mess if we "US" living abroad don't. You can get all peace and tranquility you want in your home country, that piece "of mind" you can never purchase from any where else....think twice buddy!! I know how you feel, the anger, frustration, etc, whatever it's you can conquer that if you work really hard. And I'd like to conclude with this saying "MAN IS WHAT HIS DREAMS ARE" If we really want to remedy our problem, lets work hard.. |
| SAMAWADE | Unrecorded Date
TO HOMELESS:
BRO I THINK YOU ARE A CONFUSSED BRO SO LET ME TELL YOU THIS.
I HAVE A FREIND, HIS MUM IS WHITE (ENGLISH) AND HE WAS BORN IN UK. TO THEM (THE UNI LECTURER) HE IS A FORIENG AND WE GET THE SAME TREATMENT BRO. THEY THINK HE CAME HERE TO TAKE THERE PLACE.
NO MATTER HOW YOU PRETEND THAT YOU ARE ONE OF THEM THEY WILL NEVER ACCEPT YOU AS AN EQUAL INDIVIDUAL. SO THE CHOSE IS YOURS WHOULD U LIKE TO BE AN EXILE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE TO LIVE A PLACE WHERE THE PEOPLE SEE YOU AS A LOW LIFE LOSER OR YOU WANA GO BACK TO YOUR COUNTRY TO HELP YOUR OWN COMMUNITY.
AND REMENBER BRO
HAYBAD WAXAAD KU LEEDAHAY DHULKAAGA HOOYO. WAANA LAMA HURAANE HAGARLI'I WAX UGU QABO. HANTI YEEY MACAAN WAA MIDAAN HOOY LAGAA ODHANEEY. |
| Labadhagax | Unrecorded Date
homeless you are homeless and you will always remain homeless if you keep thinking like that even know i was not born in somalia never been there in my intire life but deep down iknow its my home the home of my mother ,father and those who i love. |
| Anonymous | Unrecorded Date
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS |
| Salugla | Unrecorded Date
I don't see Somalia getting better and me going back there anytime soon. But Somali is where HOME is and always will be for me. For the simple fact that I was born, raised, it's where my parents thought me real moral and values, the meaning of family unity, love and respect. Regardless of what has happend I'll always carry those memories with me, and cherish the time I've spent there and hope to god that one day I'll return to my real home. |
