I ask her if she supports the pirates. And the answer is a surprising. “No,” “But the media does not get the whole story out” she adds. Shukri recounts her ordeal to resettle in San Diego. She talks about the war and refugee camps she lived in while awaiting resettlement to America, while methodically preparing the food that wafts through the entire apartment with its sweet aroma.

She details about family members lost to the tragic civil war and her struggle to provide for her family in San Diego. She shows no emotion and is polite but the sadness in her eyes tells a tragic story of war, destruction, refugee life and struggle in America.

Somalis have been coming to San Diego since the early eighties. There are an estimated sixteen thousand Somalis in San Diego. “Little Mogadishu” as its known is where this family and many like them call home. Women garbed in traditional dress and men in sarongs comfortably go about their daily errands on University Ave between Wynona and 50th street in City Heights. This is home to many Somali business and proximity to everything Somali.

When the family sits to eat dinner on the floor on a multi colored matt that appears to have come with them from Somalia, they invite me to eat with them. I am a bit hesitant but Abdinur Ali the husband insists. He is a man in his fifties. Their gesture amid their meager life is overwhelming. As we all squat on the floor to eat, Abdinur relays his concerns for his family in San Diego. His tone unlike his wife is one of hope, and his demeanor a lot more welcoming. He is a well educated man who has worked in the department of education when he was in Somalia. He is fluent in Arabic, Italian and English, but works as a cab driver to support his family in San Diego. As I nibble on a sweet delicacy called xalwo, which I politely accept from Shukri after dinner, Abdinur talks about the dilemma faced by many Somali parents in America. Somali parents deal with language and cultural barrier as their children dive into their typical American world. Many families wrestle with children who have to deal with a dual identity, the culture of home and the one at school where they prefer to blend in like any other American kid. Most school age Somali children do not speak Somali, the language spoken at home by their parents. It’s often where confusion and struggle for many families begin.

Abdinur’s bearing changes as he shows me a framed picture of his eldest daughter Zuhur. She is a student at San Diego State, studying nursing. “They have good future here and I will do whatever I can to make all my children succeed” he says as he puts away the photo. Shukri takes a seat next to her two youngest girls after we finish eating desert. As the girls watch Arthur a wide smile list Shukri’s smooth face as she looks on to her two sons doing homework on the dining table. Without exerting too much energy she says in a quite yet assured tone “They would be pirates too if they did not have an opportunity to come here and lead a stable life” she becomes quiet for a moment and then continues, “Those little boys stealing ships in the high seas are pushed to it by war and the world’s exploitation of our coast”. By all measures Shukri is grateful that her boys are safe from a dangerous life that could claim them like many young Somali boys in Somalia.

Yasmeen Maxamuud
Email: yasmeenmaxamuud@gmail.com
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