For years, Abdulkareem Jama commuted from his home in Fairfax to a cushy office in Washington. He commanded a six-figure salary. Now, his desk is in Somalia's war-torn capital, next to a window with a golf ball-size bullet hole. He is fortunate if he gets paid his much-shrunken salary on time.
"I was standing there when the bullet came through," Jama said, pointing to a spot a foot from the window. "Three bullets also entered my residence."
In recent months, a considerable number of Americans have joined or tried to join Somalia's radical al-Shabab militia, raising concerns among U.S. officials that they could one day pose a threat to the United States.
But Americans of Somali descent have also returned to their motherland to help prevent al-Shabab from gaining power. They are part of a large community of Somali expatriates who have arrived here from all over the world to join Somalia's fragile transitional government despite immense risks.
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a Somali American from New York, was appointed prime minister in October. His cabinet includes several members of the Somali diaspora.
"Life is short and I want to put it to good use," said Jama, the chief of staff for President Sharif Ahmed but soon to be the minister of information.
Somalia's experience is similar to that of other violence-torn nations, from Afghanistan to Iraq to Liberia, where returning immigrants have entered politics and built businesses, providing linchpins amid war and instability. Unlike those in previous generations, these immigrants remained intimately connected to their homelands via the Internet and satellite television.
Abdi Rashid Sheik Farah, 45, fled Somalia in 1991, following the collapse of the Siad Barre regime. He ended up in McLean and attended Catholic University. Farah, a lawyer and father of four, became a leader in Washington's Somali community.
When Ethiopia invaded Somalia in December 2006, he felt compelled to return home. "I wanted to stand up to the Ethiopians who invaded our lands," said Farah, who joined the transitional government and is now a member of parliament.
Faisal Hayal worked at a Best Buy distribution center in Minnesota. He, too, fled Somalia in 1991. Today, he is back in Mogadishu hoping to become a member of parliament. "My ambition is to be leader of this country," said Hayal, 38, who has a 10-year-old son.
Last Saturday, parliament approved the new government after weeks of disputes over the inclusion of so many technocrats from outside Somalia.
Suddenly prime minister
It has been nearly 25 years since Mohamed last set foot in Somalia. After working four years in the Somali Embassy in Washington in the mid-1980s, he earned a history degree at the University of Buffalo. He later worked for the city of Buffalo's municipal housing authority and taught conflict resolution at Erie Community College.
In August, when Somalia's previous prime minister abruptly resigned, Mohamed submitted his resume to Ahmed, the president. Somalia's complex, clan-based political system required that the next prime minister be a member of the Darod tribe. Mohamed fit the bill.
He met Ahmed in New York for a preliminary interview. Then Mohamed got a phone call from Ahmed's staff asking him to fly to Mogadishu in the next 72 hours. "I was not aware I was the top candidate," said Mohamed, a father of four.
His family didn't understand why he was leaving. "I understand why you are crying," he recalled telling them. "But there are millions of Somalis crying every day."
When he landed at the airport, Mohamed said he was informed that he was the new prime minister. It was his first time back in Mogadishu since 1987. Mohamed denied local speculation that he was appointed because of U.S. pressure.
After a recent meeting in which he urged Mohamed to give more rights to minorities, Mahmoud Bare Hussein left the room shaking his head. A member of parliament, he wondered aloud why the second-most powerful political position would be given to someone who left the country nearly 25 years ago.
"He knows nothing about the country. That's why he will fail," Hussein said.
Returning exiles say they are not tainted by Somalia's clan politics and corruption, core reasons why the transitional government is virtually paralyzed today.
"I am not here for privilege or position. I am here to show the people that someone can make change as long as he has good people to work with," Mohamed said. "I cannot say I will do it overnight. It will take time, and a lot of effort."
Still, Mohamed is not taking chances. He has taken a one-year leave of absence from his job. The transitional government's mandate expires in August 2011.
'A small price to pay'
Jama's employers in the United States said they would keep his job open for three months. His boss, Jama recalled, said: "My thinking is that you will go there, they will shoot at you. You will come back and go back to work."
One of Jama's first tasks: bringing down the food budget of the president's staff, from $60,000 a month to $14,000 a month. "It was very fulfilling," said Jama, who has bachelor's and master's degrees from George Mason University.
Three months later, Jama returned to Washington and resigned. Along with his job went health insurance and all the nice corporate perks - massage therapy, yoga classes, $500 for schools for each of his six children. His brothers and sisters sometimes help with the mortgage payments.
Whenever there is violence in Mogadishu, which is almost every day, he e-mails or phones his family to let them know he was not injured.
What he misses most about Washington: camping, fishing on the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland. Eating with his family at Red Lobster.
One of his daughters recently sent him an e-mail informing him that she was taking karate classes and that he should be with her, not in Somalia.
"That's not a good feeling," he said. "But in the overall scheme of things, how people live and die here, that is a small price to pay."
Source: The Washington Post
No comments:
Post a Comment