Somali culture embraced

By: Samantha Bushey

Posted: 1/26/09

The Somali Student Association (SSA) hosted the second annual Somali Night, "I Am Somalia" in Atwood Ballroom Saturday.

In the past, the SSA has teamed up with and participated in Africa night, but decided last year to have a separate night devoted to the Somali culture.

The night was full of informational videos, cultural dances, poetry, songs and a fashion show.

"This is just to celebrate the Somali culture," president of the SSA, Zamzam Mumin said. "We want to give a full night to educate them (St. Cloud residents and SCSU students)."

In order to enlighten as many people in the St. Cloud community as possible about the Somali culture, the SSA invited the Boys and Girls Club and gave them free tickets for the event.

The night started with a short video giving general information about Somalia, then went into the Somali Anthem followed by a presentation by Abdikariim about unsung heroes of Somalia.

The four unsung heroes talked about were Ahmad Ibrihim Khazi, Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, Hawo Osman and the Somali Youth League that started in 1943 and was Somalia's first political party.

"They laid the foundations for today," Abdikariim said.

After the Buraanbur dance, performed by 12 women while Raxmo Ruuxi sang, came a "History of Somalia" video that went more in depth with information about Somalia including information about its tribes and civil war.

In introducing Khalid Adam with his poetry, Abdimalik said, "I hope you enjoy it because we are the land of poets."

The poem "Duality" was written and recited by Adam. "The sun pulsed red hot vulva… oh the things they did to survive, to live complete… as you dismiss this experience… this is the Somali experience whether you like it or not… we are the ultimate test of endurance… we are the duality that encompasses humanity."

When dinner was served, the audience formed a line on each side of the ballroom, and members of the SSA served everyone the variety of dishes. If someone did not get in line for food, a member of SSA would bring them a plate of food so they could get the full Somali experience.

Having the full Somali experience sometimes made it hard to know what was going on because, "They are using mostly their language so it's kind of difficult," Ram Maharjan, SCSU student, said.

Maharjan thought it would have been easier if they had the English words on the screen during the songs and all parts of the narration when they were not speaking English.

At the end of one of the cultural dances, the Dhiisow, performed by five men and five women, one of the dancers stepped forward and shouted, "We are the Somali. I am Somalia."

When the executive board of SSA went on stage, they thanked Multicultural Student Services and Student Government Association for their help with putting together the second annual Somali Night and Mumin said, "Hopefully we can get more of your support in the future and it will be an endless tradition." © Copyright 2009 University Chronicle