and my topic is art of survival which
derives from a book I wrote and the book
is called losing the art of survival and
dignity
it is about Somalis and the transition
from self-reliance to dependence and
indignity Somalis as you know do not
have a good reputation in the world
today in part because they are not known
for the struggle over the centuries and
the art of survival they have developed
over these centuries dealing with a very
harsh environment we the discussion
about that art of survival is for
another day I want to just share with
you my own struggle and my own
development in their own way art of
survival
I believe everybody every Lima being who
has gone ten twenty or more years has
developed art of cerrado because if they
don’t have that art of survival they
would perish they would perish and
beyond twenty that art of survival which
you have experimented with eventually
you hone it you develop it more for me
as with everybody you know we all face
challenges there are problems in life
you cannot have it just is smooth and
and quiet each of us have a struggle and
that struggle we deal with it
my struggle began at the age of four
when my father was killed my father was
murdered and he left me my sister and my
mother at the age of four and you can
imagine the impact that that had for the
rest of my life the second challenge was
at the age of six I was a member of a
community of Somalis that were forced
that will force at gunpoint to witness
the execution of six Somali men early
one morning all our houses were invaded
basically and we were rushed out of her
homes I remember I was asleep I heard
noise and clamor all around me and my
mother and my relatives my neighbors
we’ll all rounded up and we witnessed
seven men each at a time two and two and
two and one seven of them hanged in
front of us from one place to another to
another I do remember
the first to wear a father and son and
the father said in Somali please if you
must hang us me and my son please do me
a favor of hanging us in different
places and that was not accepted and
they were hanged right there
Kjell child of six holding to my mother
i could see these writhing humanity
hanging in the air
kicking urinating going through
horrendous after that they were berry
for me that terror really remained with
me for a long time but it also set a
challenge for me a challenge to survival
and that struggle to survive began for
me when one day as a small child I saw
two of my friends who were being taken
to school they were at school and I was
in a chronic school you know leave this
little shelter made of wood and I was
making my own ink from a rock and a
chalk the rule you know charcoal sitting
on the ground and then I saw these two
young neighbors of my age more or less
they came from schools they had nice
uniform and they have books and I really
admired this uniform you know these two
and so I managed to run away from that
Quranic school went to my mother and
told her
take me to take me to school she said no
I can’t take it to school that’s a
government school by the way that was in
Jigga Jigga the city of geneva that’s a
government school and they will make a
Christian of you I won’t take you there
so I said no but I would like to go
study in the morning and in the
afternoon there is madrasa nearby where
I can lend the Quran and also Arabic she
said no I can’t
so I ran she said no but this is a great
thing about hair was I insist something
and I was not if I was not really doing
something grave and serious she wouldn’t
let me say okay I won’t do it for you
but find somebody who can do it for you
who can take you to school I ran and I
found a group of people elders I knew
where my father’s friends in a tea shop
and I said I’d like to be taken to a
school a long story they didn’t
understand but there was one man Sephora
Abdi his name he’s known wherever in the
world I have gone siffredi said he was
simply a driver truck driver never went
to school and he just saw this young
this child wanting to go to school the
other miss school bad Alisha I will take
you there but a son and he took me there
and I’ll skip very quickly grade 1 grade
1 I was at that time there were three
grade three classes in grade one ABC in
my year there was too many students and
there was de F because I came late I was
put in F and F had no chairs no tables
no desk nothing just cement floor and a
blackboard
it was animatic the teacher was America
with somalis you know we don’t even
speak Amory the children majority of
they were Amara and so one week I was
there by chance by chance I took that
little book in Amharic alphabet by one
week I memorized it I studied it well
and there was mr. Thomas mr. Ibrahim and
this at obey any cool man a topiary he
terrorized the children everybody was
afraid of him so mr. Thomas mystery
brain he was Somali and at Oba they came
in front of my class our class we are
sitting on the floor I’m in the middle
and they talking in a language I don’t
understand
was it Americ was it English probably it
was English because Thomas didn’t speak
up mark anyway I just decided on that
day I’m not gonna sit back and I stood
up stepped over one child moved on and
came to the open stuff me and Ibrahim
and read that material that that lesson
I’ve learned I read it and I could see
three people and three reactions one
reaction was that obey any who was so
angry I could see he could have probably
chewed me you know let alone punish me
because how could this child without
being asked stand up come in front to
his superiors and behave like this he
was very angry Ibrahim who was a Somali
was laughing because you could see I was
Somali by my accent by what I was doing
and mr. Thomas held me by hand
said good very good and he kept me there
meanwhile my friends were saying as the
continued talking will be whipped I’m
wondering whether I will be whipped or
not mr. Thomas understood when they
finished and he held my hand and took me
to great a1a and told the teacher as
well as a Toby na find a chair and a
desk for this child found me much the
chair and the desk for me and that year
I scored the highest in grade one and I
moved on to Grade three not two three
that gave me the first art of survival
learn use lesson well
use your mind make decisions yet that
you think about and be bold act on it
don’t be afraid by the eighth I’m gonna
jump by the eighth year eighth year in
Ethiopia the National exam I scored the
secondary school in secondary school in
her arm in her by my 11th grade because
I was so good in terms of my scores
before I finished 11th grade I was
accepted in three American universities
the requirement the requirement the
requirement was simply that I finished
12th grade and come up with a
certificate so I got the scholarship
this other part that was helpful and I
wanna tell the young young people in
addition to academics I loved sports I
was good at sports
so good in fact in my first second year
elementary I was in the team and in the
system they had you had to be put on a
weight you have to be weighed you know
height and weight I was too thin I’m too
small but the the referee fought hard
and somehow managed to put me in anyway
jump second and university by the time I
graduated University and I will have
sent some pictures of it they were I
graduated with two degrees both of them
honours at front ad at Wesleyan
University I had absolute option where I
wanted to go to university in the States
I was accepted at Stanford University at
Harvard University as well as Boston
University finish that that’s just a
nice transition to move on to having
finished my training at Harvard Boston
University and Wesleyan my student
career finished with five degrees two
bachelors two masters
I want PhD finally found my tenure which
means you can live you can work there
for life but then as people were
congratulating me with this for life I
would be in Boston I would say my god
for life in Boston that’s a prison I
need to be out I need to be moving
around I need to be in Africa and so one
year of sabbatical after I have taken it
I developed over to a friend of mine or
actually a former student of mine
program we developed a company called
BHM international a health consulting
firm that ended up after a while having
offices not only in Boston and
Massachusetts but also in Virginia to
offices in Virginia one in Maryland one
in Arkansas when in Oregon different
places and we were just making quite big
money at that time which was fine but
money was not enough for me I needed
something more counting the beans didn’t
satisfy me I wanted to do something more
and especially we were in my own part of
the world there were Wars going on
victims cities being destroyed military
regime stamping stampeding over people
and so anyway time limitation I ended up
joining the struggle against the
military regime and when it collapsed we
were very happy
Somaliland was free unfortunately
unfortunately there was there was war in
Somalia 1994 so I decided to come back
and initiate the peace the conciliation
process from outside dr. Edna was among
the first people I met when we came from
the states in Djibouti with her and
other colleagues we baki I found that
back I you will get the copy and from
the back here that we wrote and then
later we that was done then I was here I
found really developed the civil Center
where people people were being trained
as well as treating patients my clinical
work continued as well as I saw that in
really desperately calling people abroad
you know for relatives for remittance
but they were being charged two dollars
75 cents per minute two companies there
so telco and STC and I asked people
really need to make calls to relatives
and they were not willing to do anything
and so anyway I started a company a
telephone company and my own never been
never in my life
dreamed about getting involved in
telecommunication and so I started the
first mobile company we were charging
basically one dollar 30 and then later
80 cents anywhere in the world that’s
another story
later I I got involved continued to be
involved in treating patients which I
still do today new generation of
students in her gasser University and in
France Manuel University and
alhamdulillah use your mind to use your
mind you also have to learn we have to
learn not only in formal but in many
informal settings ii have a sense of
humor if you just depressed and you
continue feeling the burden these
baggages we carry in our lives try to
find a way of getting rid of them and
one way of getting rid of them is by
doing positive things you’ll help others
and you help yourself you help others
and you do some good for others you are
also doing good for yourself
you’re acting positive I also finally
would say in addition of sense of humor
sports music by the way I also learned
music I started with trumpet
I moved on to flute and then dabbled
with saxophone paid off and it will pay
for you to thank [Applause]
derives from a book I wrote and the book
is called losing the art of survival and
dignity
it is about Somalis and the transition
from self-reliance to dependence and
indignity Somalis as you know do not
have a good reputation in the world
today in part because they are not known
for the struggle over the centuries and
the art of survival they have developed
over these centuries dealing with a very
harsh environment we the discussion
about that art of survival is for
another day I want to just share with
you my own struggle and my own
development in their own way art of
survival
I believe everybody every Lima being who
has gone ten twenty or more years has
developed art of cerrado because if they
don’t have that art of survival they
would perish they would perish and
beyond twenty that art of survival which
you have experimented with eventually
you hone it you develop it more for me
as with everybody you know we all face
challenges there are problems in life
you cannot have it just is smooth and
and quiet each of us have a struggle and
that struggle we deal with it
my struggle began at the age of four
when my father was killed my father was
murdered and he left me my sister and my
mother at the age of four and you can
imagine the impact that that had for the
rest of my life the second challenge was
at the age of six I was a member of a
community of Somalis that were forced
that will force at gunpoint to witness
the execution of six Somali men early
one morning all our houses were invaded
basically and we were rushed out of her
homes I remember I was asleep I heard
noise and clamor all around me and my
mother and my relatives my neighbors
we’ll all rounded up and we witnessed
seven men each at a time two and two and
two and one seven of them hanged in
front of us from one place to another to
another I do remember
the first to wear a father and son and
the father said in Somali please if you
must hang us me and my son please do me
a favor of hanging us in different
places and that was not accepted and
they were hanged right there
Kjell child of six holding to my mother
i could see these writhing humanity
hanging in the air
kicking urinating going through
horrendous after that they were berry
for me that terror really remained with
me for a long time but it also set a
challenge for me a challenge to survival
and that struggle to survive began for
me when one day as a small child I saw
two of my friends who were being taken
to school they were at school and I was
in a chronic school you know leave this
little shelter made of wood and I was
making my own ink from a rock and a
chalk the rule you know charcoal sitting
on the ground and then I saw these two
young neighbors of my age more or less
they came from schools they had nice
uniform and they have books and I really
admired this uniform you know these two
and so I managed to run away from that
Quranic school went to my mother and
told her
take me to take me to school she said no
I can’t take it to school that’s a
government school by the way that was in
Jigga Jigga the city of geneva that’s a
government school and they will make a
Christian of you I won’t take you there
so I said no but I would like to go
study in the morning and in the
afternoon there is madrasa nearby where
I can lend the Quran and also Arabic she
said no I can’t
so I ran she said no but this is a great
thing about hair was I insist something
and I was not if I was not really doing
something grave and serious she wouldn’t
let me say okay I won’t do it for you
but find somebody who can do it for you
who can take you to school I ran and I
found a group of people elders I knew
where my father’s friends in a tea shop
and I said I’d like to be taken to a
school a long story they didn’t
understand but there was one man Sephora
Abdi his name he’s known wherever in the
world I have gone siffredi said he was
simply a driver truck driver never went
to school and he just saw this young
this child wanting to go to school the
other miss school bad Alisha I will take
you there but a son and he took me there
and I’ll skip very quickly grade 1 grade
1 I was at that time there were three
grade three classes in grade one ABC in
my year there was too many students and
there was de F because I came late I was
put in F and F had no chairs no tables
no desk nothing just cement floor and a
blackboard
it was animatic the teacher was America
with somalis you know we don’t even
speak Amory the children majority of
they were Amara and so one week I was
there by chance by chance I took that
little book in Amharic alphabet by one
week I memorized it I studied it well
and there was mr. Thomas mr. Ibrahim and
this at obey any cool man a topiary he
terrorized the children everybody was
afraid of him so mr. Thomas mystery
brain he was Somali and at Oba they came
in front of my class our class we are
sitting on the floor I’m in the middle
and they talking in a language I don’t
understand
was it Americ was it English probably it
was English because Thomas didn’t speak
up mark anyway I just decided on that
day I’m not gonna sit back and I stood
up stepped over one child moved on and
came to the open stuff me and Ibrahim
and read that material that that lesson
I’ve learned I read it and I could see
three people and three reactions one
reaction was that obey any who was so
angry I could see he could have probably
chewed me you know let alone punish me
because how could this child without
being asked stand up come in front to
his superiors and behave like this he
was very angry Ibrahim who was a Somali
was laughing because you could see I was
Somali by my accent by what I was doing
and mr. Thomas held me by hand
said good very good and he kept me there
meanwhile my friends were saying as the
continued talking will be whipped I’m
wondering whether I will be whipped or
not mr. Thomas understood when they
finished and he held my hand and took me
to great a1a and told the teacher as
well as a Toby na find a chair and a
desk for this child found me much the
chair and the desk for me and that year
I scored the highest in grade one and I
moved on to Grade three not two three
that gave me the first art of survival
learn use lesson well
use your mind make decisions yet that
you think about and be bold act on it
don’t be afraid by the eighth I’m gonna
jump by the eighth year eighth year in
Ethiopia the National exam I scored the
secondary school in secondary school in
her arm in her by my 11th grade because
I was so good in terms of my scores
before I finished 11th grade I was
accepted in three American universities
the requirement the requirement the
requirement was simply that I finished
12th grade and come up with a
certificate so I got the scholarship
this other part that was helpful and I
wanna tell the young young people in
addition to academics I loved sports I
was good at sports
so good in fact in my first second year
elementary I was in the team and in the
system they had you had to be put on a
weight you have to be weighed you know
height and weight I was too thin I’m too
small but the the referee fought hard
and somehow managed to put me in anyway
jump second and university by the time I
graduated University and I will have
sent some pictures of it they were I
graduated with two degrees both of them
honours at front ad at Wesleyan
University I had absolute option where I
wanted to go to university in the States
I was accepted at Stanford University at
Harvard University as well as Boston
University finish that that’s just a
nice transition to move on to having
finished my training at Harvard Boston
University and Wesleyan my student
career finished with five degrees two
bachelors two masters
I want PhD finally found my tenure which
means you can live you can work there
for life but then as people were
congratulating me with this for life I
would be in Boston I would say my god
for life in Boston that’s a prison I
need to be out I need to be moving
around I need to be in Africa and so one
year of sabbatical after I have taken it
I developed over to a friend of mine or
actually a former student of mine
program we developed a company called
BHM international a health consulting
firm that ended up after a while having
offices not only in Boston and
Massachusetts but also in Virginia to
offices in Virginia one in Maryland one
in Arkansas when in Oregon different
places and we were just making quite big
money at that time which was fine but
money was not enough for me I needed
something more counting the beans didn’t
satisfy me I wanted to do something more
and especially we were in my own part of
the world there were Wars going on
victims cities being destroyed military
regime stamping stampeding over people
and so anyway time limitation I ended up
joining the struggle against the
military regime and when it collapsed we
were very happy
Somaliland was free unfortunately
unfortunately there was there was war in
Somalia 1994 so I decided to come back
and initiate the peace the conciliation
process from outside dr. Edna was among
the first people I met when we came from
the states in Djibouti with her and
other colleagues we baki I found that
back I you will get the copy and from
the back here that we wrote and then
later we that was done then I was here I
found really developed the civil Center
where people people were being trained
as well as treating patients my clinical
work continued as well as I saw that in
really desperately calling people abroad
you know for relatives for remittance
but they were being charged two dollars
75 cents per minute two companies there
so telco and STC and I asked people
really need to make calls to relatives
and they were not willing to do anything
and so anyway I started a company a
telephone company and my own never been
never in my life
dreamed about getting involved in
telecommunication and so I started the
first mobile company we were charging
basically one dollar 30 and then later
80 cents anywhere in the world that’s
another story
later I I got involved continued to be
involved in treating patients which I
still do today new generation of
students in her gasser University and in
France Manuel University and
alhamdulillah use your mind to use your
mind you also have to learn we have to
learn not only in formal but in many
informal settings ii have a sense of
humor if you just depressed and you
continue feeling the burden these
baggages we carry in our lives try to
find a way of getting rid of them and
one way of getting rid of them is by
doing positive things you’ll help others
and you help yourself you help others
and you do some good for others you are
also doing good for yourself
you’re acting positive I also finally
would say in addition of sense of humor
sports music by the way I also learned
music I started with trumpet
I moved on to flute and then dabbled
with saxophone paid off and it will pay
for you to thank [Applause]
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