Eden Prairie School District’s adult class in Somali language and culture is seen by non-Somalis as way to foster communication.

Abdullahi Hassan said when he heard more than 28 adults had registered for the Somali language and culture class he teaches in Eden Prairie, he couldn’t believe it.

By Patrice Relerford, Star Tribune

His initial disbelief was soon replaced by another emotion: pride in his adopted community.

“It’s a good sign that people are willing to learn,” Hassan said.

The former St. Paul charter school instructor moved to Eden Prairie five years ago and now works as a Somali liaison for Eden Prairie schools’ communications department.

Hassan’s job takes him into schools and the homes of dozens of Somali families where he provides assistance with school registration and other educational needs.

“My main goal is to make sure all children get the education they need,” Hassan said.

But for eight consecutive Mondays in a math classroom at Eden Prairie Central Middle School, Hassan switches gears and becomes a liaison for non-Somalis.

“My goal is for them to learn everyday Somali language,” Hassan said. “They are not going to be linguists, so to speak, but they’ll know words students use.”

He said many of his pupils are teachers. Others simply want to know more about their neighbors’ language and customs. Each student pays $61 to take the course.

Over 5,000 reasons to learn

“I hear so much Somali everyday, I almost think I can pick it up,” said Michelle Farinella of Eagan after a recent class. “I think it’s nice that teachers here will be using it on a daily basis.”

Farinella, who works in Eden Prairie’s school registration office, said she’s sure she’ll mispronounce some words and phrases she’s learned, but she’ll keep trying because it’s nice to know she’s “sharing something” with Somali students and adults.

Ann Coates, Eden Prairie’s adult programs coordinator, said the district first offered an introductory Somali language course about three years ago. She said six students registered for the class.

As word of the class spread, “People said, ‘If I’d known I would have signed up,’” Coates said.

This time around, word of mouth and advertisements in neighboring school districts’ community education catalogues helped Eden Prairie register its own residents and others from the Bloomington, Eden Prairie, Edina and Richfield school districts.

According to Eden Prairie city estimates, the southwest metro area community has more than 5,000 Somali residents.

Apt pupils

At a recent class, Hassan taught first-and third-person pronouns, distributed information about major Islamic holidays, and made sure there was time near the end of the session to answer individual questions.

“How do you say ‘good job’”? asked one of the teachers enrolled as a student in the class. (She didn’t raise her hand.)

“Guuleyso.” Hassan said as he wrote the word on the oversized note pad he used instead of the chalk board. It’s roughly translated as “you’re the winner.”

He also offered the students another phrase, “weynow” (pronounced “wayknow”) that’s roughly translated as “you’re an adult.”

Hassan said it’s a phrase teachers can use to boast the egos of elementary and middle school students — though the smiling father of four said not to use it with older students. Everyone knew why.

After class, Eden Prairie early childhood instructor Ann LaTour and a few of her co-workers stayed behind to speak with Hassan.

She plans to write the English and Somali translations of the words she uses on many of the pictures she uses with her 3- and 4-year-old students.

“Several of the children I work with speak Somali,” LaTour said. “So if I can help bridge that gap with phrases they’re familiar with by combining English with Somali, that helps.”

Patrice Relerford • 612-673-4395

Patrice Relerford • prelerford@startribune.com

SomaliTalk.com

Xaflad muhiim ah oo lagu qabtaya magalada qahira oo ay soo qaban qaabiyen naadiga aradayda somaliyed iyo jaaliyadda qaahira

Waxa malintii sabtida ahyad galabnimadedi lagu maamusay xaflad aad u balaaran oo ay soo qaban qaabiyeen naadiga ardayda somaliyeed iyo jaaliyadda somaliyeed ee ku dhaqan wadanka masar gaar ahaan magaalada qaahira xafaladaas oo lagu abaal mariyay aradayda jamacadaha ka barta magaalada qaahira iyo caruurta somaliyeed ee ka soo laabtay wadamada yurub iyo maraykanka iyo Canada iyo wadamada kale ee reer galbeedka, loona keenay halkan si ay ugu bartaan diintooda islamaamka iyo ku dhaqankeeda.

ardayadaas oo wadanka masar aad uga faa ii daysatay kuna baratay kitaabkal alle ee qur aan ka kariim ka ah iyo diinta islaamka dhinacyadeeda kala duwan .

Waxa u suurtay gashay naadiga ardayda somaliyeed ee qahira iyagoo gacan ka helaya jaaliyadda somaliyeed ee ka soo laabatay qurbaha inay fuliyaan tartanka qur’aanka kariimka ah ee la qabtay bishii ramadaan ee barakaysnayd ee la soo dhaafay taariikhdu markay ahayd 23-25 ramadaan. taran kaan oo ahaa kii ugu horreeyay ee ay qabtaan iskana kaashadan naadiga iyo jaaliyadda somaalida ee ku dhaqan wadanka masar. xafladdaan oo ahayd mid si hab sami ah loo soo agaasimay ayaa ka dhacday hoolka shirararka ee jaamacadda al-azhar qaybteeda dhaqaalaha malintii sabtida ahayd ee ku aadanayd 20/10/2007 xafladaas oo lagu gudoon siiyay abaal marinno arday gaaraysaa boqol iyo shan arday oo ka qaybgalay tartan kii quraanka kariimaka ah abaal marimaha ardayda oo ahaa kuwa aad u qiima badnaa, si waynna ay ugu farxeen waaliddiintii iyo ardaydii ka soo qayb gashay tartanka , ayadoo abaalmarimaha la wada gaarsiiyay ardayda dhammaantood.

Xaflada ayaa waxa ka soo qaybgalay dad gaaraya ilaa shan boqol oo qof dad kaas oo ay kamid ahaayen macalimiin,waalidiin, iyo aradayda ka qaybgashay tartanka iyo dhalinyarada jaamacadaha ka dhigata magaalada qaahira dadkaas oo dhamaan xafalada u xiisaynayay si wayn oo ay ka muuqato xurmaynta qur.aanka kariimka .

Xafladda waxa hadalo ay qiiro ku dheehantahay ka soo jeediyay cabdi deeq shire oo ku magac dheer (ILAAHOW NA ILAALI ) cabdi deeq oo ah nin aad iyo aad kaalin aan la ilaawi Karin ka qaatay isku dabbaridka iyo meel marinta tartanka quraanka kariimka iyo xafladdaba , cabdi deeq ayaa ku boorriyay waalidinta inay ilmahooda ay kala soo carareern dhulka reer galbeedka inay kula dadaalaan quraanka iyo xifdintiisa iyo kor u qaadista kitaabka alle iyo inay sii wadaan tartankaan sanad walaba si ay hawshaani horay ugu kacdo . kuna dadaalan meel marinta tartanka kor u qaadista qur’aanka kariimka ah.

ILAAHAOW NA ILAALI ayaa isaga oo hadalkisa sii wata waxa uu uu yiri : “waxan ku waalanahay kor u qaadista quraanka kariimka ah ilaa muddo 11 sano ah marka igu dayda” .

Waxa kaloo hadalo ka jeediyay xafladda gudoomiyaha naadiga ardayda soomaliyeed cabdu qaadir khayrre oo isaguna aad uga waramay sida barnaamijkaan loogu dhibtooday iyo hadafka laga lahaa oo ah in la badbaadiyo ubadaka somaliyeed e lagala soo cararay qurbaha si aysan uga tagin dhaqan kooda iyo diintodaba kuna boorriyay dadka dibadda ilamaha ku haysta inay la soo gaaran dhulalaka islaamka ay ka mid tahay wadankaan masar .

Waxa kaloo halakaas ka hadalay guddoomiye ku xigeenka naadiga ardayda somaliyeed cabdi xakin cali gooni oo aad uu faah faahiyay qaabka ay xafladda iya tartanku isugu dubba dhaceen, waxa uuna ka waramay sida ay dhaqaalaha u helin iyo qaabka ay u maareeyen .mar uu waalidiinta la hadalay waxa uu yiri:(WAXAN IDINKA QAADANAY DHAQAALE, LAKIN WAAN IDIIN SOO CELINAY ILMIHIIINI OO AAD IYO AAD MAANTAY U FARAX SAN ).

waxa ku guulaysaty kaalimaha hore ee aradaydii tartanka quran ka kariimka ah aradayda kala ah :

ARDAYDA YARYAR SODONKA JUS EE QURAN KA

KAALINTA KOWAAD WAXA GALAY : KHAALID AXMAD JAAMAC OO JIRAY 12 SANO JIR AH

KAALINTA LABAAD WAXA GALAY WALALKIIS :CABDU LAAHI AXMAD JAAMAC OO 13 SANO JIR AH

KAALINTA SADDEXAAD WAXA GALAY JAMIILA CUSMAAN NUUR OO 13 SANO JIR AH

ARDAYDA WAA WAYN SODONKA JIS EE QURAANKA :

KAALINTA KOWAAD WAXA GALAY SHUCAYB MACALIN BUULLE

KAALINTA LABAAD WAXA GALAY CABDI SAMAD MACALIN SHIIKH

KAALINTA SADDEXAAD WAXA WAXAA GALAY CABDI MAALIK

Waxa kaloo iyana jiray araday ku tarnatay qaybaha kala duwan ee 20 ka jus iyo 15 jus iyo 10 jus iyo 5 jus iyo 3 jus iyi hal jus .

Waxaana dhammaantood la guddoonsiiyay abaal marinno kala duwan kooxkata sadexda ugu horaysa .

waxan wax ilaah loogu mahdiya ah in ay somalida qaahira ku nool shanta somaliyed ba ay ku midaysan yihin naadiga aradyda somaliyeed ee qaahira oo aan lakal saarin shantii somaliya .

Waxaa uu mahad gaara u celinyaa naadigu waalidinta iyo shakhsiyaad ku dhaqan wadanka UK oo iya gu ka qayb qaatay iyagaoo ka maqan mesha lagu qabtay .

Waxa kaloo naadiga ardayada somaliyeed iyo jaaliyada somaliyeed tahniyad halkaan u marinayaan waalidiinta ay ilma hoodu ku guulaysten kaalimaha hore waxayn ku boorinayan inay halkaas ka sii wadan xifdinta qur”aanka iyo ku dhaqan kiisa

MAHAD SANIDIN DHAMAAN AKHRISTA YAASHA

NAADIGA ARDAYDA SOMALIYEED IYO JAALIYADA SOMALIYEED EE KU DHAQAN WADANKA MASAR

GUDOOMIYE KU XIGEENKA ARDAYDA SOMALIYEED EE MASAR

CABDIXAKIN CALI GOONI

EMAIL: qardhood@gmail.com

qardhood@hotmail.com

TEL:002010093120

IYO

cabdi deeq shire (ILAAHOW NA ILAALI)

TEL:0020121956618

WABI LAAHI TOWFIIQ

Faafin: SomaliTalk.com Oct 22, 2007

By ANNE-GERARD FLYNN

aflynn@repub.com

“It is an open invitation from the Somali community to learn more about Somali culture, the Somali Women’s Project and the collective that is emerging from it and to support the community and enjoy live music, food and performances,” said Andrea M. Assaf of the Walaalo! Somali Community Festival.

The festival, which will feature handmade items for sale, traditional rice and meat dishes and the recitation of poetry, is planned for Saturday at Panache Banquet Hall at 827 State St. in Springfield.

Assaf is artistic director of New WORLD Theater in Amherst that is host for the event being held for the second year.

The theater is also the lead partner for the women’s project that Assaf said looks at art and culture as a “community asset” that can serve as an “economic basis for self-sufficiency.”

Some 60 families from the East African country of Somali were resettled in Springfield in 2003.

The project, funded with grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, has brought together area artists and Somali women in workshops that Assaf said have allowed the women to engage in the process of “asset mapping in the group and understanding their own culture and knowledge as something of value.”

“The women began as participants in the project and are now stepping into a leadership role and guiding its future direction,” said Assaf.

Explaining that “walaalo” means “sisters” in Somali, Assaf said the women, some of whom she described as accomplished sewers, weavers and embroiderers, are in the process of renaming the project and making it into an economic collective called “Walaalo! The Somali Sisters Collective.”

Assaf said this year’s event will showcase more artists and there will be dancing in which “the audience can join in.”

Musicians will include women from the collective, hip-hop artists as well as traditional singers.

Beaded jewelry, dolls and scented oils will be among the items for sale and food will be sold by the plate from a buffet table.

There is no charge to attend but there is a suggested donation of $10 at the door.

Besides New WORLD Theater and the Center for Popular Economics, both at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, other collaborators in the women’s project include the International Language Institute in Northampton; documentary film maker Julie Akeret of the Leeds section of Northampton; Community Music School of Springfield; and Lean on Me Family Center and Light of Restoration Ministries, both in Holyoke.

 By CHINKI SINHA | Observer-Dispatch

UTICA (NY)– MAMI ko talash hai nayi bhashaon ke jaankaron ki. 

If you can understand the statement above, which is written in Hindi/Urdu, then you know you’re needed at MAMI, a local agency that provides interpreter services. 

As the number of non-English speakers in the community grows – fueled by new refugees from Asia and Africa – the demand for interpreters for new languages is growing, according to officials of Multicultural Association of Medical Interpreters of Central New York. 

Often that demand is hard to meet. About 10 percent of the population in Utica is composed of immigrants and refugees. While refugees do need help with language, many immigrants, especially seniors or women, also require help with interpretation while seeking medical help. 

‘We need to find people’
“We are always looking to add more languages,” MAMI’s Director Cornelia Brown said. “We even get requests for Polish. We need to find people who are curious and appreciative. They need to make the commitment of time and energy.” 

MAMI recently started its 18th training session in Utica for those interested in becoming an interpreter. With 14 to 15 students taking the course, it is a good class
size, but not quite enough to maintain a high level of service. 

Not only have they not found a Farsi or a Vietnamese speaker, there is only one Arabic-speaking woman and one Somali speaker in the class. 

The organization also is seeking to add more depth to its existing repertoire of languages, such as Burmese, Arabic and Russian. 

“We would appreciate more,” Brown said. “We are still looking to tutor Burmese.” 

Already the staff is too busy, and resources are often stretched to the limit, Brown said. 

Ali Juma, one of the two full-time Somali/Mai Mai interpreters at MAMI, said it is often difficult to be the bridge, which is how he describes his job. Late-night calls to help women in labor, domestic violence and abuse cases make for a tough job, he said. 

“Most of the time I am so busy,” he said. “We connect the provider and the patient.” 

One patient’s story
One such patient is Jamila Dume. She was pregnant with Abdaqadir in 2005 when she had been lying down outside the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees, writhing in pain. 

A Somali Bantu refugee who came to the United States in 2004, she knew no English and did not know who to ask for help. Then she saw Lul Mohamed coming her way. 

Mohamed, an interpreter with MAMI, helped Dume see a doctor. When Mohamed translated her fears and her pain from one language to another, Dume finally made herself heard. 

She was so relieved, she said of Mohamed’s translating for her. 

In the beginning, Dume had gone to English as a Second Language classes, but hadn’t been able to learn much. Mostly, because she had never learned to read or write in Mai Mai, her native language. 

“I know nothing. I don’t think I can learn anything. I just go to MAMI office,” she said. 

Letters from Department of Social Services, schools, doctors – she takes them all to the MAMI office. 

“We just help them,” Mohamed said. 

Burmese refugees
Another group that requires help with language is refugees from Myanmar, formerly Burma. About 321 refugees from Myanmar came to Utica in August and September, joining many that already arrived. 

Among them is Mar Met. 

While Met is trying to make sense of the new world through bits and pieces of English that he picked up in the camps in Thailand, the meaning is often lost in translation and chaos returns. 

The Burmese/Karen or the Bosnian staff at MAMI are busy around the clock. MAMI currently has one Burmese/Karen staff and four independent contractors, officials said. Yet MAMI is struggling to catch up. 

“We are anticipating high demand,” she said. 

Immigrant’s tale 

Also in demand is Arabic-speaking interpreters. 

Enas Alkhader is from Yemen and is the only Arabic-speaking student in the class learning how to interpret for those seeking help in her community. 

She already has helped neighbors, friends and others make sense of such things as their prescriptions and doctor appointments. But a “he said and she said” approach doesn’t really work very well, she said. When her neighbor Liliana Vidovic told her about MAMI’s training program, she enrolled. 

“They are mistreated, they can’t even say they are in pain,” Alkhader said. “A lot of people just shake their heads … they just take the medication.” 

Most people in her community – Lebanese, Egyptians, and those from Yemen – can speak English. It is the elderly who often need help. 

Then after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, most of the Arab community in Utica dept to themselves fearing bad treatment because of stereotyping, she said. 

“They don’t try to involve themselves,” she said. “We were the victims, too.” 

Alkhader is concerned the class does not have more Arabic-speaking students. She asked MAMI’s Cornelia Brown to promote the program more. The problem is not many people know help is there, or they could join these classes to help out others, she said. 

“We need at least five between Utica and Syracuse,” she said. 

Utica’s high diversity
MAMI offers about 25 languages, but that does not cover Utica’s diversity. 

With attitude toward professional interpreting changing, people are warming up to the idea of having trained interpreters help them communicate instead of friends and family members who often edit out bad news or may make bad decisions. 

“A lot of people are requiring interpretation,” Brown said. “We have all these languages here by virtue of who lives here.” 

Changes in law have also generated more demand. 

Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, any organization receiving federal funding must provide interpreters to speakers of other languages. While MAMI started in 1999, a cut in funding after 9/11 led the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees to consider other avenues to generate revenues. 

So in 2004, refugee center launched fee-based interpreting services. 

Now, the Refugee Center offers about 13 languages, according to Shelly Callahan of the center. 

“We have contracts with numerous providers, hospitals, schools and others for whom we provide between 3,000 to 5,000 interpretations each year,” Executive Director Peter Vogelaar said. 

That’s just an indication of the demand. 

The organization also has added more services, such as 24-hour help for law enforcement agencies, area courts, and for mental-health patients. 

Now, the organization is exploring the option to help in the financial-services area. 

“Refugees need to buy homes,” Brown said.

ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) – Supply and demand are out of whack when it comes to goat meat, according to Curtis Haaland, of rural Aberdeen.“Production is not anywhere near what demand is,” said Haaland, who, along with his wife Carmen Haaland, is trying to help satisfy the growing demand by raising the animals.

One reason is that Hispanic, Somali and other cultural groups, particularly Muslim populations, are growing in the United States – and they favor goat meat.

Professional trade journals say goat meat is the most consumed meat in the world, accounting for almost three-fourths of all the red meat that’s eaten.

The journals say that since 2002, the number of people in the U.S. who eat goat meat has soared 42 percent and that in two years, U.S. goat-meat consumers could hit 22.9 million.

U.S. consumption this year is expected to be 72.7 million pounds. Just four years ago, it was 50.9 million pounds.

Not only do the Haalands raise goats, but they also eat goat meat, which Carmen Haaland described as a lean meat with no marbling or fat. The flavor is nondescript, she said.

“It tastes like whatever you fix it with,” she said.

Her husband said research has shown that goat meat is ideal for diabetics.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service says South Dakota has 5,750 meat goats out of 2.4 million in the nation.

The highest price for goat meat in South Dakota is around 90-95 cents a pound.

The world seems to have forgotten that international humanitarian law applies to everyone – even suspected terrorists.

by Rosa Davis
Saturday, August 04, 2007

Bashir Ahmed Makhtal’s family fled to Canada (via Somalia) in the 1970s in order to avoid the continuing persecution of ethnic Somalis in Ethiopia. He lived and studied in Canada, working for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, before moving back to the Horn of Africa in 2001 to open a clothing business.

Bashir Makhtal’s family say he is a business man, not an Islamic Courts fighter

Makhtal tried to leave Somalia via Kenya because of the fierce fighting in the country but was picked up by Kenyan authorities on December 30 when he applied to enter the country. He was held at the border for three days and then moved to a police station in Nairobi. It took two weeks for Makhtal to gain access to legal advice and even longer to secure Canadian consular access. He was deported to Somalia along with 29 other people picked up on the Kenyan side of the border. Their exact whereabouts are unknown, though Makhtal’s lawyers believe he is in Ethiopian hands and may have been sent to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

This is just one example of how the so-called war on terror gives rise to the illegal detention of dozens of people each month in Kenya. The global “war on terror” has resulted in some serious violations of international humanitarian law, not least the expulsion, deportation, or extraordinary rendition of suspects across the world.

The involvement of US and UK security services in the disappearances of such persons, and the alleged torture and illegal detention of them, have ceased to be reported in this country’s media. It seems British citizens are no longer interested in reading about the scores of people illegally arrested and detained each month, perhaps because these are things that occur with such monotonous regularity.

One example of where the “war on terror” has resulted in the illegal detention of dozens of innocent people on a regular basis is in Kenya. The recent escalation of the conflict in Somalia led to a large flow of asylum seekers seeking to cross the border into neighbouring Kenya.

The war currently being fought between Islamist militias and US-backed Ethiopian and Somali forces has cost countless lives. In January 2007, Kenya closed her border with her neighbour and has routinely patrolled the area ever since, arbitrarily arresting individuals under the guise of “suspected involvement in terrorism”. After arrest, many of these individuals are held illegally for long periods and denied access to their consulates, families, or legal representatives. On at least three occasions, such persons have been placed on specially chartered flights from Kenya to Somalia since January 2007. It is suspected that many individuals are then moved to Ethiopian prisons. Reports have said these people are often tortured while they are questioned by US and UK security services (as well as Ethiopian and Somali ones).

A potential reason for the US interest in this region dates back to the 1998 bombings of its embassies in Tanzania and Kenya by people believed to be connected with Osama bin Laden. It has since been suspected that Somalia offered safe haven to the persons involved in these attacks.

The official line from the US is that its agencies have had access to such persons but were not involved in their arrest, transport or deportation. Richard Kolko, an FBI spokesman, said:

“While in custody of the foreign government, the FBI was granted limited access to interview certain individuals of interest … We do not support or participate in any system that illegally detains foreign fighters or terror suspects, including women and children.”

If this is true, Mr Kolko, then why did the FBI allow these prisoners to remain in such conditions after the agency had access to them? Surely, leaving these people to be tortured is tantamount to being complicit in such actions?

Tuwein Kamilya Mohamed, a citizen of the UAE, was arrested with her boss, a member of the royal family in Oman, along with a policeman from Oman who was serving as a bodyguard. The arrest of the two men resulted in a letter from their consulate to the Kenyan ministry of foreign affairs, after which Kenya quietly put the two on a flight back home. The deportation of Ms Kamiliya was authorised by the Kenyan ministry of state for immigration and registration of persons on the grounds that her presence in the country was “contrary to national interest”. Ms Mohamed was deported on the January 27 flight and has not been located since.

The world seems to have forgotten that international humanitarian law protects everyone. Like it or not, this protection is even afforded to those suspected of serious violations of international law, such as members of al-Qaida. Similarly, it seems to have been forgotten that all countries involved in a conflict must abide by international law, including the law relating to captured civilians and combatants.

Yet it seems countries with US backing routinely flout these rules. And these instances are not isolated: they are horrific, systematic abuses of the system of international humanitarian law and of individuals themselves. The free press should constantly report these abuses until they cease to occur.