Sunday- December 30, 1990, a civil war erupted in Mogadishu, the gunshots were widening across the capital city. The killings and looting that were taking place troubled many people. Hopes for a better life faded and people were running for their lives. Some of these people fled to the Northeast States, which later formed the State of Puntland.

"In response to the above miserable condition, in 1998 the North East Regions' community formed an autonomous state called Puntland State of Somalia, in the hope of addressing the problems of insecurity, poverty and to build tentative administration and civic society organizations," according to the Puntland five year strategic plan. Furthermore, the report added, "The area was dubbed the subtle nickname of 'Gaari-waa' an expression, which literally meant a remote place with no access to roads."

Assess and observe current situations of educational need, access to education for girls and boys, public health needs and human development in Somalia.

Somali Family Services coordinated and helped establish a sister relationship between Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC) and PSU.   MCTC helped to raise enough money to give 34 students at PSU a $300 scholarship. This money will cover a year's worth of tuition. While we were in Puntland we participated in a celebration at PSU to sign the sister agreement and to present PSU with $4,000 in scholarship money.   As a return gesture we received a gift of a camel from PSU.

I had an opportunity to sit with the scholarship committee in order to observe the process of the scholarship and to hear students' stories. Each and every student's story was unique and heart breaking. For instance, one scholarship recipient stated, "My mother passed away when I was six years old and my father is a nomad. I live with my aunt but she cannot pay my college tuition, which is $30.00 per month, $300.00 per year to attend Puntland State University Garowe Campus. I have the will and the courage to pursue my higher education but I don't have the means.

The education situation in Somalia is very desperate. There are many families in Somalia who want to educate their children, but cannot afford to pay school fees, which is sometimes less than $3.00 per month for Primary schools, less than $5.00 per month for secondary school, less than $40 per month for college or university.   When we announced that we are awarding scholarship to 34 students to attend Puntland State University, Garowe Campus, 211 students applied. Unfortunately we could only award 16% of the applicants and we had to turn away 84% of the applicants.

 On July 8, we attended the high school graduation ceremonies at Gambol School in Garowe.   The graduating class had 32 girls and 40 boys.  The school has about 300 girls and about 400 boys. They had songs and skits to encourage kids to consider higher education.   One song was about "put down the guns", "try peace".

I had a chance to meet with an internally displaced person (IDP) from Mogadishu. She started with I was born in Mogadishu, my father was born in Mogadishu, and my grandfather was born in Mogadishu. I never thought that I would leave the capital city of Somalia and live in Garowe, Puntland.  We lost everything that we had in Mogadishu ; we lost our homes, cars, businesses, friends and status.  Some of my family members were killed in Mogadishu and my fourth child was born in a truck on my way to Puntland.

When she came to Puntland she had neither money, clothes, car, job nor home. She started her life from scratch; and now she has a home, car, and her children go to school. "I was in the first group to graduate" from Puntland State University, formerly known as Puntland Community College, as an accountant and now I work for an international humanitarian organization based in Garowe, Puntland and I make good money.   She is only one of the strong, dynamic, smart and hard working Somali women we met. She asked me how the Somalis were doing in Minnesota.

People:

Minnesotans are a welcoming society, but it is a very cold state compared to Somalia (Minnesota Nice). The state has 10,000 lakes and the state of Minnesota has the largest Somali Diaspora community in the West. Why Somalis preferred to come to Minnesota is a common question among my Minnesotan friends, classmates, coworkers, business partners, colleagues and teachers.

Many immigrants are in a difficult position because they are sharing their cars, homes, food and money with the most recent refugee arrivals. Furthermore, Somali communities in the United State are under pressure to support families back home or in refugee camps. These are the challenges that many Somalis in Minnesota have to deal with, but they are still better off compared to those who live in the refugee camps or in Somalia.

Many children in Somalia are not able to go to school because the parents cannot afford the school fees which is less than $5.00 a month; whereas some Somalis who live in Minnesota spend close to $4.00 a day on a Starbuck's grande latte (coffee), "So instead of fighting to the death, they 'fadhi ku dirir.' They order shots of espresso, sit across coffee tables from one another, and hurl rhetorical ordinances for hours at a time. They are Somalis coffee shop warriors." According to Doug McGill who wrote an article titled "The Coffee Shop Warriors of Minnesota-Somalia."

Travel Experience 

When we were stranded in Dubai by an overbooked plane to Somalia, we found out that our seats on the next plane were made available when the President heard we would not be able to get to Somalia.  He left one of his sons and two of his cabinet member's sons in Dubai so that we could be able to get into Somalia.

When we reached Bosaso, we waited while the President got off and greeted his followers.  Then we got off to a big reception as the President. We were taken to International Village Hotel and we were fed and able to freshen up a bit, then we went to the Bosaso port for a tour.   After the tour we went to a big welcome dinner with several of the Ministers of Puntland, such as Minister of Education, Minister of Local Government and Minister of Fishery and Port.

7/5/06 Wednesday – After breakfast we left to visit East Africa University.  Then we headed for Garowe, which is about six hours away.   On the way to Garowe we stopped at the Arma Police Academy.  Both are wonderful institutions.  Both have recently had their first graduating classes.   From there we again left for Garowe. We reached Garowe in early afternoon. Garowe is the capital city of Puntland, Somalia. We had a dinner with the Minister of Education and Minister of Finance.   The Minister of Finance reassured our team that we would have adequate security during our stay, and he also stated that, "Puntland is stable and safe compared to other parts of the country." He joked we understand that the number of Somali people who live in Minnesota is more than those who live in Garowe, the capital city of Puntland.

Culture 

I realized that human beings have similar cultures and values, but how they interpret different things can be quite amazing. When we were visiting schools in Puntland, Somalia, we were surprised to see boys sitting on one side of the room while the girls were sitting on the other side of the room. Even if there were a married couple in the same classroom, they would be sitting separately. I remember one person from our delegation from Minnesota saying "It is very funny to watch, they are in the same room yet they are separated."

It was more surprising to me when I read that the US Education Secretary was in favor of public schools creating separate classrooms for boys and girls. Tom Carroll, Chairman and founder of the Brighter Choice Charter School for Boys, "Paradoxically, by educating them separately,' he said, 'we were able to do much to reverse the gender gaps that typically leave girls behind in math and boys behind in literacy." Maybe it will be a good idea to invite Puntland's Minister of Education to Minnesota; it is possible that we could learn lessons from each other.  Puntland can try separate rooms for girls and boy, while Minnesota can try putting the boys and girls in the same room, but on separate sides of the classroom.

Therefore, it's my hope that people who read this article take five lasting thoughts and understandings:

First, the Somali people have endured a continuous cycle of civil war and social conflict as warring factions have struggled for power over the past two decades. This instability has killed or displaced millions of Somalis devastated the country and threatened the very fabric of Somali education.

Secondly, Korea has transformed itself from an agrarian society to an industrialized nation. The government has been making efforts to upgrade living standards through vigorous reforms in education. " South Korea overwhelmingly invested in education from pre-schools to research institutions." I believe this is an important "road map" that Somali people and Somali Government should take in order to move from an ill practiced clannish and ancestral mentality, to a prosperous and building nation.

Thirdly, the United States of America, along with other international communities, tried to help Somalia in 1993. On one side, Somalia received a great opportunity; however, it missed its chance.  That chance came when the most powerful nation in the world led the rest of the international community to intervene in the crisis in Somalia. On the other side of the coin, Operation Restore Hope was a successful humanitarian mission. International humanitarian organizations and media reported that half a million Somalis died from famine in 1992 and hundreds of thousands were in danger of dying. Early in 1993 the mission was able to stop the mass starvation in the country.

We need one more "Operation Restore Hope" that will combat and stop the wide spread educational famine. Thus, I believe the time has come to act and act together to give Somali education a second shot, but this time our global citizens to citizens has to take the lead and the focus should be on education. Let our global citizens take the lead and governments will follow.

Fourth, "Yes, you say, but this is so exhausting. Give me a break. Who has the time for all this" global humanitarian crisis? Puntland State University is facing a crucial period of reconstruction and growth, and it is very important that the Somali Diaspora and international communities lend their support. It's one of the unique higher institutions that are devoted to educating Somali people, regardless of their clan, state, gender, age and social status.

Fifth, Puntland State University (PSU) has its roots entrenched in the patriotic and humanitarian joint efforts of KAALO (local NGO) and Diakonia of Sweden that have been instrumental in providing much needed financial support, physical structures and equipment. PSU has become the fastest growing institution of higher learning in Puntland.