Hiiraan Online
Friday April 21, 2017
Gourmet camel cheese, musical history, youth advocacy and more. After a 3 year hiatus, The 4th TedXMogadishu talk held in Somalia continued to offer proof that the war-weary capital is on the path to recover and even normalization.
TEDx is a spin-off from the popular TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) talks in California, with one major caveat, the participants must organize the event. The aim of any TED talk is to “spread ideas”, in the form of short, powerful talks. There have been TEDx events in Baghdad, Kabul, Tripoli and Hanoi, cities that have been brought to their knee’s from the ravages of war and an in the process of rebuilding.
This year’s event held in Peace Hotel, the site of a devastating twin suicide car bomb attack by Al-Shabaab militants just 4 months ago.
The theme of this year’s talk was “ Iska Wax U Qabso” when translated it means “Do it for yourself”, a message to Somali’s to actively get involved to create a better life for themselves and future generations. It emphasizes self-reliance but also cooperation with one another. Social media users used the hashtag #iskaawaxuqabso to carry the TedXMogadishu message to the thousands of people who watched the event live via internet stream.The event was also streamed live to the Ifo Camp in Dadaab with the help of Film Aid Kenya.
This year’s speakers included Samira Mohamed Abdirahman, a trained chef and baker who learned to make cheese from scratch in Sweden. She returned to Somalia only to find that there was only imported cheese and butter. Samira took it upon herself to fill the void and began working with local farmers to source the milk that she uses to make her cheese, butter and cream products. Recently, she built a production facility in Mogadishu and a distribution network that provides cheese to many of the local restaurants. She told the crowd that one of the greatest benefits of her business venture is that she is a job-creator.
Vik Sohonie, one of the two non-Somali speakers at TedXMogadishu is a musical historian. As the founder of Ostinato Records, he searches the world for the “music of misunderstood cultures” and then digitalizes the music for preservation. His work as taken him to Haiti, Cape Verde and now Somalia. After digitalizing close to 10,000 original recordings from the 70’s and 80’s, Vik has created the largest anthology of Somali music.
"The story of Somali classical tapes were dispatched to Djibouti and Northen Somali to preserve them”
Medical Doctors Mohamed Yusuf and Lul Mohamed spoke vividly of what it feels like to be on the front lines of war and disease.
The talk hosted a number of creative minds who spoke of how through their individual feats and efforts are changing the landscape of Mogadishu and Somalia as a whole. Make-up artist Maryan Ahmedey who stopped receiving formal education at age 10 is now the leading make-up artist in Mogadishu with a long list of clients and a full schedule. Nasra Hussain Ibrahim, just 18-years old is a female auto mechanic, proving that she is breaking gender barriers in Somalia in a city limited employment opportunities. Abbas Siraji, the youngest member of the Prime Minister’s cabinet as the Minister of Public works detailed his rise from a student in the largest refugee camp in the world, to a Member of Parliament and now a Minister.
Although the security situation in Mogadishu remains to be precarious, gatherings such as TEDx reveal a glimmer of hope and spreads inspiration along with ideas.