Xafladii Maalinta Somaliland ee 18 May iyo Qudbadii Kassim Shiine Wais
Bismilahi Rahmani Rahim; Asalaamu Calaykum Wa Raxmatu-Lahi wa-barakaatu
Let me express my deepest gratitude in talking about this wonderful celebration by thanking the Somaliland Canadian Society of Canada (SCSC) for giving the opportunity to speak to you this evening. To have the chance to share my thoughts with you is a particular honour for me. We are all here to celebrate the achievements of our independence.
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The Somali National Movement (SNM) with their heroic actions led the struggle for our freedom by liberating the towns and cities throughout Somaliland and against all odds defeated the third largest army in Africa at the time, the Somali National Army (SNA). Because of these heroic soldiers we are here today to celebrate nineteen years of independence though we are not yet recognized by the international community, we should not worry that time will come; with our patience and strong will we shall overcome. But, this fight is falling on the next generation of Somalilanders whose time it is to answer that call. I will be focusing my speech on two important elements: 1) the importance of our youth in pursing post-secondary education. 2) Establishing a strong community that can adequately address the issues that faces our community.
The main message that I would like to emphasis tonight is that it is important for all our youth to pursue a post-secondary education. Every youth in this room must know that realizing your dreams is not impossible and that Canada has made it possible for us to realize our dreams. Successive governments have instituted a wide variety of policies that have enabled Somalilander youths to maximize all their abilities. From the Canada National Student Loan Program to the modern social safety net that we hold dear to our hearts. Through the attainment of a post-secondary education, I am an individual who looks ahead and not behind, I am someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, and I am someone who cares about the welfare of people and demand that we as community ensure that we do better. By pursing a post-secondary education it will make a worthy contribution to our lives, by making us responsible citizens. We get to know our history and our culture through education. Education opens our mind and expands our horizons. It can enable us to understand our duties as citizens and encourages us to become productive members of society.
Education is a futuristic character, in that it ensures that one who receives a good education can secure themselves a successful future. Our productivity is increased by acquiring new skills and talents through education. If we keep our hopes high and our aims even higher than we will become a very strong army of bright and talented Somalilanders who when they see wrong try to right it, see suffering and try to heal it and hear of injustice and try to correct it. Former United States Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy put it best when he stated that “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.” We must not close our eyes and be told what we can and cannot do, we must take advantage of all the opportunities that have been allocated to us and make the right choices that will make us active citizens within our community.
Decision making is an integral part of our life. We have to take decisions throughout our lives and sometimes, decision making can be a very tough and challenging process. It can leave us perplexed and often wondering, as to what the right choice are. Education is significant, because it enable us to make the right decisions and avoid the wrong ones.
An educated person is a confident person. Education fosters a positive outlook and allows us to believe in ourselves. Self-belief is the most wanted trait in a human being and education leads us towards relying on ourselves, making us believe that we are ready to take on the world.
The significance of education, for a great part, lies in its ability to open new avenues of opportunity for us. It expands our outlook and teaches us to be tolerant towards other views. An educated person will find it easier to understand a different point of view than the one who is uneducated. Education broadens our mental landscape and is the way forward to greater enlightenment - the ultimate goal of every human in life.
What is the importance of a community? To know the importance of community, we should know what community means. A sense of community is important to establish peace and harmony amongst society. The division of work, feeling of association, togetherness, and cooperation - all these help in establishing a healthy atmosphere filled with unity, harmony and friendship. The sense of a community is also important in fostering a feeling of intra-national as well as international brotherhood. Let us discuss these points, in an absence of which there will be complete chaos in the community.
A sense of togetherness lies in the soul of every individual. This comes from our care and dependency on our fellow beings. From our childhood days to our adulthood, we care for our family members, our relatives, our neighbours and friends. This leads to a need of togetherness among people, which helps in creating a community. We tend to enjoy any festival or social ritual together. This is a kind of community feeling. Without community people will be alone, there won’t be anyone to talk to or to share their thoughts and opinions with.
Community refers to a group of people living in a common geographical location. This group of people obeys some social norms and some common value among themselves. As such, there are so many communities the world over, separated by languages, cultures, or geographical locations. However, they are related to each other in some way or other, thus making entire world a one, single community.
In a community people live by associating with one another. The feeling of association is a common human feeling. This helps in establishing peace and harmony within a community. Without a feeling of association there will be chaos and disharmony in the society or community. Hence, this point plays an important role in making a lively and vibrant community.
I take the view that individuals are not primarily self-centered but rather co-operative, that people are more likely to thrive in communities in which they play a full role and that people have talents and potential that needs to harnessed in order for our youth to fully realise their dreams.
Thus, with all these points in a perfect combination, a community can help in making a peaceful and progressive society. Likewise, any imbalance could give rise to unforeseen problems that are disrupting peace and harmony the world over. That is why as we celebrate this wonderful day we must start thinking about the type of community we want to be in the long-term. We must think about how we as Somalilander-Canadians can provide the services to our people here, while at the same time using the skills and knowledge we have learned here in Canada and help achieve a common value that we all share an independent and internationally recognized Somaliland.
We have to accountable to ourselves because after twenty plus years in Canada we still do not have a strong community organization that has actively engaged in society. Accountability, like electricity is hard to define, but possess qualities that make its presence in a system detectable. It relies on a system of connecting links a two way circuit involving a flow of information that is relevant and timely. In simple terms, accountability is that quality of system that obliges that the participants to their respective assigned and accepted responsibilities to understand that it does matter. We have to be accountable for all the years of our community’s inaction. Our approach can be likened to that of a ‘dog trying to chase its tail’ we have been going on in an endless circle that has lacked purpose and focus and that truly needs to change. Many of you who have come here this evening have only come here to party and have good time. While that is important our community faces big issues that need strong and dedicated people to address these pressing issues. The two most important issues that we face are the Islamic radicalization of our youth and the alarming homicide rate amongst youth in Alberta. “Shoddiness can be found easily, in quantity. The road is smooth and it lies close by. But in front of excellence the immortal gods have put sweat, and long and steep is the way out.”
In closing, I would like to paraphrase a famous quote by St. Francis of Assisi “Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope.” We are here this evening to celebrate nineteen years of independence. We have come a long way and we are at the peak of realizing our dreams for an internationally recognized Somaliland and we must stay the course, we must keep our hopes high and our youth must do their part in pursuing a post-secondary education as means to realizing their dreams and building a strong community that is focused in purpose and principled in delivering the strong and vibrant community that can participate actively in society.
God Bless Somaliland and God Bless Canada
