By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN | September 6, 2016 | Mogadishu – What has been going on in Somalia is truly historic, and it has been on my mind ever since it began. It is impossible not to be tantalized by the potential of these events to change the course of Somalia’s history. What’s important, however, is that we focus on what this means to the people. The media seems too caught up in spinning the facts to pay attention to what’s important on the ground. Just call it missing the desert for the sand.
When thinking about the ongoing ethnic strife, it’s important to remember three things: One, people don’t behave like car salesmen, so attempts to treat them as such are a waste of time. Car salesmen never suddenly set up a black market for Western DVDs. Two, Somalia has spent decades torn by civil war and ethnic hatred, so a mindset of peace and stability will seem foreign and strange. And three, hope is an extraordinarily powerful idea: If authoritarianism is Somalia’s curtain rod, then hope is certainly its faucet.
When I was in Somalia last August, I was amazed by the variety of the local cuisine, and that tells me two things. It tells me that the citizens of Somalia have no shortage of potential entrepreneurs, and that is a good beginning to grow from. Second, it tells me that people in Somalia are just like people anywhere else on this flat earth of ours.
So what should we do about the chaos in Somalia? Well, it’s easier to start with what we should not do. We should not let seemingly endless frustrations cause the people of Somalia to doubt their chance at progress. Beyond that, we need to be careful to nurture the seeds of democratic ideals. The opportunity is there, but I worry that the path to peace is so poorly marked that Somalia will have to move down it very slowly. And of course Mogadishu needs to come to terms with its own history.
Speaking with a up-and-coming violinist from the small Suni community here, I asked her if there was any message that she wanted me to carry back home with me. She pondered for a second, and then smiled and said, logontes y fuelo, which is a local saying that means roughly, “A huge part of real love is constant forgiveness.”
I don’t know what Somalia will be like a few years from now, but I do know that it will remain true to its cultural heritage, even if it looks very different from the country we see now. I know this because, through all the disorder, the people still haven’t lost sight of their dreams.
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Sources: The New York Times
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Xafiiska Wararka Qaranimo Online | Mogadishu, Somalia
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