Today is Friday 3:12pm, 12 august: 2005, I’m in the open-air section of the
city-café I’m working, that locates on the top of the second floor on the food
court in the park I’m working in, raining has just stop and there is no more
customers neither in the city-café nor in the park and the staff are preparing
them self in side, the place is very quite… a waves coming from the flowing
water running on the grown, the grays become very green, flowers are blooming
and nice smell coming from, the toys in the park become clean and shining as
its a colorful toys, my left side and in front of me there is a big mountains
as it is surrounded around the park and it become very strange nice color, the
sky is cloudless and the sun has just rising again.
The light-blue color from the sky and the sun lights reflecting the colorful
toys in the park and the normal color of the nature with it’s nice smell are
viewed a very good effect of scenery and every thing become new and very
beautiful after the raining...
Pictured above with an Ethiopian friend at a Bazaar
I’m a refugee still… "It doesn’t mean that I’m not alive." being a refugee is
not at the end of the life in the same time it is not easy life it is really
very hard life, but the best is to accept our destiny as a faith so that we can
know what we want? Where we want to reach? And how we can reach! , What so
ever I’m in good mood today as well very happy to share with you some of my
life experience about being refugee in this nice weather, I was and still
hoping “always slave of hope”, thinking, trying, doing my best, and waiting, I
never lose my hope, yes, I’m refugee for some rules of politics about the
country refuge me, but in my personal thoughts I’m not refugee I have to think,
to plane and to reach my goals as long as I’m alive.
Pictured above with colleagues at the Somali section of the Bazaar
I’m one of the urban Somali refugees in Yemen instant one of DAFI students in
Yemen, second year of computer engineering and at the end of first year of
multimedia, which I choose to improve my graphic designs about the web and
all about the Digital programs, as well I’m a provisional coffee made of
course I’m happy my work and feeling important my place in this company I’m
working in.
Pictured above with an Ethiopian family at the Bazaar
I came in Yemen when my country happened the civil-war in 1992 looking for
peace and better life, in fact “we” I get a peace life but it was very
difficult to get a better life in order to improve my self, I faced a very hard
life and I started to work odd-jobs to survive the mean of my life and to help
my family also, my work never annoy me although it was a work new to me I
learned how to cook well, to clean well to live with people not my family nor
my relative and speaking also another language which is very new to me, and I’m
trying to understand what they want and how they want to be done their work.
In my side, I knew what I wanted and dream of my life was always simple, one of
my main dreams was to finish my study some time soon or latter, because I
believe the education as my parents are both university graduators and they had
a good places in Somali government at that time when we were in our country and
we had our life ”beautiful life”.
Sudanese children at the Bazaar, Sana’a, Yemen
I started to write children stories in my mother-tongue, as well teenager
refugee daily life as a dairy book, to make busy my self and to show my self
that still I can do some thing even if I be come a refugee not to lose hope and
not to be tired for this long waiting, I used to go to the humanitarian
organizations and request them to tell me if there is a chance for study cause
I want to finish my study, after I started to improve my English language and
waited my chance, they gave me a chance for job as a volunteer and I worked in
“PAD’ partners for development about three years and I get a good experience
that encouraged me to start helping the refugee people like me even though I’m
also a refugee.. I interested discussing with them sharing with their sadness
and happiness, there I get a vision to write a book speaking about Somali
refugees in Yemen as a volunteer my first chance of study, but my chance of
study it was a dream took along time to become true, as I could not remove my
mind I stayed hoping, hoping and hoping…to see some time I did some thing for
this refugee, in other hand to correct some wrong idea about this refugees
because people around the world they have no idea about the Somali refugees in
Yemen.
Pictured above during a health project in Sana’a, Yemen
To have DAFI chance was like a dream, I do not believe that I’m studying again
with out fear and worry and studying also computer Engineering, the modern
language to understand people in everywhere, in every time and forever. Here I
did my mission and I volunteered my people as I promised before as first step
of my true dream and constructed them a website www.Somalirefugeesinyemen.com
instead of the book because DAFI make that long process short and give me this
chance, I owe to DAFI now and forever and I wish them all the best.
How ever I used to live when I was in my country, and however I become after my
country “being refugee” in this moment I’m very happy my small success cause
“I WANT TO REACH THE MOON AND I AM REFUGEE”
Thanks a lot
Sister Ruqia
Yemen, Sana’a
