Sweet Somali Banana

Ever since I was little innocent Omar at my early school years, poor Somali refugees symbolized misery to me; I remember seeing them in person in the streets of Jeddah and Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

I later saw many poor people in Syria bravely endure their disabilities, but the disabilities that many Somalis suffered from were, in most cases, far much severe and challenging.

Back then, in Jeddah, Somali banana was without a doubt little Omar’s favorite fruit. It was beautifully yellow, easy to peel off, soft and simply tasted good; only one should never toss its peel on the ground!

At home, I remember that I once didn’t want to complete eating the food in my dish, so my parents, as yours perhaps did, reminded me that people in Somalia are starving and we should never throw away food.

From time to time, I felt guilty to eat while people are starving in hot dry Somalia. I knew their suffering couldn’t be put to an end by money only, as there were boxes to gather monitory donations for them in every commercial center in Jeddah. After all, there must be a reason why their misery carries on.

At school, I had a lucky Somali classmate; he was a hardcore soccer player and one of the best players of our school team, he was well built, strong and peaceful. One time, I was standing in our schoolyard during PE class; I was supposed to be playing and running, but I was daydreaming when he unintentionally kicked a heavy, almost standard, soccer ball straight to the area between my chest and stomach; Man! It was a missile, so tough and painful that I hardly could breathe. We were at our third or fourth grade when that accident occurred. He was tough, even his accent and pronunciation of letters was tough. Anyway he was far much luckier than most of his Somali citizens to be able to attend a private school.

Nowadays, I feel that Somalia is associated in my mind with an odd mix of something sweet and yellow, classmates, a sweet friend of mine, misery and severe disability. I wonder if poor Somali people were able somehow to enjoy the taste of their banana.

Sadly, the misery of Somali people continues while I’m writing this post; it seems to be developing, as if they haven’t suffer enough already.

Some international organizations are trying to provide humanitarian aid; I wouldn’t praise any of them, make no mistake about it, but still I would like to say “God bless you” to everyone who is faithful to humanity and acting upon good intentions to help the others.

I pray for every good person, and I still praise the Lord for the sweet Somali banana. It is a [great] blessing.