February 21 st is a day devoted to celebrating mother tongue all around the world. Therefore, we also arrange an event at Hargeisa Cultural Centre each year to come together and talk about the importance of Mother tongue and the role it plays in our identity.

Ismaaciil C Ubax, the project manager at Hargeisa Cultural Centre was leading the first part of this event giving the audience a brief background about how this day became significant. Bangladesh fought for recognition for the Bangla language in February 21 st 1948. Pakistan who was separated into east and west had fought after the government of Pakistan declared that the sole language of Pakistan will be Urdu which upset the east. The
east had more population than the west so they argued that Bangla must be the sole language as well. A civil war broke out as a result. Since it was a tragic event inspired by the recognition of mother tongue, February 21 st became the international language day. UNESCO also officially announced it in November 17 th 1999.
Mawlid Adan Biixi began this event with speaking about the richness of the
Somali language. He took examples of words that have multiple meanings and that can be used in different contexts. He also mentioned how there are names for certain things and sub-names as well because our language is rich. An example of such things is Waran. Waran is Spear in Somali but it also has other sub-names such as Hooto, Eello, Xalaash, Qaash and Garmaqaate. Maliid continued taking more examples and tracing back to the original meanings of some Somali words.
Awale Ismail Saleban was our second guest speaker who prepared a poem
for this occasion. The poem was about education and the doors it opens for
people. His poem inspired learning and that included learning our mother
language also.
Dr. Jama Musse led the second part of the event calling Mr. Saed Jama on stage. Mr. Saed is a creative writing teacher and has written many short stories as well.
He shared some of his stories as a motivation for everybody and to also show his contribution to the Somali language. Mr. Saed concluded his speech by saying “We are the only ones who can uplift our mother language and give meaning to it”

The last part of the event was dedicated to Mr. Mohamoud Sheikh Ahmed
Dalmar’s book Irdho.The book metaphorically tells a story about the Somali
language migrating to London. The Somali language screams and shouts for help. It seeks asylum saying that Somali people are here and it followed them therefore wants to be granted asylum so it can stay and live in London.
Overall, this event was successful; there was also a singer who sang a few Somali songs. All the guest speakers presented something important and special for this mother tongue occasion. The purpose of it was to honor our mother tongue and inspire the youth to value it so the upcoming generations will also continue
strengthening it.

The event of Qaraami songs was different from the regular events that usually happen at Hargeisa cultural centre.

The night was dedicated to Qaraami songs and understanding what Qaraami really means. The guests of the night who were chosen to educate people about what Qaraami is; were Caabi Mire, Marduuf, Buulo and Mohamed Burco.

Dr. Jama Musse Jama started off the event with defining what Qaraami Music is

Jama said “Qaraami are songs with certain tunes (Laxan), Just because a guitar is played for a song does not mean it is Qaraami” After Dr. Jama’s short introduction, Caabi mire who is a well-known singer and his crew started the night and played a series of fifteen Qaraami songs.

The types of Qaraami songs the crew played were Aroor, Beerdillaacshe, Carwo, Hayaan, Madiix, Iskushuban, Kaar, Laac, Nugul, Raaxeeye, Riftoon, Subcis, Rogaal, Xaafuun and Murug. The audience was given a chance to sing as well to keep them engaged in the event.

This was a very Interest event people enjoying the music at the same time learning more about what they were listening. We hope people enjoyed the night and are able now to tell which songs are Qaraami and which are not.

On Tuesday night 7:45pm February 19 th, an event held at Hargeysa Cultural Centre assembled a group of professionals who discussed Adolescent Health in Somaliland. This event took place with the help of joined young activists, different organization workers, health professionals and government officials. They spoke about how different factors such as income and education affect Adolescent Health and how they are interdependent on each other.
The event was not held only to inspire Somaliland youth to seek medical help when needed but also to highlight the lack of medical check-ups and counselling that are accessible for the youth.
The guest speakers also touched on the importance of staying healthy and preventing diseases in the first place. Mohamed Dhamac, a member of Sonyo said “a common disease which is prevalent among youth globally is HIV/AIDS and a good way we have always prevented it is marriage”.Other guest speakers also suggested effective ways of avoiding or living with other
types of diseases.
Abdiqani Abdillahi spoke about the adolescence period and the various health related issues that are commonly observed at that this stage of human growth. Important worth mentioning here, is the need to seek out professional health help which, as Abdiqani pointed out, will be disastrous if not taken seriously. The discussion then took another turn with Mohamed
Dhamac, discussing the importance of maintaining a healthy youth and how it’s of immense importance to have a healthy youth as it will lead to healthy community as rightly pointed out by Dhamac.
Our third speaker was Dr. Hamda Abdirahman, a Psychologist and a lecturer who spoke about the mental health of youth. The message she was sending is that, young people want to be heard. Because traditionally we (Somalis) do not consider children’s opinion that much which as a result can cause them to mentally suffer. She suggested that we talk to
children about their opinion and personal problems so they won’t get depressed and end up becoming mentally ill which can actually cause them taking their own lives. Poverty and healthcare was another major issue touched upon in the event and Dr. Barkhad Hussein brilliantly explained the relationship between poverty and healthcare accessibility and he shared a touching story about a young boy who suffered from diabetes. He told us the boy’s journey from middle school to university and the obstacles
he faced on the way. What was deeply sad about this story is the fact that the young boy struggled to pay for his medication and even taking them while in school. “Double 2 Burden” is the term he used to describe the boy’s situation. Dr. Barkhad said, “This is how I will transmit my message, and it is for you to get the point out of it.”

– Dr. Mariam spoke last before the discussion group. Mariam asked the audience “where
do you go when you need medical help?” Then she explored different options people
normally have and what they do instead. Dr. Mariam highly recommended people to go
to pharmacies or hospitals and seek counselors to maintain a good health. The event was
concluded with engagement and thoughts by the audience whose discussions centered
around;

a) The fact that Somaliland Youth doesn’t have a special healthcare system and
b) people/ government’s perspective of youth and the Psychology of adolescence.
The main idea behind this event was for people to hear and learn from each other then spread their ideas to the community especially to those it concerns. They concluded that Adolescent health needs special attention and raising public awareness of the issue. Achieving this would also improve not only youth’s well being but the economy and education of Somaliland.

A group of female doctors arranged the event on Sunday night March 3^rd where they spoke about Breast Cancer and how common it is in our country particularly among women. Breast Cancer is globally the second most common type of cancer. A lot of people die from it due to delay in seeking medical advice but in the case of Somaliland, Women are shy about reaching out for help which as a result causes early preventable deaths. Breast Cancer is not a disease that happens to women only but men can get it as well although it is estimated that only 1% of men get it.

Dr. Saynab was leading this event and introduced the importance of this topic and how they created their team. “We decided to initiate this team in 2015 in the hope of helping people to be aware of this disease but we officially started in March 3^rd 2016” Dr. Saynab also talked about the causes of breast cancer. She said “Some of the things that cause cancer are prolonged take of birth control pills, Alcohol, Cigarettes and Qat. It could be hereditary too”

Dr. Shukri Daahir spoke next about the percentage of women affected by Breast cancer in the world. She reported that “17.5 million women get cancer per year and 9 million of them die. 1.7 million get breast cancer” Dr. Shukri also mentioned that in every 182,000 women in America 26% of them get breast cancer so it is pretty serious. Dr. Shukri touched on how there is a good medical help in America. The survival rate is very high. However, in the case of Somaliland, women are not as worried as they should be about their health. “Part of it is lack of health awareness and the fact that Chemotherapy is not available in Somaliland. Another obstacle on the way is using herbal medicine which in terms of cancer is not useful at all.”  Dr. Shukri also classified the areas in Africa affected by breast cancer into three different parts. Central Africa, South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa. She said that breast cancer is most common in the Sub-Saharan area because it is where women die at home mostly.

Dr. Sahra Caydiid listed the symptoms of breast Cancer. She said “if you see these signs then you should immediately contact a doctor. Symptoms are Change in your normal breast color, change in size, unusual hardness of the breast, swelling, blood or milk leaking from your breast, severe pain, and laceration as well as skin holes.”

Lastly, Dr. Afnan spoke about the treatment of breast cancer in which she categorized into four stage treatment. She said “When the tumor is only in the breast and has not spread to any other place then we cut out the breast. If the tumor reaches the muscles around the breast and the glands, we also cut it. However, when it spreads to the entire body, there is nothing we could do about it.” Therefore Dr. Afnan highly recommended that we (both men and women) do checkups every now and then.

This event was very important for it was an eye opening to our community and will eventually save lives. It was a motivation to those who are too shy to come get help and enlightening to those who don’t understand the risk they are taking by dealing with breast cancer at home. In the end of this event, the audience was given a chance to ask questions and all three doctors answered them. We had ninety people come to the event twenty six of them males and sixty four females. What we hope people to take away from it is that breast cancer is a life threatening disease and should be dealt with in hospitals and to also prevent it by staying healthy and checking yourself up regularly.

3^rd December marks the international day of people with limited ability. In the occasion, Yoonis Cabdiraxmaan, a student at the New Generation University, Hargeysa, with a limited sight, gave a public talk on the situation of the people with limited ability (physical or otherwise) at the Hargeysa Cultural Centre focusing especia.lly on educational possibilities and challenges.

Yoonis Cabdiraxmaan shared with us the challenges a young person with limited ability faces daily and the their future.  Yoonis said: “When I first wanted to join the field of journalism, I faced some challenges. I remember people telling me ‘how can you get any benefits from this field when the ones with sight couldn’t get any’ so I managed to get a scholarship after paying for the first month of the school by myself. My own family couldn’t agree with me in the first place to go studying in the university’’.

He continued “The massage I want to pass on tonight is ‘people with disabilities are part of the community and they don’t belong to stay home,  they deserve to  play their part in the community as well, they need to participate in the politics, I want to be able to  contribute in the politics of my country despite my disability’’.

President of the New Generation University, Mr. Cabdiwaasac, also gave an enriching speech to honouring today’s people with limited mobility as well as to Yoonis Cabdiraxmaan, by saying “We are willing to offer Yoonis to do his Master’s degree with us”