Somalis in the UK: Our Everyday Heroes

my name is amal ahmed i work as a tv

producer

my name is omar deria i'm a head teacher

my name is maryam i work for evolve as a

liberal practitioner my name is

awaliolad i'm a local councillor in the

london borough of camden my name is dr

mohammed abdi i'm a gp working in south

london

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i was at the guardian it was the time

where uh piracy the somali piracy broke

actually in somalia and as i remember i

was the only somali person at the whole

organization though i was completely in

a different department i was in it i

felt like i had a burning passion to

tell the story of the community here in

in uk and what they feel about what

they've been seeing in the news all the

time

there's almost half a million somalis in

the uk and that's still growing and it's

critical that people of african descent

in particular have somewhere they can

call a home and if we have a place we

can call a home it means that we have to

be able to decide what happens to our

local area i feel that anybody from

every walk of life can be susceptible

and is exposed to exploitation it

doesn't matter your socio-economic

background your religion your faith your

location is something that's prevalent

in many communities and i feel that my

work is prevalent in supporting young

people and decreasing the risk of

exploitation and in theory creating a

safer world

i've always loved education i've always

loved supporting and helping children

i was told when i was a kid

that i wasn't bright enough to go to

university so i should get a job in a

warehouse having come here as a somali

refugee to the uk that i had to learn

the language we had to

learn the culture we had to integrate i

had to go through the struggle through

high school

a levels being told that

you can't make it as a doctor

i made a promise that when i become a

teacher i will accept the positive

influence on children which i didn't get

when i was in school

to me

it's always been a dream of mine to be a

healthcare professional especially

coming from a culture where helping a

community helping a society is so

important i decided that i really wanted

to be a doctor i want to give back to

the community

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from my experience

a lot of people don't actually

understand the somali community they

don't understand

our needs i got into this role because

it was critical that people like me and

the family i come from in the community

i come from

have a voice locally and having someone

like me in a room where

ideas and policies can be

discussed with means that a different

perspective comes along

i know my cultures and i know my people

i don't know what's happening it was so

interesting to see what does the somali

community here in the uk feel about how

the news is portraying their own country

especially for the young generations who

are trying to find their identity

they're trying to find who they are they

feel they're british but at the same

time you know they are somali and

they're embarrassed be in somali because

of what's happening in the news as a

somali person i feel i think

representation is important and merging

the gap in somali culture there is a lot

of taboo and shame with regards to being

in care or social services exploitation

gangs and i feel like there needs to be

more somalis involved in social services

and exploitation to help bridge the gap

and help those who are in need

as a somali teacher i really feel that

i'm a role model for for the younger

generation i speak to parents i speak to

children

i often engage in dialogue with parents

and i give them the information than

they need in somalia which is extremely

important for their for their well-being

you know i'm very fortunate every day

when i go to work i meet people from

different communities especially my

community

the somali community because having

worked as a doctor for many years

i've seen that often people from the

somali community don't get the same care

and it's because of language barriers

stigma we need doctors from our

communities to give back to the

communities that we serve

i believe is so important to tell your

own stories to be that access gate to

your community where you will be the

voice

of your people in every story there is

two sides and that as well we're gonna

bring the link between you and the other

communities people will understand you

more and they will know exactly what's

happening

it's really

really an interesting challenging

intriguing role being a local councillor

you try and transform the council from

being a closed off body to one that

actually

wants to listen and learn and

become a better place

and become a

a positive place for local people and i

think it's very important to be part of

the change that you want to see in the

world and be involved from the inside

and sit at the table to make decisions

teachers play a crucial role in

developing the next generation

if you believe in

children and you nurture them the right

way

the sky is the limit for them growing up

here

and contributing to the society to tell

the people you know are more than what

you see on tv

as a somali person there is more into us

you just need to

give us a chance and listen

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