I recently had an opportunity to met up with Eedo Faay for Eid celebrations weekend as she brought her children over to our family house despite my persistence and pleas to her on social distancing.
(As a law abiding citizen, let me make it a clear that I, in no way, condone any behavior that can bring harm to any fellow human being and I'm totally aware of the social distancing recommendation as a safe and reliable measure to combat the COVID19 virus from spreading. I listen to all the health agencies whether national or global and keep myself updated on worldwide news and even sometimes type wearing my latex gloves recommended by a friend who is a doctor.)
"Eedo, we are fine here" was her attempt in reassuring me and her coming over was what she called a "change of atmosphere for the teenagers anyway". You see, Eedo (aunty for Somali) has her own political and social thought too just like everybody else and we both have discussed, argued, agreed, disagreed and argued about them many times before. She has a very strong personality, resistant and carries the trades of an Iron-lady which I respect immensely and admire.
As we sat down for our customary casariye (tea) and an abundance of macaan {sweets} (Halwo, coconut and the usual mix) in front of us, I opted instead to go raw with the tea and refrained from adding sugar. I needed to focus as the 'Eedo Siyaasad' (Aunt Politics) was here and we both knew we'd be up for some few hours of political gossip which was fine with me; What else is there to do in a Eid afternoon and I had wanted to learn from Eedo Faay for a long time anyways.
The chair was placed, we had the right lighting from the open window and room temperature was perfect.
"Silence is either you acknowledge or you have something special rolled up your sleeves so the president is not quite for no reason. I think he has something rolled up for the mucaaradka (opposition)".
Without a ring of a bell, Eedo Faay withdraw her left jab, potential to cause dizziness and enough to warrant her a lifetime-ban if a referee was here to witness.
Leaning back in my chair preparing to listen what could turn out to be a blockbuster of views, "you mean about the Maritime case with Kenya?" I asked as I sipped my sugar-less dark reddish tea. "What Somali has the nerves to sell another Somalis slice of pie? Do you really think he'd do that and has the balls? Not a chance. This is fake news from the opposition to scratch the Presidents credibility."
Eedo Faay has a her background in the Somali political context from her teenage years as in her own words "I supported the military revolution but then came against it for its abuse." She was the remaining limited number of survivors who had witnessed both worlds of military and post military era. She was the tough cookie in the family who fled many times from her home in Mogadishu but then only to return so that nobody can try to "take my home" she said.
"Eedo what we want is fairness and justice as our people deserve to live in harmony and enjoying their Allah-given wealth. It is unfortunate that we are in the middle of geopolitical conflict due to our position but hey, this is ours and will remain until the very end."
I looked at eedo as she spoke with dignity and I wondered to myself the countless times our emotions may have been misunderstood by the world.
"People complain too much but must get on with their lives as the big reconciliation everybody mentions is a fairytale and will not happen even in the next 100 years. The world is changing everyday and nobody has time to talk about the past." Eedo was firm and polite in her tone and in the choosing of her words and although I did not agree with her, she had her right to speak her mind.
"Everybody was a victim as we have all lostmany relatives and friends and had our properties damaged. I'm are not complaining as we feel the only right thing to do is dust ourselves off and move on as a people. Trust will come back slowly surely as new generations are born."
"We are Somalis, we always managed to survive" she added.
As Asr prayers echoed around the city, we agreed to halt our conversation briefly and pay our obligations.
I knew I had a front seat to a free thinking hard talker who understood her history and knew the challenges that were ahead of her.
Was I prepared? We'll find out after Asr Prayers..
End of Part 1.
Mohamed Hassan
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