I Am A Somali Woman

40 Comments / #SomaliaRising, Somali Women / By

I am the sister of the martyr.

I am the aunt of the potato seller at the local market.

I am the daughter of the local sheikh.

I am the injured of the revolution. The protester. The jailed. The detained.

I am the tortured. The exiled. The kidnapped. The raped.

I am the veiled. The non-veiled. I am a beautiful soul.

I am a Somali woman.

My skin is of ebony and ivory. I am young by spirit. Old by experience.

I am the pregnant. The wife. The single mother. The widow. The godobtiir and godobreeb tool forcing me into marriage as the compensation payment for another clan’s peace settlement.

I am a Somali woman.

Yet I am not a victim. I am a leader.

Not a woman leader. But a leader who happens to be a woman.

I clean up the streets of my nation. I rise up the past. The present and the future generations.

I brought the Nobel Peace Prize to Somalia.

I am a Somali woman.

I speak out for my son at school.

I speak up for my daughter in the madrasa.

I pray for my ancestors and for my older son in jail. I pray for my mother in the hospital.

I speak out for our artists who they keep bombing in theaters and on the streets.

I am a Somali woman.

I speak out for my mind. I am the pulse of the people.

I live in the city. In the town. In the rural areas. In the suburbs. On the mountains. Along the borders.

I am in Garowe. Mogadishu. Afgoye. Erigavo. Hargeisa. Galkayo. Bosaaso. Beletweyne. Badhan. Bocame. And every corner where there is life and sound.

I am a Somali woman.

I am synonymous with strength and victory.

I celebrate sisterhood. I celebrate motherhood.

I boost the economy. I advance the technology. I give life to the community.

Do I deserve to be equal to you?

Yes I do. Because I am a woman.

A Somali woman.

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Pictures of book sales. From the book \’Sounds of Laughter: An anthology of poems from the soul of the Somali woman\’ By Sahra Ahmed Koshin – Author & Poet now available with illustrations in major bookshops in Somalia. Over 60 poems. monologues and expressive writings that celebrate the beauty, wisdom and strength of Somali women.
#Motherhood #Womanhood #Hooyo #Somalia #Art #Poetry

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40 thoughts on “I Am A Somali Woman”

  1. Sahro Ahmed Koshin

    I dedicate this poem to all the Somali women who in my eyes are the true unsung heroes of Somalia. I love you all my sisters, my aunts, my grandmothers, my nieces. My mother.

    Reply
    3. Bahsan Said

      Great to have such a great ambassador, inspirational and talented young women. Zahra we are very proud of you, your poem is touching every women in Somalia. and like the conclusion part, ye we deserve equal treatment of all aspects of life, if not more given the role played. I think today Somalia needs more than ever its women, to bring peace, recovery and economic development because today the female graduates and women scholars constitute a higher percentage of nations elites, if ignore 50% of our populations talents, skills, that means we are also loosing equal percentage of development and progress.

      Reply
    4. Muzhaf Hassan

      A very nice piece of art but don’t u think it needs some editing and re-organizing .

      Otherwise superb! !

      Reply
    1. Ali

      I also do celebrate with you ,and with all my other sisters like: (Sahro Ahmed), and with your womanhood as well. Really I am very happy to have such educated sisters/mothers in our society and it is a very good indication that our female societies are not left behind, but they are struggling to chase our male societies.Let us all encourage our female gender to reach us and stand with us side by side, and not let them stand behind us and very far.I would like to see you in much better situation than this or where are now.An empowerment of our female will really mean a complete development of our country,so if we want to improve our social, economic and bad cultural behaviours of our societies let us educate our daughters, sisters, mothers and so on.

      Reply
  9. Ahmed

    that is extremely important!!!
    sis keep it up this is small to what you can do both physically and mentally .Otherwise am very much sure that reading and writing are more powerful weapons than the nuclear and bombshells, with them you can conquer +ve hearts and treat ill ones

    Reply
  13. fatma

    Waw!!! what a inspiration and beautiful poem. Yes you are the hope of your love one’s in time”s of despair, yes the shield that protects the bomb from the love one’s, the shade that prevents the sun ray’s, the heat that provides warmth in cold season, the rain drops that cool’s of the dust in dry season, yes you have sacrificed for your father, brother, husband, son, kinsmen and any other man in the society in order to make them happy, somal women may ALLAH ( SWT ) protect you and the entire mankind and may you have brighter days ahead of you In sha ALLAH AMIIN. Am proud of you Somali women the most beautiful women on planet earth. Yes am a Somali women somewhere on planet earth making a difference. YES I AM PROUD OF EVERY SOMALI WOMAN.

    Reply
  15. Abdiwali

    This is actually good motivation for all our femal community i hope the rest of our sister will do the same to have strong confidence and can acheive the the objective you need to get .we really aprecaite and this is exactly true.

    Reply
  17. fatma sahra Hussein

    I Am proud of you sis
    now Somalia needs women,
    because we saw what our men are
    capable of doing. and we shall stop to our
    knowledge to this gunmen in order to develop our country. Somalia ragna oma maqna ceelna oo ma qodna.
    yes we are somali women and Am proud of that.

    Reply
  19. Assair

    It really touched me, keep it up Mrs. Sahra. This poem will inspire a lot of young somalia girls. May allah protect you amen.

    Reply
  21. Abdullahi Nur

    Great sister for all in Somalia; I always pray you sahro Ahmed Koshin, because of your tireless voluntarism to vulnerable. Insha’allaah you will live peace today in this world and the nearest Aakhiro; Abdullahi Mohamoud Nur; Nonviolent Conflict Strategies-Researcher-Horn of Africa-Somalia.

    Reply

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