Somaliland Obstacles

Growing up in Somaliland, I have witnessed some obstacles that Somaliland faces.  Somaliland faces this barriers still being unrecognized country.  There are three big issues that affect Somaliland a lot: Water shortage, Chewing and Tahrib.

 The first problem in Somaliland that I think is the biggest obstacle is shortage of water.  Hargeisa is split into like six regions where half of those regions are able to get tap water but instead they have to use extra money to get water by water trucks and donkey carts.  When water is pumped from the ground, there are some places that the pumps are not powerful enough to supply the water.  The government always tries to fix these kinds of problems but they can’t because they don’t have the materials for this issue.

            The next issue that is the next biggest problem in Somaliland is chewing qat.  In Somaliland, around seventy percent or more of the population chew qat.  Here is why chewing qat is a problem; most people’s wages are not that high and when they spend half of the money on qat.  When they spend that money on qat, what is left for the family?  Women in this society always look after the children so they don’t have time for a job.  Men end up losing their job because qat makes you oversleep so who is going to provide the money for the family?   Women are forced to go work so she can provide the three meals only for the family because her husband is laid off.

            Tahrib is also a big problem that affected mostly the teenagers, Tahrib only exists in Somaliland and maybe some other countries in Africa.  Tahrib is leaving your home country and going mostly to European countries because there are no enough available jobs in your country. When teenagers graduate and don’t find a job, they got so depressed and frustrated because they were studying for about fifteen years and then they are not able to find a job.  It is not only the teenagers who go on Tahrib but also others.  It is a horrible experience; people who go on Tahrib take boat at Berbera and go to Yemen’s border.  Once they reach Yemen’s border, they continue their journey by walking through a desert in order to get Libya.  How to pass Libya’s border is really difficult and that is the place where most people are arrested or taken as slaves. 

            If I were the future leader of Somaliland, I would change the rules as they are now.  First, I will make sure that people get job and I will increase the availability of jobs in Somaliland.  Second of all, the water shortage must be fixed.  There is enough water in Hargeisa but there are no powerful pumps that supply water to every place so those pumps will be brought here.  The qat issue can’t be easily fixed because most people addicted to it.  I would have limited the amount of qat that gets in each day and then it will be re evaluated afterwards.

An Overview of the Examination Quest

As soon as we passed the Ethiopian checkpoint, there were no more pumps in the road.  I spent so much time in the bus gazing through the window and bewildered with environment.  My eyes were tired of watching the new different nature and then fallen asleep.   I was able to sleep because of the big bus and a nice smooth road.  The big problem in the bus was the road is going around a mountain and most people will throw up.

            First time in my life I have experienced culture shock.  We stopped for a lunch break and we got out of the bus.  First time I have seen where people are dressed differently and also where women don’t cover their hair.  Food is different there, how is it cooked and the type of the food.  The first issue that appeared as a problem was communication.  Most waiters didn’t speak the international language and I only few words in Ethiopian language.

            When we got to Addis Ababa, I even experienced more cultural shocks than I did before.  Addis Ababa is a big city, can’t compared with Hargeisa.  You could the big roads and a lot of traffic jams in there.  We got to the hotel after an hour in Addis because of the jams.  The hotel we stayed in Addis was so much better than the other one we stayed the other night, good toilets and water was not an issue there but the other hotel, it was a big problem.

            The SAT day was November the third, we were well prepared.  We went to the university an hour before the exam was going to be started because the teachers thought we will be late somehow or anything could happen.  The exam lasted about five hours or so but that my eyes caught so many cheating going around, in class and also when we take breaks.  After the exam, relaxation appeared.  We left Addis early in the morning and ate a good dinner that where the teachers paid the money.  Next day, we were back to Abaarso.