Imma just state this first. If your going to troll than just stay out.
Alright over the past week or too I have been seriously thinking about this topic. I know countless Somalis here in the states who are attending college and universities. Out of all the ones I know I can’t recall ever having a conversation regarding going back to somalia and helping fix the place up. It honeslty seems like most people have planned out their lives here in the US. I was raised born and raised here since my parents arrived here before the civil war. The only people I know that have contemplated moving back are older folks who want to retire in the “homeland”. My dad is one of them. He wants to retire there in probably like 20-30 years.He travels there like once every two years and has a great time. I use to deny wanting to go on the trips since most of my non somali friends basically just tell me how dangerous it was and etc. but once I got older I started to realize a shit load of Somalis actually vacation there and have a great time.
But anyway we have a whole bunch of men and women graduating universities in western countries like the US, UK,Sweden,Norway,Canada. In the Middle East and North Africa there are Somalis attending universities in Dubai, Saudi, and Egypt. Even in South Africa. A majority of my friends are attending universities here in the states. A lot of stem majors actually. I actually know a guy who recently graduated with a degree in computer science last fall. There is also a Somali dude who works for spacex. My dad was yelling at me to study more often after he found out about that lol.
Somalia is a county that got pretty messed up during the civil war. It needs educated people to fix it up but it seems like a majority of people gave up on the place. After chatting with my friends recently atleast none of them really planned on going back to somalia and helping fix the place up.
All these Somalis becoming engineers, doctors, nurses, teachers, and etc in developed nations and not many are going back to somalia.
I have personally planned my life here in America. I have never even thought about going back and working in Somalia until recently.
How much of an impact can the educated diaspora have on Somalia
Somalia wasn’t the first country to have a massive diaspora in the US with many distinguished individuals.
If the example of other countries teaches us anything, it’s that returning US immigrants are not welcome back home unless they come after retirement or for relatively short tear jerking visits. Basic human emotions - if you were a Somali from Somalia would you simply let a bunch of Americans (you’re all Americans, regardless of your heritage) to simply take over the reins and fix the country up?
How many Italians came back to Italy to assume prominent roles in the country? How many Poles? Nigerians?
Unless there’s a strong messianic element and a massive coordinated return immigration that won’t work.
I only recently started thinking about this because I found out the president of Somalia went to school and worked for a while here in the United States in New York. He ended up becoming prime minister of somalia in 2010 and than president of the place in 2017. He legit came here to acquire skills and went back with the intentions of making the place better.
When I see documentaries about the place it motivates me a little to get educated and find a way to help out the country. I just found out there wasn’t that many hospitals, there isn’t really an ambulance service in most parts of the county. There isn’t a sewage system either. After learning about all this i just think about. How the diaspora can help fix these issues.
Heck Mogadishu is still scarred from the civil war. The place could be a lot better if engineers came through and fixed the place up.
We also supposedly have a shit load of resources that we haven’t accessed yet. In my mind I’m thinking the diaspora can help get access to these resources so they could be useful and help the country out.
You mentioned that Somalis wouldn’t want us “Americans” to go back there. I never really. Thought about that at all. I assumed they would really want us there.
Every country, regardless of how chaotic it is, has what you’d call “elites” and power structures that want to keep things the way they are as they benefit from them one way or the other.
The last thing they want is an American* coming to fix things up.
Case in point - a former Mount Sinai doctor, Detroit-born Dr. Ulana Suprun is the current head of the healthcare ministry in Ukraine. She is doing an amazing job of “fixing up” their broken healthcare system. She’s also under round-the-clock protection from a special local SWAT detachment and allegedly there were several attempts at her life.
Asterisk - once you visit the land of your ancestor you’ll realize how American you actually are.