When Mohamed Haji was nine years old he was forced to leave his native Somalia for a refugee camp in Kenya. He began learning English and went to school. Haji finished high school in Kenya and two years ago came to the US to start college. After acing his SAT’s Haji wanted to try his hand at college.
“I took some classes at USM to warm up,” said Haji. While “warming up” with classes like physics and calculus might sound like a nightmare to some students, to Haji it was a blessing.
After Haji got his feet wet at USM for a semester he applied and received a full scholarship to MIT to study electrical engineering and computers. “Who knows? I’m thinking about med school after MIT,” said Haji
Haji is happy to be in the US, living in Boston, and enjoying the advantages of living in the city. He goes to clubs like the Avalon and loves girls in bikini’s at Old Orchard Beach. Haji is like any American male using words like “dude” scattered in his conversation, though many memories of Somalia linger for him and sometimes create a culture shock. Haji misses being a part of nature. He finds himself laughing at his friends buying Poland Spring Water.
“In Somalia, you go to the river, a cow is on one side and another man is on the other side and you all drink the water and you’re fine,” said Haji.
He recalls times helping goats give birth. As a child Haji was taught the correct way to assist in a birth.
“The goats head comes out first then you push down and out it comes.”
Haji wants to become a success. He wants to drive a BMW that he bought from his doctor’s salary. He wants the American Dream.
Haji was just one of the 7000 people at the “Many as One Rally” at Bates College in Lewiston. The rally was in defiance of the nearby Neo-Nazi rally calling for the expulsion of all Somalian’s from Lewiston led by the World Church of the Creator. The mayor of Lewiston asked the Somali people in a letter to use discretion for Somali families to continue to move to Lewiston. “We are maxed out financially, physically and emotionally,” wrote the mayor in his letter. The mayor was noticeably absent from either rally. He was vacationing in Florida at the time.
Abdul Said, a Somali immigrant living in Lewiston, said, “He probably feels guilty. That’s why he’s not here,” noted Said who studies radio technology at Central Maine Technical College. He is also planning to go for his bachelor’s degree afterwards.
During the rally supporters wore stickers saying, “Where’s the Mayor?” Many of the speakers asked for his resignation. Later at City Hall supporters and Somalians formally asked the Mayor to resign.
“If the leadership is bad then the community becomes bad,” said Abdul Ali, a Somali immigrant studying computer science at Lewiston Auburn College. Ali came from Somalia to live in Houston, then relocated to Lewiston.
“There is too much crime in Houston and better schools in Maine.”
Said agreed saying, “(Maine) is so much like Somalia; it is so quiet and peaceful. Besides the snow of course.”
The purpose of the rally was to show the communities strength and commitment to the Somali people. Michelle Vazquez Jacobus, a Lewiston citizen and professor of social work and ethics at LAC helped in organizing the rally. Vazquez Jacobus felt this rally was not only to oppose the mayor or the WCOTC but a way for the community to come together.
“Its an avenue to get to know each other naturally,” said Vazquez Jacobus. The 7000 members of the community came out and provided support and togetherness for their Somali neighbors. Governor Baldacci, Sen. Olympia Snowe, and Attorney General Steve Rowe spoke words pledging to aid in becoming one as a community.
Said challenged the mayor’s message of being financially burdened by the Somalians. “25 percent of us work. I am a telemarketer and I go to school.”
Attorney General Rowe said, “Our community is stronger because of its diversity.” His statements were supported by a standing ovation. The supporters ended their rally by marching to the Lewiston Armory one block away from Bates College waving signs and marching to beating drums.