5 Questions for a Grandfather in Mogadishu
Sep 9, 2010
Abdinasir Mohamed Guled spends five minutes asking a grandfather in Mogadishu five questions.
What is your name and where are you from?
My name is Yusuf Abdinur. I come from the Bari region in northeastern Somalia.
How many grandchildren do you have? How old are they? What do they do?
I have 15 grandchildren, the oldest one is 30 and the youngest is two months old. The grown-up ones do different jobs, three of them are soldiers, two are preachers, five are masons, and two are clerks for a doctor and a Kenyan MP.
Can you describe something wise you learned from your grandfather?
The most memorable and wise idiom I learned from my grandfather was that the pen is mightier than the sword. I have learned this in action and experience in terms of the current situation of Somalia.
How has being a grandfather changed in the past year?
Being a grandfather has changed just like the country has changed because we have experienced grandchildren ignoring their grandfather's words by killing people, joining in the fighting, or dropping out school and taking arms.
If you could talk to a grandfather in New York what would you ask?
If I could talk to a grandfather in New York I would ask: to what extent do your grandchildren accept your words? How do you deal with some of your children committing suicide when they fail exams or see their lives messed up? Do you want your grandchildren to be soldiers? Could you imagine your grandchildren dying for wrong beliefs rather than their country?
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