By Hafsa Mursal
MOGADISHU- When it rains it pours was the literal definition of facing the most painful lose she wasn’t prepared for.
Iglan Abdullahi Ahmed a university student then was hit by the reality she never expected to find her self in.
4th February 2019 was indeed a painful day to be alive and still be able to re-live the memory of losing both her mother Shukri Abdullahi Sheikh Ali and her brother Mohamed Abdullahi Ahmed.
A routine morning like any other where got to get ready for her university exams Iglan and her mother to get ready for profiting day at her shop in Mogadishu Mall ended to be a drastic one.
‘’I told my mother that I was leaving and my ride to school had arrived, we said our byes and I left. I did my first paper and was getting ready to sit for my next exam that day, it was odd that I missed many calls on my phone but then thought maybe I should finish my exams then deal with the calls I missed.’’
‘’Like usual my mom used to go to her shop during the morning hours and used get replaced by my brother during the afternoon hours, but that day they both went to the shop together in the morning because mom wanted to go see someone at the hospital after she leaves the shop with my brother.’’
Iglan received a call after she finished her second paper for the day, a call that would change the rhythm of her day, from her neighbour who the broke the news of an explosion happening at the mall her mom owned a shop in. Her life took a complete strange turn, darkness had already stepped in and there wasn’t a light in sight.
‘’That is when I started picturing the darkness that has already started engulfing me, the loss of my shoulder and shield that I really dint know how to handle and the weight of life I never really prepared myself for.’’
Iglan who graduated in 2021 is faced with unemployment and the responsibility of her four siblings adding to the already existing fear of facing life by herself.
A young, educated and unemployed lady opened up about the struggles she is faced taking care of her siblings’ needs and education and requested a job of any kind just so she can be able to at least shoulder off some of her siblings’ needs.
‘’we live in a time where no one really cares of how educated one is but instead who knows who and who is what clan. I have tried to find any job not showing interest to the fact that am educated and find a white collar job instead looked for any job to feed the innocent mouths waiting at home with no one else to look upto. I am requesting the somali people at large and also the government to help get me a job so that I can support my younger siblings some who are already in school and some who just reached schooling.”
Iglan has now landed a new job at the ministry of Youth and Sports after the video of her narrating the loss of her support system and request with the help of her quest in finding a job went viral on social media platforms.
Somali Minister of Youth and Sports Mohamed Bare Mohamud offered her a job after he was tipped of Iglan’s predicament.
Minister of Youth and Sports @MoBareMohamudb has on Tuesday received Iglan Abdullahi who landed a new job at the Ministry after a video of her asking job and standing on the streets of #Mogadishu went viral on social media platforms.#Somalia pic.twitter.com/5AcubNyufe
— SNTV News (@sntvnews1) March 21, 2023
Mohamud received Iglan at the ministry headquarters on Tuesday this week.
Beaming with smile Iglan thanked the minister for giving her employment.
Somalia is among the country’s with the highest rate of unemployment
According to UNFPA data , 67 % of the staggering youth population in Somalia are unemployed.
