Hodan is nine. She lives with her grandmother because her parents work in a different region. They send money when they can. Hodan’s job is to fetch water.
Every morning, she walks two hours to a well.
She carries a yellow plastic container on her back. She walks back. Two hours. Every day.
On the walk, she invents songs. Today’s song is about a pair of blue sports shoes she saw once at a market.
The shoes had a small bow. She has never owned shoes with a bow.
She wants blue shoes. That is all. Not peace. Not an end to drought. Just blue shoes with a bow.
Hodan is not a statistic. She is a nine-year-old who sings about shoes.
Aadmi means human
This is a series of short stories by journalist Wilo Abdulle about ordinary Somali people – and about what it means to be human.
When the world looks at Somalia, it often sees only war, famine, pirates, clan killings, statelessness, displacement. Those things exist. But they are not the whole truth. They are not even most of the truth.
That version was written by the hunters.
War does not turn people into something else. It forces them to live ordinary lives in extraordinary circumstances. They still eat. Still teach. Still hope. Still sing songs for murdered leaders from other countries. The hunters’ stories never tell you that.
This is the lion’s story.
Inta libaaxu wax qorista ka baranayo, sheeko kasta waxaa sheegan doona ugaarsadeha. Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter.
Read the story behind the Aadmi Stories:
Read the next Aadmi Story:
