New Opportunities For All

New York City, the most populated city in America, is often looked to as a pinnacle of American achievement; with towering skyscrapers amongst thousands of businesses, it is home to many people and places that have defined American identity since its founding as New Amsterdam. It is also a city of refuge; more than 225,000 asylum seekers have arrived in NYC in just the past four years, and they make up an essential and vital part of what lets the city continue to function.

One of those refugees is Mohamed Osman Mohamed, who was born in 1991 during the Somalian Civil War. His mother passed when he was 5 years old, and his father only 8 years later: while he was taken in by his aunt in Mogadishu, his polio-afflicted younger brother was other siblings were taken by another family member in a neighboring village. After Ethiopia invaded Somalia, his family was forced to flee to Daadaab, Kenya’s largest refugee camp.

According to Mohamed, “Life in Dadaab was boring and the days were very long. Day, after day after day. People watch their life slipping away before their eyes, watch their kids slip into the same numb awareness of perpetual nothingness. When there are no choices left for you, you lose the power to decide what your tomorrow will look like.”

Mohamed arrived in JFK as a teenager with his aunt - his little brother and relatives still in Somalia - and instantly noticed the cold. It was a snowy day, and the ground and buildings were covered. Despite wearing a coat, he shivered and struggled to communicate in English. He said that “Everything was foreign—I remember trying to speak a language I barely knew to find the toilet. When I asked the airport workers, they pointed to the restrooms, but I kept looking elsewhere, thinking: “I don’t need a place to rest! I just need a toilet to use.””

Mohamed enrolled in Indiana University at Bloomington, taking 15 credit hours per semester while working 30 or more hours a week. Because of his rigorous schedule, he struggled to socialize with his peers. Yet he was awarded a Washington Leadership Program scholarship to study and intern for a semester in Washington, D.C. He said it was the first time in America that he didn’t have to worry about rent.

Since his teenage years, Mohamed has gone on to earn a bachelor’s in Public Financial Management from Indiana University, with honors, and has also studied at King’s College London. In 2015, he worked as a financial analyst while hoping to be reunited with his younger siblings in Somalia.

In part, Mohamed’s story is remarkable because despite being raised in a refugee camp, he was able to not only successfully matriculate into university but do so with honors and distinction. He was able to teach himself from a limited understanding of English to being fully fluent. Despite the loss of his parents, he was able to thrive in a new country. His actions have shown his incredible resilience and dedication. Yet there are millions more like him around the world who will never have a chance to escape civil war, or who are turned away from countries like the United States. Each person who flees those war zones has the capability to achieve at the same level as Mohamed, yet many are never given the chance. Mohamed said of refugees, “I implore you to consider the power each of us must change the world. We may not have the ability to change the whole world, but you can change the world of someone hopeless like I once was.”

Mohamed has recently returned to Somalia, where he is the Director General of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. He makes a difference for Somalian youth by holding forums to discuss job opportunities and engaging them in sports to deter them from recruitment into armed groups. Since his return, his siblings have been able to reenroll in school: they hope to be able to succeed as well. Mohamed will work to change the lives of thousands of Somalian children; each refugee, just like Mohamed, has the power to change the world. If we want to see the change, we must support the lives of refugees.

Alexandra ‘27 https://www.exodusrefugee.org/story/mohameds-story/ https://www.unhcr.org/africa/news/stories/former-refugee-finds-opportunity-thrive-back-home