Friday, September 4, 2009

On A Lighter Note...happy pieces of news on the culture front The supermodel Waris Dirie from JUBBALAND Somalia

supermodels Waris Dirie
Threatened with an arranged marriage when she was 13, Waris Dirie fled to London where she was working illegally as a cleaner before being spotted by a photographer. Arifa Akbar reports on the film that tells the extraordinary story

It is the story of a girl born to a clan of nomadic goat herders in Somalia who flees her remote village at the age of 13 when she discovers her family have arranged for her to be the fourth wife of a man more than twice her age. She travels from Mogadishu to London where she works illegally as a cleaner until she is "discovered" by a fashion photographer, and propelled into a life of international fame and fortune. So reads the true story of Waris Dirie, a former supermodel and face of Revlon who also appeared in the James Bond movie, The Living Daylights.
Yesterday, Dirie was at the Venice Film Festival to unveil Desert Flower, a film about her life, named after her internationally bestselling biography. The film, which has already received critical acclaim, stars some of Britain's best character actors including Sally Hawkins, Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson and the comedy writer, Meera Syal. Dirie is played by Liya Kebede, an Ethiopian model who was in Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd.
Speaking about the making of Desert Flower yesterday, Dirie, who now lives in Austria, said she wanted the film to focus on the secret which she revealed at the height of her modelling career in 1997, that she had suffered genital mutilation at the age of five.
The revelation transformed her into the "face of female genital mutilation", she said. "Before I spoke about it, no-one talked about female genital mutilation. I felt divided. There was half of me that said 'go ahead, I can handle it', and the other half said 'no'. I never thought I would get this far."
But it sparked an astonishing global response. She became a human rights campaigner, a UN special ambassador and received numerous humanitarian awards, including the French Chevalier de la légion d'honneur in 2007.
The film's director, Sherry Hormann, said she made a promise to Dirie that "the mutilation scene would be in the script" and that the film "would entertain as well as move people".
Hormann decided to make the film in Djibouti, which borders Somalia and Ethiopia. Desert Flower's subject matter upset some of the local people there. Genital mutilation is still a custom in some communities. "Hundreds of police had blocked the [marketplace] area for the shoot but then, all of a sudden, they all disappeared. Chaos broke out, members of the crew were being attacked with stones," she said.
However, Dirie said it was vital that the mutilation scene was shot close to where it had happened to her; although seeing it re-enacted in front of her was a painful experience. "That moment when I sat and watched the filming [of the mutilation] brought me back my whole life. It felt as if that part of it was real," she said. As the crew finished filming the scene, two women ran to them screaming and said they had just passed a bloodied rock where young girls had been mutilated. "As we were filming it [the mutilation], it was happening there," said Dirie.
Hormann was determined to film Dirie's life story as authentically as possible. She used local families as extras in the film as well as a real circumciser. "In Djibouti, I realised that Desert Flower would become the first film to focus on Somali culture and its Islamic roots. We filmed nomads who had never seen a camera before. We took the risk to get a real circumciser who was willing to allow herself to be filmed."..MORE..http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/the-supermodel-from-somalia-1782094.html
Related story:
Waris Dirie talks at press conference in Brussels
Waris Dirie, model and fighter against female genital mutilation, talks at Brussels press conference after she was reported missing for three ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk75mbf-zFA

supermodels of somalia
4 supermodels of somalia, khadra, iman, yasmine & waris with nice song bu sahra ahmed...called nugul ..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfuDdeVy_IA&feature=related

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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The Foundation is dedicated to networking like-minded Somalis opposed to the terrorist insurgency that is plaguing our beloved homeland and informing the international public at large about what is really happening throughout the Horn of Africa region.

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The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.

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