Articles by SA STAFF

Collaborating With Local Imams to Prevent Opioid Abuse in the Somali Community

Our colleagues in the Health Improvement Bureau at MDH recently completed a series of trainings with several Twin Cities Imams, Muslim faith leaders, to help combat the opioid epidemic ravaging local communities. The team hopes that this project will be a replicable model of how to partner with faith-based communities in the opioid epidemic response, and in understanding substance use disorder, mental health and trauma more broadly.  “Engaging faith leadership to take a knowledgeable stand on the issue of opioid use in our community allows a community’s selected and trusted leadership to serve their people in this important issue,” said Imam Sharif Mohamed of the Islamic Civic Society of America/Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque, which is based in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis. Imam Sharif and Kate Erickson, the MDH opioid overdose prevention director, spearheaded the initiative together as part of the Data-Driven Prevention Initiative funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2016, nearly 400 Minnesotans died of an opioid-involved death, and prescription opioids remain the leading cause of opioid-involved death. Since the launch of the Opioid Dashboard last fall, Kate has been giving presentations about the opioid epidemic throughout the state, highlighting the data and information included in the Opioid Dashboard to local…


CUNTO SIINTA IYO MIISAANKA CARUURTA

Cunno siinta ilmaha 1-sano-jirka ah aad ayey u fududahay maxaa yeelay ilmaha saan-qaadka ah (toddlers) in ay wax kasta cunaan ayey jecel yihiin. Canugaagu wuxuu rabi doonaa raashinka ay reerku cunayaan oo kale. Waalid ahaan adiga ayaa go’aansan doona nooca cuntada ee aad ilmahaaga siineysid, marka ilmahaagu cunada cunayo, iyo meesha uu cunada ku cunayo. Ilmahaaga ayaa go’aansan doona cuntada inta uu ka cunayo iyo hadii in uu cunto cuno uu doonayo iyo inkale. Cunooyinka la siin karo U keen ilmahaaga cunooyin kala duwan oo cunto caafimaad leh ah. Cunooyinka aad xili kasta oo wax la cuno aad siineysid furuto (fruits) iyo khudaar ha ka mid noqdeen. Ku dhiiri geli ilmahaaga in uu isku dayo cunitaanka cunooyin kala duwan. U kala jar cunooyinka cad-cad la eg 1/4- ilaa 1/2- inch la eg. Cunooyinka aad siineyso ilmaha ha ka mid noqdeen cunto jilicsan oo si fudud loo ruugi karo si fududna loo liqi karo. Isticmaal caanaha nooca whole milk ga ah (caanaha aan subaga laga saarin) ilaa uu ilmahaagu 2-jir ka gaarayo. Caanaha iyo juuska sii marka aad siinayso cuntada iyo markaad siinayso cunto-fudud oo kali ah. Ilmahaaga sii biyo marki uu harraado inta u dhexaysa cuntooyinka. Caanaha iyo juuska/casiirka aad bay u fiicanyihiin laakiin wax badan marka aad ka siiso…


Sheeko Xikmad leh

Nin baa masaajid ka eedaami jirey oo uu mu’addin ka ahaa. Subaxdiina seyladda xoolaha ayuu u dillaal tegi jirey, si uu quutal daruurigiisa uga soo saaro.  waxa uu iibiyaa xoogaa xoolo ah oo dillaalka uga soo baxa  iskaga bixiyo biilka qoyskiisa. Haddaba maalin maalmaha ka mid ah ayaa suuqii xooluhu xumaaday oo waxba laga iibsan waayey wadaadkii. Wuu yaabay oo talaa ku cadaatay. Isaga oo gadhkiisii u ekaa sonkorta iyo shaaha madow ee la isku daray rifaya oo bidaar aad mooddo madaar diyaaradi soo degayso kolba salaaxaya, ayuu u tegay dillaal kale si uu bal xaalkiisa isna wax uga ogaado oo hadduu wax dhaamo bal shaxaad iyo qadadiisa ugu yaraan uga helo. Haddaba intaanu u tegin ayuu laba orgi oo loo sii dhiibtey oo laga iibsan waayey meel ku sii xidhay. Ninkii dillaalka ahaa ayuu cabbaar ag joog joogay, waxaanu  ogaaday in aanu ninkan laftiisu  waxba dhaamin oo isba maanta qatan yahay. Waxa uu ku laabtay halkii labada orgi ugu xidhnaayeen. Markuu meeshii soo gaadhay ayaa wuxuu arkay labadii orgi ee uu kaga tegey oo aan meeshii kuba xidhnayn. Cabbaar buu baadh-baadhay ilaa markii danbe uu arkay iyadoo ay labadii orgi ay adhi kale dhex galeen. Ninkii adhiga watey buu…


Minnesota’s Somali Deaf Community Battles Stigma by Advocating for Itself

Growing up deaf in a hearing family, Fardowsa Ali never had access to a sign language, lip-reading or any other forms of communication. In Somalia and Kenya, where she spent the first 27 years of her life, deafness can be a major setback to having an active life. For Ali, it meant not going to school and living in isolation — even in a house full of people. But in 2006, Ali immigrated to the United States, where she had discovered for the first time things she never knew existed: that she had a name and date of birth; that she has options to communicate with others; that she can do almost anything she wants — like going to work and earning her own income. “I can’t believe I didn’t know my name for many, many years,” she said through an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter. “I had nobody to teach me anything.” During the 11 years that she’s lived in Minnesota, Ali has achieved many milestones she once never thought possible. She became fluent in ASL, secured a part-time job at a UPS store and made friends in both the deaf and hearing communities. She and her friends have…


Ask a Muslim Scholar December 2017

Q: Does my father know when I visit his grave; does his soul return to his grave when one goes to visit him? A: The answer to this question is yes; for as we can rightly conclude from the authentic sources of Islam, your father can know when you visit him; he will also be able to hear and return your greeting, besides benefiting from your du’as and good deeds on his behalf. To further clarify the issue: This question belongs to an area or realm which is beyond the confines of logic, reason or experimentation: It belongs exclusively to the area of revelation. As far as we can know from the revelation, it is clear that those who are buried in the grave not only know their visitors, if they had known them prior to their death, but also return their greetings. The Prophet, peace be upon him, has left us clear instructions to visit the graves of our relatives and friends, to greet them and to offer prayers for them. This is lest we forget them after their death; through frequent visits to their graves we renew our relationship with them, invoke Allah’s mercy upon them, besides reminding…


Around the Diaspora December 2017

Somali Deportees File Suit against ICE Attorneys representing several Somali men facing deportation to Somalia filed a class-action lawsuit on Monday to block the deportations of 92 Somalis rounded up by immigration agents since Trump took office. The men and women were supposed to be in Somalia by now, but their cases became complicated when their flight returned to the United States, landing in Miami, after a brief stop in the West African country of Senegal. They are now in detention centers in Florida, and lawyers say the detainees could be deported as early as Wednesday. At least 10 of the 92 detainees are Minnesota residents. Somali Music from the 1970’s Nominated for a Grammy Somali Music from the 1970s and 1980s known as the “Golden Age of Music” has been nominated for a GRAMMY! Ostinato Records is reviving neglected and forgotten Somali music record tapes in Hargeisa and Mogadishu one cassette tape at a time. Sweet as Broken Dates: Lost Somali Tapes from the Horn of Africa was produced and compiled by Vik Sohonie and Nicolas Sheikholeslami. Nominated in the Best Historical Album category, the 15-track mixtape features Somali classics that document the vibrant music era of Somalia before the civil war broke out in 1991….


Ask a Muslim Scholar November 2017

Q: When a person converts to Islam his bad deeds are forgiven by Allah. Does this mean that his debts to people are also forgiven? A: It is not true to say that by becoming a Muslim a person’s debts that he owes to others are forgiven. It is only applicable to sins involving the violations of the rights of Allah. Furthermore, the forgiveness of sins is only for those who became Muslims and have followed up bad deeds with good deeds in Islam. If a person simply converts to Islam, it does not automatically expiate his past sins–especially if does not remain true to the pledge he has made with Allah by embracing Islam. As for sins involving the rights of humans, they cannot be simply wiped out by Islam. Debts we owe others belong to this category; so it is imperative that he pays those he owes unless they have forgiven him. Q: Is visiting the graveyard on Eid-ul-Fitr considered Bid’ah or Sunnah? A: Visiting graves is a great sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him; there is no fixed time limit for it, one is free to do so anytime as long as it is done…


Around the Diaspora November 2017

1. Amina Abdul Kadir Wins the Inaugural Women Peacebuilder for Water Peace Prize Amina Abdulkadir, a researcher from the Peace and Development Research Centre (PDRC), has won the inaugural Women Peacebuilder for Water (WPW) Prize for her contribution towards the resolution of water-related conflicts in Puntland. Amina, 31, accepted the award on September 27 in Milan, Italy, during the first annual ‘Rules of Water, Rules for Life’ summit, organized by Milan Global, and the Milan Center for Food Law and Policy. She was selected from a pool of ten finalists from Finland, Haiti, Italy, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States. 2. Sada Mire Selected for the International Hay Festival List of 30 Thinkers and Philosophers The Hay festival is an event that brings readers and writers together for an opportunity to collaborate. Nobel prize winners, scientists and even politicians like Bernie Sanders make appearances. 30 inspiring and young novelists, scientists, philosophers, performers, and activists were selected for this year’s Hay festival. Sada Mire, an Archaeologist at the Faculty of Archaeology in Leiden, is one of these 30. In the next ten years, The Hay Festival will promote Sada Mire’s  work at their festivals around the world. In these years the…


Obamacare is Still Law of the Land, Briva Health is Ready to Help Minnesotans enroll Through MNsure

It’s time to sign up! Open enrollment for health coverage in Minnesota is Nov 1 to Jan 14 Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as “Obamacare”, was passed, Briva Health™has become the go-to place for Somalis when it comes to their health insurance coverage. The organization has expert, multilingual navigators, including several Somali navigators who provide free enrollment assistance through MNsure, Minnesota’s health insurance marketplace. Briva Health is MNsure’s largest enrollment partner and provides walk-in and by appointment enrollment assistance to Minnesotans in the Twin Cities and Saint Cloud metro areas. To date, Briva Health navigators helped more than 30,000 Minnesotans enroll un health coverage. “ We try our best to help everyone enroll on the right coverage,” says chief executive officer, Hodan Guled, “ we often come across people who have never had coverage before only to find out that they qualify for a sizable tax credit or even free insurance” she adds. In Minnesota, open enrollment for health coverage started on November 1st; and will continue until January 14, 2018. Unlike many other states, Minnesotans will have four additional weeks to sign up for health coverage. During this period, Minnesotans can shop and enroll in health…


A Proposed Ban on Refugee Resettlement in Saint Cloud is Debated

On a recent evening in St. Cloud, an hour before the city council would debate the fate of a proposed moratorium on refugee resettlement in the city, Feisal Ali stood in the parking lot of the city’s largest Somali-American strip mall, trying to make sense of the controversial plan. As he thought about it, several passersby waved and shouted greetings as they walked into the mall, which serves as both a social and business hub for the growing Somali-American community in the region. They stopped by the Somali-owned Afya Pharmacy, or joined people chatting over tea, or squeezing into the packed coffee shop, where young men took turns playing dominoes. Later that evening, more than 300 people — Ali among them — gathered at St. Cloud’s City Hall, where city officials would discuss the proposed refugee resettlement ban. And though the moratorium wasn’t voted on — in fact, a resolution “in support of a just and welcoming community” passed in response to the proposed ban — the meeting nevertheless included discussions about the cost of having people born in other countries settle in St. Cloud. Even amid the expressions of support, though, Ali couldn’t help but notice what wasn’t much…