“Now it’s changing: the older generations of the Somali Bantu here in America are starting to realize that us females should go to college, and do things that aren’t the norm back home because we are in this new place where things are done differently–now they’re starting to understand.”
Before coming to Smith, Rumbila Abdullahi ‘21 arrived in Springfield, Massachusetts as a child refugee. She is a member of the Somali Bantu ethnic minority group that was forced to flee Somalia in the aftermath of the 1991 civil war.
By some estimates, Somalia has seen over 350,000 casualties and over 1 million refugees fleeing the country since the start of the civil war. Abdullahi, who was born into the latter group, explains, “There are two different groups living in Somalia. My group is Somali Bantu and we are the minorities […] During the war in 1991, Somali Bantus were targeted, which caused us to flee from Somalia to Kenya’s refugee camps.”
“I was born in the refugee camp, so I don’t have experience of that process,” explains Abdullahi. Overtime she has learned fragments of memories from her parents, but “they really didn’t share much about it because it was such a horrific experience for them,” she says.
Abdullahi lived the first seven years of her life in two different Kenyan refugee camps–Dadaab and Kakuma–while her family awaited asylum placement in the United States.
“We were all taken into interview separately, even as a child you were interviewed separately, just to make sure you were the daughter that they say you are.”
When the opportunity finally arrived, she recalls, “We were granted an interview and I remember my older brother pulled us kids aside… telling us, if somebody asks you this certain question, answer like this,” she explains how her brother coached his young siblings and, “we were all taken into interview separately, even as a child you were interviewed separately, just to make sure you were the daughter that they say you are.”
Abdullahi credits a great part of her family’s good fortune to the aid of the Jewish Service Family in Springfield. Members of the organization facilitated the Abdullahi family’s transition to the United States, helping them navigate school, paperwork, and more.
“In the beginning it was very hard trying to adjust to this new culture and also trying to maintain your culture. I’m still battling that,” Abdullahi says. She elaborates that “after being exposed to this American culture, which is so different from my Somali culture, if you lean towards one culture you get a backlash from the other […] It was hard finding a balance where my parents weren’t ashamed of me.”
“Each time I wanted something against the culture, but beneficial to me, I had to go through my parents and have really deep conversations to help them understand.”
Abdullahi maintains that it continues to be necessary for her to “deviate from the culture.” Because of these dual cultures she grew up exposed to, Abdullahi reflects, “I’ve rebelled a lot… Back home, females didn’t really go to school much, so going to college was new. Each time I wanted something against the culture, but beneficial to me, I had to go through my parents and have really deep conversations to help them understand.”
“Now it’s changing: the older generations of the Somali Bantu here in America are starting to realize that us females should go to college, and do things that aren’t the norm back home because we are in this new place where things are done differently… but it took a lot of energy from me and my friends to get there… It’s easier to convince our parents when it has already been done,” Abdullahi says, “I’m going through it to pave the way for my little sister.”
“Once I get my degree, I will use it to help not just the ones that are here but the ones that are back in the refugee camps–the others that didn’t get the same opportunity as I did.”
“I’ve seen a lot of things that are very difficult, and I guess I am one of the lucky ones to come here, so I feel that I have this responsibility to take advantage of the opportunity,” Abdullahi reflects. Abdullahi is a director for the Somali Bantu community of Springfield. At Smith, she is a chemistry major on the pre-med track, with the goal of one day opening her own clinic.
Rumbila Abdullahi works as hard as her peers in the United States. However, like many immigrant and refugee youths, each day she faces each the added pressure of fulfilling the legacy of her parents’ sacrifice and giving back to her people. The weight of this pressure is hard to understand for anyone who has not experienced it. In closing, Abdullahi reflects, “I am excited to pursue this journey of trying to help, but I am still figuring out how.”
This article is part of “Breaking the Border,” a series of articles exploring themes of documented and undocumented migration by Translations Editor Emilia Tamayo. To read previous articles in this series, click here.
