SOMALILAND, AFRICA

view from up above

the airport

sand, trees and the nomads. wonder if it rains?

man & the donkey, water supply for his family

berhimpit atas lori di bawah panas terik matahari just to get water from nearest town

jual ladies innerwear tepi jalan for a living

Malaysia delegates & The First Lady of Somaliland

Somaliland has no bank. Duit berlonggok tepi jalan for money exchange and other transaction.


2days to go! lama betul kat sini.
Anyhow, have u heard of Somaliland?
Somaliland is not Somalia... last time it was---however since 1991, it stands on its own.
as a country, seriously... there's a lot to do.
the country is very poor.
one city to another is far far away... almost building-less along the journey
70% of Somalilanders are jobless;- even the graduates.
the airport is a size of a terrace house (the terminal)
landasan pun hasil tinggalan penjajah...

surrounded by desert, it took 3 hours for us to reach the capital, Hargeisa.
3 hours journey, on our left n right--- small-dry trees, sand, nomads,that's all...
no building, what more tall buildings (the tallest building pun, 4storey itupon dekat bandar)
budak2 lari-lari dalam keadaan berpasir tu, even berjalan for hours to get from a city to another since not everyone owns a car. or else bersempit naik lori.
sedih.

and imagine, average family , income sehari---- USD1 (5500 somaliland shilling) = USD30 per month = around RM100 a month. kesian kan?
anyway, it's surprising that most of the ministers in Somaliland are overseas graduates.
But most of them migrated when they were kids.
a few however, came back to contribute.

had good chat with them. they're very very knowledgable.

I even had the chance for a one-on-one interview with Somaliland's First Lady.

anyway, back to kisah rakyat....

kadang2 tengok rakyat dia, sebak rasanya. nak nangis pun ada.
to us, the visitors, keadaan mmg menyayat hati but to them its normal.... seriously.
Somaliland is a 100% Muslim country.
They have faith in Allah Swt.

They really really do.
kehidupan yang ada bagi mereka sudah memadai.
hampir semua rakyatnya tidak pernah keluar dari benua afrika.
maka ibarat semut, mereka tak pernah tahu apa yang ada di seberang laut...
tiada istilah hidup mewah kerana kemewahan pun tidak pernah terbayang.

this is such a great experience for me tho.
and somewhat , i realize how lucky we are to have Malaysia as our country.
we should be thankful.
sekarang baru sedar diri, takmo bazir for my wedding... seriously.