Stories from the Horn #149
March 8, 2022
Happy International Women’s Day! The theme for 2022 is #breakthebias, read more about it here.
Last week my friend was pulled over as she was parking. The police officer said she was speeding. She was going about 10km per hour (6 mph) because like I said, she was parking. Then he said she was getting a ticket because she didn’t own the car. She pulled out her paperwork and showed him that in fact she does own the car because she owns the car. Then he said she was getting a ticket because she wasn’t wearing her seatbelt. She was actually wearing the seatbelt. He said come with me. She went with him to the police station and paid a fine of over $120 for not wearing the seatbelt that she was wearing.
This is a bit like the time a friend was pulled over for not stopping at the stop sign where there was no stop sign but where there used to be a stop sign. Or the time I was pulled over for driving down a street instead of the parallel street - which was filled with water that would have reached the windows of my car because it had rained and there is no good drainage and refrigerators and taxis bobbed around in the river/street.
This picture captures the complexity of driving here. If you drove through, there is a high probability of getting pulled over for a ticket. But if you stop there is a high probability of being rear-ended. And who the heck slows?!
Lovely.
Somalis join the exodus from Ukraine
Somali-American running Star Abdi Bile is also a world class mentor
Somalia says four European countries are helping evacuate Somalis from Ukraine
Ethiopian churches ask for help feeding cattle and people during drought
The Somali general fighting al-Shabaab and the patriarchy
The US conducts a missile attack in Somalia, the first since August
Refuge for Whale Sharks (the article is in French and the pictures are stunning)
The rise of female circumcision in Somaliland during Covid
The Ethiopian community in Djibouti is preparing to build a community school
How did Warsan Shire respond when Beyonce reached out about using her poetry?
Have a lovely week.
Reminds me of the time my friend got pulled over in Southeast Asia and got penalised for something and when my friend said "that's not the law", the policeman said "yes it is." and pulled out the book of road rules from his pocket and points to the bit he had added in pencil.