Stories from the Horn #153
May 17, 2022
This week’s newsletter is a week late. I apologize for that. My husband and I were in Minnesota for a whirlwind trip to celebrate our daughter’s graduation from university. She earned a degree in Chemical Engineering, with honors, and we had a fabulous time celebrating her and getting time with our son, our parents, and other family and friends.
In other personal news, my book Pillars won GOLD in the Religion category for the Independent Publishers Awards. Yay!!! I told my family it was like the Oscars of indie books. Like, basically the same thing. Haha! Still, feels pretty good to have the work recognized. If you haven’t read Pillars yet, check it out!
In my last newsletter, I shared a photo of “Bankoule” in Djibouti and then shared my own photo of the same location. I questioned the existence of the beautiful lake pictured in the advertised photo. A resourceful reader found that lake and it is, in fact, a lake in…Gambia.
Don’t trust everything you read on the internet. Just in case you haven’t learned that lesson yet.
In the news:
Djibouti
This photo captures the beauty, complexity, and changes in Djibouti.
Afro Deli owner ships over 100,00 books to Somalia and Djibouti. Need I remind you that Kahin kindly hosted my book launch party for Stronger than Death at Afro Deli? Not only is the food delicious but he is a generous businessman truly committed to blessing his local and international community.
Relief Web releases a food and drought report about Djibouti
A look at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, the US military base
A thorough and good review of the Djibouti film The Gravedigger’s Wife. We saw this here in Djibouti and it is beautiful and tragic. Worth watching, if you can find it.
Somalia
Al-Shabaab attack African Union troops in Central Somalia
A Mosque of Their Own. A fascinating article about women’s mosques, including one in Somalia, built in 1972.
Somalia (finally) elects a new president
Somalia, Sexism, and Being a Female Photographer
Ethiopia
We are out of tears, and food. In the Tigray region of Ethiopia
Ethiopia and Djbouti plan an oil storage facility in Djibouti
Ethiopians fled war in Ethiopia only to face hunger in Somaliland (this article references Borama, which is where we first lived in Somaliland)
Huge congratulations on the award you won, I am so proud of and happy for you! Also, yay for your oldest daughter graduating from university and for beautiful family times celebrating this event. I loved reading all the stories and posts you linked, many thanks for your as always thorough and comprehensive curation of such a great variety of resources. I would love to discuss all of them but in the interest of time plus not taking up too much space in the comments will just say that the BBC video about the camerawoman in Mogadishu particularly struck me. It was amazing to hear and see this account of Ms. Omar confronting harassment on a daily basis, and especially to see that she handles it with such strength, grace, and often also a healthy sense of humor. I was really struck too by the change in many of her male colleagues' opinions about women working based on their having experienced having her as a colleague for awhile, and think that this example is a good illustration and reminder of just what a powerful effect having personal interaction with someone can have on changing people's hearts and minds.