Back to Buulaburte: Bringing back memories after ten years away

I started playing football matches in the morning. When I was young, I used to be a striker for the team (and my goal scoring was good), but I couldn’t score a single goal this time. Maybe it is a result of my older age now. Most of the youth in town play football in the morning and afternoon; they have to kill the time.

I enjoyed the city’s simple lifestyle. In the afternoon and evening, I would often drink black tea. Its price is 15 cents or 20 cents. You sit in a place, drink tea with several people, and discuss sports, politics, and social life. There is no cappuccino or coffee latte; no tea/coffee and a separate sugar. When it is prayer time, everyone would go to the mosque. That simple life is one of the best things I had in Buulaburte.

That said, the town faces several challenges. First, the city is blocked/locked and an al-Shabaab attack could happen any night (while I was in the town, there was a night there were gun exchanges between al-Shabaab and security forces near the bridge). Second, the local government is fragile, and it has struggled with internal conflicts. Its weakness reflects the overall fragility of the Hirshabelle administration it operates under. Third, there are no investments in public infrastructure. The only meaningful project I observed is the street solar lights by NIS Foundation about three years ago (I was told they are 60 in number), which gives an invaluable light to the city. The electricity was not stable, and these street lights were crucial, especially at night. Worryingly, there is no discussion on how to invest in the city’s key public goods; the blockade must have affected people’s thinking and priorities. Fourth, the social services are weak. Healthcare and education both struggle with a lack of attention and investment. Finally, the regular cutting of the mobile phone antenna in the morning for about 1.5 hours to 2 hours (primarily to protect airport security) causes problems. The dependence of electronic money means that when the antenna is cut, there can be no transaction and everything is halted. The people in rural areas have also some difficulties in sending dollar cents for the purchase of goods and services. With all the challenges the city faces, its people act like those in Silicon Valley or Singapore as they don’t use a hard currency at all.

Despite these challenges, I have thoroughly enjoyed my 16 days of stay in my hometown Buulaburte. The kids and wife have also enjoyed the trip. We have eaten a lot of red meat (and gained weight) as we were regularly invited for lunch by our extended family. The kids had nice space to run and have fun. I would visit the neighbors and people I knew in their houses in the evenings. I would sometimes walk around the town to see how things changed over the years. This has revived my dormant memory. I started remembering the names of some people I could only recognize their faces in the first few days. If I don’t come to the house around 8:30 pm, my mother would call me and would ask why I am still in the town and should come home. No matter the age, you are always young for your mother. I would laugh and then go straight to the house.

I often shame myself that apart from supporting my family and relatives, I did not initiate or contribute to the city’s development. Even discussions on development interventions are lacking there, which worries me a lot. The nature of the environment –  a land blocked for about seven years – has certainly negatively affected the people’s thinking about development and the potential of the town.

My return took more than ten years partly because I was a student pursuing a university education and later establishing my professional career in Mogadishu. I hope my next trip to my hometown will not take that long, and I will be able to contribute to the city’s development, one way or another, in the near future.