The “Bottom-Up” Alternative in Somali Peacebuilding

Abstract The Small Plane Headed Right into the city of Mogadishu. With the very blue Indian Ocean to the right of the plane and the white, arabesque buildings set among sparse thorny trees and bougainvillea to the left, the plane landed on the edge of the earth. When the door opened, I felt my first blast of the heavy, wet heat that was nearly always a part of Mogadishu’s presence. Then began the tight hold on my documents and the attempt to stay calm and unhurried in the midst of seeming chaos—pushing and shoving as if my fellow travelers could not contain the joy and enthusiasm of being home again. Not knowing what would happen, or whether I was capable of doing the work I was assigned to do, I also entered Somalia enthusiastically. I had agreed to teach English in Mogadishu for three years with Eastern Mennonite Missions. For four months in 1990, I taught English and studied the Somali language, as the Somali state quickly tumbled further into uncertainty. Little did I know that my teaching days would be so short-lived and that I would spend most of my time working at peacebuilding with and among the Somali people. Five months after my arrival, the Siad Barre regime fell.