featuReS
4 • The Southwest Portland Post
July 2009
Somali refugees struggle with
isolation, language, and cultural
barriers
By Polina Olsen
The Southwest Portland Post
Lul Abdulle is director of the Portland Somali Women’s Association. (Post photo by
Polina Olsen)
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In this African nation more than one
million displaced people scavenge for
food. More than 10,000 have been killed.
As Islamist militias extend control
throughout the country, Somalia en-
ters its 19th year without a functioning
government, according to Newsweek.
With help from the United Nations,
thousands have fled their homeland.
About 6000 came to Portland. Many
live in here in Southwest.
“There’s nothing to miss,” Somali
refugee Lul Abdulle said, remember-
ing life in the East African nation that
borders Kenya, Ethiopia and the Indian
Ocean. “The refugees have seen blood-
shed, rape, starvation, family members
killed. Women delivered babies while
running and hiding from warlords.”
As outreach coordinator for Central
Northeast Neighbors and Director
of the Portland Somali Women’s As-
sociation, Abdulle helps integrate the
traumatized new immigrants into the
local community. The biggest problem
is isolation,” she said.
Here in Southwest, Somalis live in
apartment complexes near Markham
Elementary School or Dickinson Park.
Like 99.9 percent of the 8.8 million
people in their native country, Somalis
in Portland are Muslim. In Somalia, 49.7
percent of men and only 25.8 percent
of women are literate according to U.S.
State Department statistics.
In Portland Somali men work as
taxi drivers or warehouse workers but
women traditionally stay home with
children. This can increase the women’s
isolation and make learning English
difficult.
Abdulle stressed the need for Somali
outreach workers who can build trust
and relationships. “Someone who
understands how the system works
can engage Somalis in a culturally ap-
propriate way in a language they can
understand,” she said. “And, they need
a meeting space where they can learn
about the community and available
services.”
Misunderstanding contributes to the
children’s isolation. Without adequate
information, parents just say no. “The
parents get flyers from their children’s
school, but they don’t understand
them,” Abdulle said. “And, people from
the school come to speak to the parents
without a translator.”
Syliva Bogert, executive director of
Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc. agrees.
She’s worked with Abdulle and oth-
ers on cultural outreach programs for
years. “It started with a small grant,”
she said, referring to the the Neighbor-
hood Initiative for Community En-
gagement (NICE), a partnership of the
Somali Women’s Association, Southeast
Uplift Coalition and SWNI. “Lul went
door to door finding out what Somali
people need.”
The resulting Somali Resource Fair
at the Markham Elementary School in
December 2007 included representa-
tives from refugee, health, employment,
library, legal and other services along
with a Somali-catered feast. NICE
developed a resource guide pamphlet
and a cultural awareness program that
Abdulle presented to neighborhood
and other organizations.
“It’s all about relationship building,”
Bogert said, echoing Abdulle’s empha-
sis on Somali outreach workers. Over
the years, Bogert remembers striking
examples of cultural misunderstand-
ing, for example, parents can find using
children as interpreters disrespectful.
“One child brought home a permis-
sion slip from school--maybe it was
summer camp, I’m not sure,” Bogert
said. Apparently, the mother signed
the form but thought her daughter was
permanently leaving home when the
school bus came to pick her up.
“Funding remains a constant issue,”
Bogert said. “I hope we can keep a po-
sition for Lul.” Bogert also noted the
Somali Community Services Coalition
on Southwest Barbur Boulevard. Here
Executive Director Bashir Warsame
and others help settle new immigrants,
provide translation services, and even
have computers children use for home-
work.
Other successful programs included a
one-year sewing class grant. “The Capi-
tol Hill Library wanted Somali children
to come to afterschool programs,”
Abdulle said. She explained Somali
women’s reluctance to separate parents
and children. “The library thought that
if they give the moms space, they will
bring children with them. We have to
be together in one place.”
“People donated sewing machines
and materials, and we had volunteer
teachers from the mainstream,” Ab-
dulle said. As a by-product of sewing
classes, the women discussed issues
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