R E S P E C T

So as soon as I typed the title to this post, I decided I had to listen to a little Aretha Franklin. It had been quite a while until now that I've listened to this song, and all of a sudden I wish I had some more soul music on my iTunes. Guess I'll have to work on that.

But, that is not what this post is about. There are a couple of articles out in the news that I'm sure will go largely unnoticed in the West. Last week I saw on CNN International TV an episode of the show 'Prism' which was talking about the fighting in Mogadishu and how it has intensified between the TFG (UN backed government in Southern Somalia which controls a few blocks of the city including the presidential palace, the airport, very little else, and very little outside of town) and Al Shabaab (terrorist group linked to and supported by Al Qaeda in control of a large chunk of the rest of the South of Somalia). The African Union troops in Mogadishu continue to battle insurgents daily, with people being killed all the time.

Meanwhile, up in the north in a region (or separate country depending on who you ask) called Somaliland where I am, things function. There are police. There is a military. But there is also an elected president and a two house legislature. There are storied buildings and pipe-born water. Electricity reaches many houses in the city in which I live, and it is all run by private businesses. Construction is booming rather than places being destroyed by mortars and heavy artillery fire.

I posted at the end of June/early July about elections which took place in Somaliland. The challenger beat the incumbent, and the loser stepped down recognizing the vote and giving up power. Little has been said about this. Little attention is given to the fact that while so much international attention is given to the Somali 'problem' with all the fighting and killing that continues to take place, there is a part of what the world knows as 'Somalia' that is developing mostly on its own. In fact, I wonder if there were more international attention if it would continue to develop, or if the special interests of the outside would cause chaos and confusion pitting people against one another for what they can profit instead of what profits the people.

We just may be able to see if that is the case, or if this region could actually be used as a place to bring development and inspire the South to change. There are a couple of articles you can read about the US being about to start ties with Somaliland. Until now, the North and South have been considered as one, and only the government in the South was recognized (even though it has power over just a tiny pocket of the entire country). The articles on BBC News and Voice of America News both talk of the problems in Somalia, but show that maybe the world is beginning to give some of that R-E-S-P-C-E-C-T that the people here have struggled to earn. It surely hasn't come easily as people were caught up in fighting back in the years before and after the infamous 'Blackhawk Down' episode. There has been civil war and Somaliland is still surrounded by areas of instability both in Somalia and neighboring Ethiopia with Eritrea not too far away. However, peace prevails and progress is happening. I hope that the investment of the US and other countries helps progress to increase and doesn't just complicate things and add too many interests to this small beacon of hope. Even though I will be leaving in a couple of weeks, I will continue to follow what happens in Somaliland.