The Somali community in the UK: What we know and how we ... - ICAR

other educational difficulties and needs, but refugee
pupils also bring into the classroom a range of
opportunities and perspectives that can enrich the
learning and understandings of all who are working
there” (Ali and Jones, 2000: 6). A teacher told them
that:
A year 11 Somali girl is a talented
singer performing at the Royal Albert
Hall. Somali pupils are achieving
at GCSE and going on to further
education. A Somali girl took her GCSE
maths in year 9 and achieved an A
grade…. (ibid: 9)
To talk to a group of Somali teenagers in a north
London youth club, all of whom came to England
when they were small, is to meet a bunch of
articulate young people with positive experience
of school, close friendships with children from
all ethnic groups, and plans for their colleges and
careers. 94 There are problems, but also great
potential.
Youth
Hibo Aden has no problem with being the only
girl who regularly attends the Horn Stars Somali
youth club near the Stonebridge estate, Harlesden.
Surrounded by teenage boys, she is as much at
ease with the table tennis and pool as she is on the
football pitch when she plays for the club. Football
is an obsession for many young Somali men, but it
is more unusual to find a young woman with the
same passion. Her success is celebrated in a local
magazine:
16-year-old Stonebridge teenager, Hibo Aden,
has been picked to play for Queens Park
Rangers ladies team.
She was spotted by talent scouts when playing
for a girl’s [sic] football team at Brent Summer
University last year, and is her new team’s
youngest player.…
Hibo came to Stonebridge with her family
from war-torn Somalia nine years ago, and
is taking nine GCSE’s [sic] at John Kelly Girls
City Technology College. Her favourite subject
is maths – football is not in the curriculum.
But as a sporty all-rounder she enjoys playing
basketball, netball and rounders at school.
Hibo thinks the quality of life on Stonebridge
is getting better as old buildings come down
and new ones go up…. ‘Things are already
improving here. It will be good when the new
community centre is built, so there will be more
places for kids to go’.
For young people, there are, she says, already
‘lots of opportunities out there’ – from playing
sport to getting qualifications. ‘If you want to
achieve something, it’s better to have a go
rather than just lying around waiting for things
to happen’.
Hibo arrived in the UK as a refugee, but now
has full citizenship and relishes life in London. ‘I
know more about Britain than I do the country
I was born in, which is not surprising really. I’m
very happy here. Life’s quite good for me on
Stonebridge. I don’t plan on leaving.’
As for ambitions, Hibo is keeping her options
open, knuckling down to her studies to get
qualified, making time for sport, hobbies and
friends.
But she has one goal clearly in her sights
this season – putting a good few balls past
the opposition’s goalie. (Chat, Stonebridge
Housing Action Trust, February 2003: 12)
One of eight children, Hibo left Mogadishu when
she was two, before eventually coming to the
UK with her mother. Yet despite this apparent
integration into British society, and her ignorance
of her birthplace, her Somali identity is important
to her. 95 For Hibo this means two things: firstly,
signalled by the scarf wrapped tightly round her
head, it signifies religion. Secondly, the family.
Despite being separated from her father, she has
a close relationship with her mother. The trust
on which this is based allows her considerable
freedom, while the security of a tightly-knit family
enables her to enjoy her independence. She has
planned her A-level courses, and aims to study
psychology at university.
48 The Somali community in the UK