The headline in the Star Tribune today read “Minneapolis Somalis tell senators of vanished youths.” My first reaction was sadness and curiosity as to how these young children were disappearing and why. But I then read on only to find out that the “youths” were actually young men who had left their families and communities in order to join a terrorist party over seas.
Apparently it has been confirmed that multiple adolescent men have gone missing from their homes and schools and turned up in terrorist organizations in Somalia. One of those men was 27 year-old Shirwa Ahmed, a Minneapolis college student who was confirmed the first U.S. citizen to suicide bomb. I was shocked to hear how a young man, who was granted citizenship in our land of the free, would so quickly sacrifice his freedom, his life and the reputation of Americans (and Minnesotans) for an angry cause.
I quickly had to suppress my feelings of shock and disbelief, for I was volunteering at my service learning site for the first time after work today. For my cross-cultural psychology class, I have chosen to volunteer at a local multi-cultural center in order to better understand a culture different from my own. I chose the Somali Education Center in Minneapolis for my service project.
Both nervous and excited, I entered into the center today with a little hesitation and a lot of eagerness to help a student in need. After a little paper work I was well on my way to assisting young students with their homework. From multiplication table to the history of the Panama Canal, I not only helped the students with their studies, but I re-learned some information from my past.
As the memory of the Star Tribune article from earlier today was still in the back of my mind, the quest of helping a smiling child overtook any reservation I had about my service project. If volunteering at a place like the Somali Education Center can change a life or influence someone I interact with, then it not only serves as a great place for students to receive after-school help, but also a reminder that one person should not tarnish the reputation of a nation or a culture.
