‘A poem is a powerful tool’: Somali women raise their voices in the nation of poets
by Lizzy Davies from on (#5PY6K)
A childhood encounter with a hyena inspired Hawa Jama Abdi's first verse. Now she is part of an arts project designed to encourage women storytellers - and unite all Somalis
When Hawa Jama Abdi was eight years old, she got lost in a forest and found herself in the path of a hyena. In her place, many would have run, some would have frozen - but Jama Abdi, the blind daughter of Somali pastoralists, kept her cool, and composed her first poem. The verse ran:
I lived in fear of you, day and night
It is a miracle world if I am standing in front of you, tonight
Since I am blind and cannot see anything
Come to my rescue and let your voice be my company