From Bombs to Books

By+Sudeshna+Sarkar

When Isnina Jelle wanted to visit a fair， she decided to wait for two days first. It wasnt that the 26-year-old livelihood officer with an NGO was inordinately fussy or busy. It was simply that she was living in a country going through an extraordinary situation where even going to a book fair could become a matter of life and death.

“You never know what will happen when so many people gather in one place because it becomes a terror attack target，” Jelle said. “So you have to wait and see. I analyzed the situation and learned that on Friday， Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud would be there and security would be tight. So I also went on Friday， the last day of the fair.”

Jelle lives in Mogadishu， the capital of Somalia that remains racked by violence since a civil war erupted in 1991. But despite the prevailing insecurity， the advent of the Mogadishu Book Fair（MBF） has seen an extraordinary response.

Revival of reading

“It has created tremendous excitement， especially among young people，” Jelle said. “Somalia is still suffering from the civil war. You see many young kids still carrying guns. The child soldiers dont want to go back to school and the illiteracy level is very high.” According to the African Union Mission in Somalia， Somalia has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world with only 37.8 percent of the population being literate.

“The reading culture started going down. But the MBF has brought reading back to young people. There was a turn-up of about 2，000 people mostly in their 20s and 30s. The future lies in the hands of the young people and they want to be part of the book fair. That inspired me，” Jelle added.

Jelle calls the MBF the new face of Somalia that Somalis would like to show to the world.“Somalia is known as a place full of terrorism and violence， guns and explosions. Nobody ever believed 2，000 people would come together to talk about books. The MBF provided a new image， gave us a new identity. We became an example to other African countries，” she noted.

The MBF， held in the City Palace Hotel on August 17-19， gathered over 30 authors， scholars and life coaches from Somalia， East Africa with its sizeable Somali diaspora， and other parts of the world. Former BBC Africa correspondent and the first non-Somali on the MBFs guest list， Andrew Harding， created headlines in the West too when he launched his new book， The Mayor of Mogadishu - a Story of Chaos and Redemption in the Ruins of Somalia. The novel， based on the life of “Tarzan，” former Mogadishu Mayor Mohamud Nur， who rose to eminence from a nomad orphan and street brawler， continues to generate laudatory reviews.

The MBF was also attended by ambassadors， ministers and the Somali president himself， who gave the closing address， like he had at the 2015 book fair. The president said promoting a writing and reading culture was the surest way to preserve and learn from the countrys past and present for a better Somalia. Parents should therefore give their children equal opportunities in education.

The MBF， in its second year， is the brainchild of Mohamed Diini Ahmed， a 33-year-old SomaliAmerican Islamic motivational speaker who runs an NGO in Mogadishu， New Horizon， focusing on culture， civic education and personal development.

Ahmed says the idea of the book fair came from a chat with a group of close friends a few years ago. “This diverse group of professionals from all over the world， who had experiences in attending book fairs globally， agreed establishing such a festival celebrating books， literature， knowledge and networking would help greatly in bettering the narratives about Somalia. It would also showcase the often-hidden talent of the Somali people. New Horizon took on the idea as a cause ... and the MBF is its biggest and most prominent initiative.”

It wasnt an easy task. “Putting together a festival of this magnitude is hard and employs a lot of work anywhere in the world，” Ahmed said. “In Mogadishu， its all the more harder. Logistics is a nightmare. This is only the second year of the book fair. So we still havent mastered all of the curves. But surprisingly， we have a very talented youth manpower in the city hungry for books and literature， an emerging mostly educated youth from within Somalia and the diaspora， and they are the true powerhouse behind the massive success of the MBF， specially this year.”

Matter of African pride

Mohammed Kahiye， a 24-year-old Somali-Kenyan journalist who spends his time between Mogadishu and Nairobi， said the MBF meant a lot not only to Somalis but to Africa as well as to the African diaspora abroad. “Positive responses， message of congratulations， and the hashtag #MBF2016 were trending on the continent during the three-day event，” Kahiye said. “Such a large non-political event staged by Somalis themselves is a big achievement and can change a lot in the issues affecting the region， mainly security and reconstruction of Somalia. Negative stories have been overcome by the positive ones like the MBF. This is positive for Somalia and the continent at large.”

While #MBF2016 has ended， the ripples it started continue to grow. Ahmed now plans to start a competition for young writers and publish the top three books， to be launched at the MBF in 2017. He has also started a sister program， a bi-monthly twohour session where an author presents his or her book， followed by a question-and-answer session. Besides， Ahmed says the MBF has inspired a second book fair， the Garowe International Book Fair which was held in Garowe， capital of Puntland State， on July 28-30.

There are other changes too， like reading clubs coming up in Mogadishu. Kahiye is one of the newgeneration campaigners to grow Somalias reading culture. He is part of a group of young people， mainly university students， who collected books and reading materials to start a reading center， named the Ifiye Cultural Center， Mogadishu. They are also campaigning online， seeking donation of books. The campaign has been heeded outside Somalia. “I recently received some books in Nairobi from friends following the campaign and delivered them in Somalia，” Kahiye said. “Ahmed invited me to the book fair and I was delighted to be part of the organizing team during the three beautiful days.”

But despite the progress， violence remains a major hurdle. Prior to the MBF， at least 14 people were killed when a hotel in the capital was attacked by al-Shabab gunmen. Soon after the MBF， there were two car bomb attacks， one near the Mogadishu International Airport and the other close to the presidential palace， killing at least 12 people.

Ahmed acknowledges the magnitude of the problem. “Somalias security dilemma is decades-old. Nothing positive has happened for long. But we manage， life goes on， and we focus on the things we can change and pray over the things we cant change and take all possible precautions. What the MBF as well as other institutions have done is to build a parallel other Mogadishu， where good things happen，” he said.