Ahmed, another employee with my agency, graciously invited me to attend one of his peacebuilding meetings a few months back. Incredibly, Ahmed had brought together some of the clan elders in one section of Somalia to dialogue about how to foster peace. I arrived when the majority of participants had already shown up, and when I reached Ahmed’s gate, I balked. I looked across the yard and saw a crew of ominous-looking figures. Several men, dressed in traditional Somali garb and sporting henna beards, passionately (and loudly) chatted over plates of camel meat and rice pilaf. I turned around, took several steps away from the gate as my heart beat at least three times faster than it had just a few minutes before. I called Ahmed on his cell phone, and asked if he was sure that he wanted to extend me an invitation to attend this event. He assured me that I should come, and when I walked into his yard just a few minutes after having called him, he didn’t even flinch. He made a quick series of introductions to the men in attendance as though I were part of the family, and the meeting continued.
My gratitude toward Ahmed for including me in this meeting spans several levels. First, I received a first-hand glimpse of one possible way to encourage peace: by spearheading important conversations between rival groups. Secondly, several of the folks that I met that day continue to yield very helpful contacts with NGO’s and others in the Somali community who are earnestly working for peace. Finally, I realized how much I assume about people based on their appearances. The shear sight of a man with a henna beard and traditional dress frightened me. I automatically (and incorrectly) associated these characteristics with the negative stereotypes that I have seen on the evening news. Instead, these men yearned for peace, and wanted to risk their lives to make sure that they played a part in the solution.
I wonder if this is one key reason that the Lord calls us to love our “enemies”: because we really don’t know who our enemies truly are! Those folks who look very different from us may very well be on our side, working for the same end goal. However, we can never know until we enter into relationship with them and find out what they think, feel and believe. This experience has helped to put me at ease everyday as I rub shoulders with folks on First Avenue in Eastleigh who look very different from me. I have made a concerted effort to ignore appearances, and enter into dialogue with a broad range of folks in the community. I am hoping that this attitude will yield some lasting (maybe even eternal!) change for Somalis.
Here's a picture of a Somali man with a henna beard:
The link doesn't seem to be working stateside. If it doesn't work, try copying and pasting into the web address box. If that doesn't work, well, it's just not working.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/86778817@N00/2850671463/
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