PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER Maine) --- Members of Maine' Somali youth network hosted their first annual Somali independence day celebration Sunday.
“I can look around and see a bunch of beautiful people and just enjoy it and I feel like it is important for other people to come here and enjoy these beautiful people and these beautiful things that we’re doing,” said Siham Mohamed, catching her breath, as she inflates several balloons.
Mohamed, along with her fellow members of Somali Mainers Youth Network, gathered for a momentous occasion at Deering Oaks Park.
The Somali Republic was formed on July 1st, 1960. There are an average of ten-thousand Somalis living primarily in Lewiston and the greater Portland area.
“It’s fun because I can just be myself around people that are like my family and I can speak my language and we can eat food and we all get along together,” said Safiah Ahmed, as she pulls off her shoes and prepares for Dhaanto, the traditional Somali dance. “It’s important because we are like spreading our culture to people who haven’t even heard of it before, to like, be proud of where we came from,” she said.
Ahmed forms a circle with her friends, clapping along to the “1, 2, 3” beat. She, like everyone else, is here to celebrate her independence.
“I was born in Uganda because of the war that was going on in Somalia. My parents moved to Uganda and then later, my mom and dad had all of us kids and we came to the United States,” she said.
Mohamed didn't let the sticky 88-degrees temps slow her down. “It is sunny, it is beautiful and although it is hot, we are all kind of complaining. We are together and we are complaining together and we’re feeling the heat together.”
The members of the Youth Network hope that this, the First Annual Maine Somali Independence Day will continue on, year after year.
“Especially here in Maine we are, like separated, and a lot of us don’t know that much Somali or don’t know any and maybe because there’s so many there’s kind of a barrier like when you’re away from home,” said Mohamed.