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Hargeysa,
Somaliland, August 29, 2009 – Only nine years old, Ahmed Nour-Mohamed,
from Ethiopia and living in Hargeysa, capital of Somaliland, has big
plans – to make enough money from shoe-shining to take his father and
siblings back home.
Nour-Mohamed is one of dozens of Ethiopian children who have crossed
into the Somaliland side of Tog-wajale town on the Ethiopia-Somalia
border to undertake petty trade in Hargeysa. An immigration official
based in Tog-wajale said children such as Nour-Mohamed were allowed to
cross the border without question over their legal status "because they
are children and they do not have travel documents". Nour-Mohamed spoke
to IRIN on 26 August:
"I am the second-oldest child out of my five brothers and sisters. We
live with our father in Sheedaha settlement in Tog-wajale but we are
originally from Babuli [in Ethiopia's Oromo region].
"My mother died four months ago and since we did not have anything to
eat, my father decided to bring us to Hargeysa; I used to go to school
in Ethiopia but now I don't, I have started work as a shoe shiner.
"A big problem for me is that I do not speak enough Somali and I am
often misunderstood by some of my customers. However, most of the time
my friend, Mubarik, accompanies me and interprets for me as he speaks
good Somali.
"When I started shining shoes, the stronger street children often took
advantage of my small size and at times robbed me of all that I had made
but I am now wiser, I have made friends who are also shoe-shiners and we
look out for one another.
"I was robbed of all my earnings and polish by a street gang in Ida'ada
district on 26 June and now I have decided to operate within Kodbur
district of Hargeysa, which I believe is a little more secure than other
parts of the city.
"On average, I earn about 10,000 Somaliland shillings [US$1.50] daily. I
always take what I earn to my father who then saves it for us. Since my
father collects food donations from our neighbors, we try to save as
much as we can because our plan is to go back to Babuli where we
originally lived."
maj/js/mw
Source: IRIN
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