Somalia's Greatest Hits: The Positive, Peaceful Side of the African Horn Nation

There has been such an absurd amount of global news coverage of Somalia's fierce challenges with piracy, Islamic radicalism, and war, that perhaps it's a good time to counter that traffic with some positive vibes about the millions of peaceful, good people in the country as well as their productive innovations, traditions, and peculiarities.

Somalia's salvation lies not only in preventing violence but also in identifying and supporting those people and institutions who can provide the country with a better future. Of course, these highlights should not downplay the incredible seriousness of the humanitarian, security, and women's and children's rights challenges in the country. If you haven't traveled in the African Horn, some of these may blow your mind. Ready, set...

10. Lyrical storytelling. Somali language has only been written since the 1970's, so lyrical storytelling, of true family history as well as fiction, is still right on. One can buy cassette tapes in the market. Heard one story about a man who wanted to marry his daughter to a man she liked who outclassed them. So the father approached the love interest in the market and punched him in the face. Out of Somali tradition, the father now owed the love interest a twenty camel apology, but instead he offered his daughter's hand in marriage. The love interest out of tradition couldn't refuse.

9. Surf Somalia. Somalia's got an incredibly gorgeous and unspoiled coastline. One can surf (theoretically, perhaps boogy boarding on a piece of scrap metal will do in the short term), snorkeling, find coral and shells, or spot the overflowing wildlife of lobster, crabs, baboons, swallows, and condors. There are a number of local businessmen and women biding their time for travelers to return before creating a few new industries for coastal villages which are otherwise absolutely reliant on the fisheries. Stay tuned for "Surf Somalia."

8. Phone Home. The BBC reported a few years back about the incredible innovation of satellite phones, cells, and internet towers in Mogadishu. Already, as in neighboring countries, wealthy families have moved forward in investing in cell towers for even the poorest communities. In Somaliland, Chinese corporations have increased the range. Sounds corporate, but many Somalis, even herders in the desert now have the ability to report emergencies and make business transactions that would normally take days of hiking.

7. Hug a Desert Acacia. For centuries, many families were profiting by tearing down forests for charcoal, much of which was sold to Yemen. But recently Horn Relief and a number of other organizations banned this practice and have been attempting to restore pasture and forest on the edges of the desert. There is still a great challenge of the loss of pasture in droughts, but the will is there to slow this tragedy if the financing can be secured. Mostly pre-industrial, much of the country is otherwise unspoiled.

6. Save a Herder. Lost all your camel to drought? Well, theoretically you can ask your neighbor and they are required by Islamic law and Somali tradition to give you a no interest loan if they can afford it. Some see this as a part of the poverty crisis. Many rural store owners go broke loaning their funds, then borrow from relatives overseas to give flexibility to save lives during drought at home, increasing debt. But it's a unique Somali form of the revolving fund, or a micro-credit scheme which is indigenous and satisfies Islamic law. It's probably saved more lives than international aid, but it's simply been overstretched, sometimes sabotaged by other factors. Instead, aid should restore this tradition.

5. Warsama Had a Dream. News agencies tend to summarize Somalia as a "mono-culture", that the violence is clan competition. Partly true, but there are a number of ethnic (Bantu descendants) and cultural minorities (Madheban, Somali Jew descendants), as well as the two large Somali dialect groups which compete for civil rights and equality. A number of NGOs founded by elders of marginalized minority groups have won some significant, if small, grants from the UN and aid agencies like Save the Children to focus on bringing human rights based education to the minority kids. Although it's tragic that these minorities remain sidelined, they appear to have been more flexible about adapting to human rights practices, so they deserve more support.

4. Magna Cum Kalashnikov. Hargeisa and Garowe State Universities, in the north of the country, have turned out to be, while severely underfunded, terrific bases for hybrid human rights sensitive and Islamic education. Both offer a great deal of coursework attempting to address how Islamic law can be reconciled with state and clan law in light of human rights norms (extremely complicated). It's not perfect; for example the law sets contradict each other dramatically on issues like rape, female genital surgery, and forced marriage. But a few heroic souls have created new, if struggling, fora to approach solutions. And yes, women study here, too. There are a few already practicing law.

3. Islamic Leaders Look to the Sky. Many stories circulate about Islamic radicalism in Somalia; it's quite complicated. Although there are radical Salafists allied to Al Qaeda, etc, there are also a number of other schools of Islamic thought here. In fact, while radicals have committed murders of civilians, many of the other conservatives have reserved violence only in fighting warlordism. Human rights defenders condemn practices like execution, dismemberment, and certain practices around rape and adultery, but there are Islamic leaders in Somalia who rarely if ever have used these punishments. Some of them instead have stepped up to use Islamic law to prevent the excesses allowed by warlords and Somali traditional law, like forced marriage and murder. These are the leaders most Somalis look to.

2. Camels not Rifles. The Somali traditional dispute resolution method involving clan elders of the accused meeting with those of the plaintiff kept peace for much of Somalia's history. It was the last few decades of being a Soviet, then American client state which fed corruption and migration which some Somalis say is why the system fell apart in urban areas. It's not perfect, but NGOs like Haqsoor, in Hargeisa, have found an incredible foundation here, however, for restoring peace and rule of law to the country by restoring and supporting this ancient practice.

1. Women's Lib. Few global media agencies cover what is the single best peace point in Somalia. Despite Islamic radicals importing ultra-conservative Salafism into the country's south, much of Somalia's 30+ generation was raised on socialism and moderate Islam. Women activists throughout the country and the Ministry of Women & Family Affairs in the northeast in particular have been an incredibly powerful force for positive change. There has been some competion between them, and complications regarding how each group tackles women's legal issues in the complex legal environment. But for the most part these leaders and networks should be protected. They will form the backbone of the new Somalia.

[Photos: Camel delivery outside Garowe, the University of Hargeisa Library, and two much appreciated women's development leaders, Daniel J Gerstle]