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We belong to a generation that has endured the worst predicament in the history of the Harari society. As we came out of age, full of hope and with an invincible charisma, we fled our country for fear of death and persecution. We are the generation of survivors that began its exodus to unknown destinations for a decade until fate has finally landed us somewhere on the globe where we found comfort and peace. Looking back and think where we came from and the thousands of miles we have traveled, it would be excruciating to imagine the prospect of extinction of our future generation in Diaspora. As we go down in history after three decades, it is incumbent upon us to leave behind a legacy to our young generation.
Over the years, we have maintained a sense of being congregated in Afochas. Furthermore, we have formed a network of Afochas in Diaspora with the objective of strengthening our ties for the sole purpose of mutual cooperation. As we are fond of each other by instinct, we kept abreast of the news about our loved ones whom we left behind and enjoyed the companionship of those who are close to us and probably that is what has kept us together so far.
Along the way, to alleviate our other interests as a community in the western world we have reformed our Afochas into Community Organizations. However, unlike Afochas these organizations came with their distinct challenges demanding, among others, a structured system, discipline and a rule of law. Although our generation rose to the occasion to fulfill its historical duty towards the betterment of our society when the moment called for, the style and approach we adopted to tackle our problems had miserably failed us over and over again in the past. The sad part in all of this is, the alarming trend that we see among our university and college educated hopefuls engaged in our old style squabble. Understandably so, at times things can go wrong but the way to overcome must be with civility and mature debate.
As our generation is on the brink of withdrawal and going down in history as survivors, we need to leave behind a legacy for our future generation. Thus far, we did it our way.
Mohammed Z. Ahmed
Sept. 23 2004
