My first travel outside of my homeland: A reflection

 

I was a teenager when I went on my first trip outside of Somalia. After I finished high school, I traveled to Kenya for medical reasons. It wasn’t really my plan to stay in Kenya for a longer period. After a few months in Kenya, I felt the time was running out, and my friends at the high school started to study higher education. It was at that moment when I decided not to waste my time in Kenya anymore. I instantly contacted a cousin of mine to help me apply to universities in Uganda.

I took this bold step and traveled through the land between Kenya & Uganda. It was the first time that I crossed a border from one country to another via bus. The road trip lasted 18 hours. Looking back now, I think, I took a big risk as I was a young girl traveling alone.

I reached Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, at 2 am at midnight. I didn’t know anyone who lived in the city. The closest person was a cousin of mine who studied at a university in Mbala, a town that is 224 km away from Kampala. My cousin helped me (over a phone call)and connected me with a lady who had a house and could share a room in her home.

I started to send applications to universities. I enrolled in a private English course to learn the language before I got admission to the university. Life was not easy for the first few months as I was adapting to life as a foreign student with no family around and I was a teenager. I used to take a ride by motorbike to the language school every weekday.

One day, when I was going to school, the motorbike man ran away with my money after I stepped off the motorbike.  He stole an amount of 50 USD from me. At that time, I didn't know anyone who could pay me for the ride back to my home, and I was new to the country. It was a welcoming lesson for me, and it made me resilient and ready for my new life as a foreign student in Kampala. From that day on, I started walking to the English school.

After a while, I received an offer from Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), which is located in Mbala. I left Kampala and took a YY coach bus to Mbala to start a new life in the town. During my first year at the University, in my last exam, I contracted Malaria that was affecting almost all people in the Mbale region. I stayed at the hospital for 10 days, and my high fever led me to go into a coma for four days.  After I recovered from the illness, I took the exam and decided to leave the town and move back to Kampala to continue my studies there in the capital. I continued my studies at St.Lawrence University in Uganda and finished my studies there.

I returned to my homeland in 2017 after I obtained a university degree. The journey was successful, but it was not easy. I have lived as a student in a foreign country, and I was not familiar with their language and culture. As a young girl without family in a foreign country, I needed to be tougher and resilient, and focus on my education and study goals. I went through lots of challenges on the way, and each challenge taught me a lesson that is important in life.

As a student in a foreign country, you always need the support of your family, both financially and emotionally. You need their encouragement and support. Thankfully, my family was my life support, and without them, I would not have succeeded in my education and journey.

My life as a student also made me smarter financially. During my years there, I started to save part of the money the family sends to me for education. I managed to put my savings into a business with some friends in Uganda. It was a smart decision that I made, and I gained some profits that helped me in Uganda.

I am very grateful to my family, especially my brother Badruddin who I would not have been able to study without his financial and motivational support.