OUR OBJECTIVES
الحمد لله ، والصالة والسالم على رسول الله محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم
All Somali brothers and sisters living in downtown and its surroundings, we wish to share with you the Downtown Somali Union, which has been in existence for six years. It was founded to contribute positively to the downtown community by focusing on the following objectives:
1- Fostering community engagement and solidarity among Somali people, and maintaining our cultural heritage.
2- Encouraging youth to excel in education and Islamic values.
3- Promoting cultural integration within the community.
4- Enhancing communication and cooperation between the youth and their parents.
5- Advising parents on how to best support their children's education.
6- Promoting family unity so that parents and children live in harmony.
We urge you all to participate as we, Somalis living downtown, face the challenges that have emerged over the past few decades. Our challenges include:
Due to the influx of various nationalities into our country, it's essential that we live in harmony and actively participate in community activities, as well as have a voice in local politics or advocate for our community.
We face various obstacles in our daily lives, such as:
A. Education: Especially for our youth, there are no exclusive schools, so they either struggle in public schools, which may not provide the desired education, or Islamic schools, which might be costly.
B. Families: Lack of effective dispute resolution mechanisms for inter-family conflicts. This situation leads to police involvement, court cases, or separation.
C. Religion: A shortage of accessible mosques and religious facilities, including educational and religious events. This has led to some people attending other communities' mosques.
D. Halal Markets: The absence of convenient, reliable halal meat markets, and other needed services. This has made us rely on businesses run by other communities.
E. Sports Facilities: There is a lack of proper places for our youth to participate in sports. However, there has been progress in this area, as we have successfully obtained a permit to use Nelson Mandela School every year for youth basketball practice.
