Mohamoud Elmi felt he had a duty to use what he learned in America to help rebuild his homeland, since so many Somalis had been displaced by decades of civil war.
After getting a business administration degree in Ohio, Elmi fulfilled that calling and returned to Somalia in 2008 to work in government. As a dual Somali-US citizen, Elmi was among at least 385 people killed in the October 14 truck bombing in Mogadishu.
He was one of the countless members of the Somali diaspora who have returned to the Horn of Africa country in recent years to work as humanitarian workers, entrepreneurs, contractors, government leaders, and more, despite the threat of violence.
Many of the country’s citizens say they will not be deterred y the recent bombing, which was the deadliest attack in Somalia’s history and one of the world’s worst attacks in years.
“We don’t want this country to go down the tubes.”said Jibril Afyare, a Minnesota software engineer who was visiting Mogadishu. He added “I’m an American citizen, but this is my homeland and I won’t let my fellow Somali citizens suffer like this.”
He was among a group of diaspora member who were invited by the government t assist in the country’s progress. Afyare stayed in Somalia to help the hurt and needy.
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