Out of Africa with Ifrah Ahmed I CAME TO Ireland without a word of English. Because of the war in Somalia, my native country, I didn’t have the opportunity to go to school. The war began in 1991, when I was just a baby, and it continues today.
When I settled into an asylum seeker hostel in Dublin after arriving in 2006, I began my first English classes – which were invaluable to me
I often have medical appointments due to the fact that I suffered FGM (female genital mutilation) when I was eight years old, and again at 13. It is common in Somalia, and I actively campaign against it.
Every month I have dreadful pain during my period due to FGM – a ‘cultural’ requirement in some countries, involving the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia
In Ireland, and without any English, my hospital visits were very scary and awkward at the beginning. One time I went to hospital only to find that my translator was a man. I was having to talk about pain in my private parts – to a man. I just cried so much, but I didn’t think there was anything I could do. I wish I’d known I could insist on a female translator.
When the nurse saw that I’d been circumcised, she was visibly shocked, and called other nurses and doctors. There were about six or seven of them, standing over me and looking down. I was shocked too. I thought: ‘Are they going to tell me I have HIV or am going to die or something?’ Thankfully it was neither, in the end.
I was determined to learn English so I could understand everything and integrate into Irish society. After getting refugee status, I moved from the hostel into a house with two other girls; one was from Somalia and spoke perfect English, and the other was a typical Irish girl – well, she had an Irish boyfriend anyway.
I wrote down everything they said in order learn more words. I wanted so much to learn and would talk non-stop. That’s really the way I improved my English: determination and practice. I also got used to the words Irish people use, like ‘grand’ and ‘craic’.
Because I could never attend school in Somalia, sometimes I got mixed up about things, especially situations which involved maths. I was kind of the ‘man of the house’, working out what we needed – organising the shopping and checking the money. We used to go to Lidl, and I was convinced that the woman at the checkout was robbing from us. But the other girls said: “No Ifrah, look at the receipt.” Of course, everything was in order.
Nowadays, when I see younger girls teaching me something, I feel bad. But I’ve come a long way, and also participated in an RTÉ television programme with other adults trying to improving literacy skills.
People meet me now who knew me when I arrived, and they hear my spoken English. They say: “Ifrah, that’s not you!” I say: “Look, I did it!”
Ifrah Ahmed is originally from Mogadishu in Somalia. She is an active promoter of Somali culture and campaigns against female genital mutilation (FGM)
