Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Interviews with Bantu boys in Balboa Park

Survival and the memory of a little boy

Twenty-six-year-old Hassan Sheighei lost his leg in a gun battle ten years ago in Somalia. He was walking to the store when he heard gunfire. He saw someone running, and the Somali enemy mistook him as their intended target.

“It was always war,” he said. “They would take your mommy and daddy and beat them up, asking where is their money, where is their food.” Sheighei arrived in the U.S. with his dad and believes his mom is still alive in Somalia.

The Bantu boys and their families came together on June 8 at a Balboa Park fundraising event for the San Diego chapter of the Somali Bantu Association of America.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The association was formed by Somalis who came to the U.S. before the last decade’s wave of refugees. Their mission is to help the refugees make a “successful cultural and social transition into the U.S.,” says association president Said Abiyow.

As young boys in Somalia, they escaped with their lives to refugee camps in Kenya. With no knowledge of the English language or American culture, the United Nations helped them seek refuge in the United States. The transition was made even tougher in that the Bantu do not speak Somali. They speak a variety of native and tribal tongues.

The Bantus are the largest ethnic group in the northeastern peninsula of the African continent. Their communities continue to face “ethnic cleansing” in Somalia.

Because they were old enough to remember their homeland, I asked several of the older boys what needed to change. They each said nothing would change in Somalia; that it is a country with no peace or security. Each one said they have no desire to ever return, even though they may still have family there.

On June 8, the Somali women cooked and served food for the gathering. The event was hosted by the Jamie’s Joy Foundation — a foundation created in honor Jamie Morgan Mychael Bratton-McNeeley, a six-year-old boy who died in a car accident on La Costa Avenue in Carlsbad ten years ago.

As this year’s chosen charity, the foundation’s event raised thousands of dollars to give to the Somali Bantus.

“It’s something Jamie would have enjoyed supporting, “ said his mom, Elene Bratton. Mayor Bob Filner attended and presented a proclamation naming June 8 “Jamie’s Joy Day” in San Diego.   

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Yellowtail show off La Jolla, Big tuna south

Spiny lobster doing well

Twenty-six-year-old Hassan Sheighei lost his leg in a gun battle ten years ago in Somalia. He was walking to the store when he heard gunfire. He saw someone running, and the Somali enemy mistook him as their intended target.

“It was always war,” he said. “They would take your mommy and daddy and beat them up, asking where is their money, where is their food.” Sheighei arrived in the U.S. with his dad and believes his mom is still alive in Somalia.

The Bantu boys and their families came together on June 8 at a Balboa Park fundraising event for the San Diego chapter of the Somali Bantu Association of America.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The association was formed by Somalis who came to the U.S. before the last decade’s wave of refugees. Their mission is to help the refugees make a “successful cultural and social transition into the U.S.,” says association president Said Abiyow.

As young boys in Somalia, they escaped with their lives to refugee camps in Kenya. With no knowledge of the English language or American culture, the United Nations helped them seek refuge in the United States. The transition was made even tougher in that the Bantu do not speak Somali. They speak a variety of native and tribal tongues.

The Bantus are the largest ethnic group in the northeastern peninsula of the African continent. Their communities continue to face “ethnic cleansing” in Somalia.

Because they were old enough to remember their homeland, I asked several of the older boys what needed to change. They each said nothing would change in Somalia; that it is a country with no peace or security. Each one said they have no desire to ever return, even though they may still have family there.

On June 8, the Somali women cooked and served food for the gathering. The event was hosted by the Jamie’s Joy Foundation — a foundation created in honor Jamie Morgan Mychael Bratton-McNeeley, a six-year-old boy who died in a car accident on La Costa Avenue in Carlsbad ten years ago.

As this year’s chosen charity, the foundation’s event raised thousands of dollars to give to the Somali Bantus.

“It’s something Jamie would have enjoyed supporting, “ said his mom, Elene Bratton. Mayor Bob Filner attended and presented a proclamation naming June 8 “Jamie’s Joy Day” in San Diego.   

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Too $hort & DJ Symphony, Peppermint Beach Club, Holidays at the Zoo

Events December 19-December 21, 2024
Next Article

The greatest symphonist of them all

Havergal Brian wrote over 30 of them
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader