ZEINAB IMAN

“All I really need to know... I learned in kindergarten.”

Robert Fulhum

THE JOURNEY
In her father’s mind, Zeinab did not need to know all she learned in kindergarten. Three years after Zainab and her family moved from the northern Somaliland city of Hargeisa to the southern Somali capital Mogadishu, Zeinab arrived home from her new school to the familiar question “so what did you do in school today?” Zeinab eagerly responded that her kindergarten class “went on a field trip to a church and learned how to make the sign of the cross”.

Zeinab amusingly recounts the story of how her Muslim parents unknowingly placed her in an unpublicized Catholic school taught by Italian nuns. The school was a vestige from Somalia’s Italian colonial era of the early and mid twentieth century. Zeinab’s ‘public’ education began the day following her “divine revelation”.
Situated on the Horn of Africa, Somalia has been divided by European colonial powers since the mid 19th century. Parts of the north were administered as British Somaliland, while much of the South became Italian Somalia. In 1892, the Somali capital Mogadishu became known as the White Pearl of the Indian Ocean when Ali Bin Said, the fourth caliphate of Zanzibar, leased the city to the Italians.

From the turn of the century up until the late 60s the Italians developed and promoted Mogadishu as a luxury beach resort for Europeans. Zeinab, one of twenty two children in her family, recalls heading to the Mogadishu beaches with her father: “My father used to take me, along with eight to ten of my youngest siblings, to the beaches every Friday, which is a day off in Somalia and most Muslim countries. Everyone would ask my father if we were all his children. I remember seeing the surprise on their faces when he told them more than half his children were at home.”

In 1960 Somalia was granted independence and merged with the former British protectorate of Somaliland. Somalia’s transformation into an independent state was peaceful in the beginning but soon erupted into violent conflict. By the late 1980s Somalia was embroiled in an inter-factional civil war. Zeinab recalls living with the fear of being ‘taken’ by government forces intent on rounding up young men and women to fight the insurgence from the north. Surrounded by the growing political unrest, twenty three year old Zeinab set her sights on leaving her war torn country: “England and Canada were the only two countries accepting refugees from Somalia at the time. On January 3rd, 1987 I landed as a refugee in Toronto.”

Zeinab initially moved in with friends in Scarborough and soon found work with a neon sign manufacturing company where she was introduced to the discernible Canadian work-site phenomenon, the food truck. In no time Zeinab conformed to the local culinary practice and even developed a taste for a food truck favourite, the conventional ‘hot-dog.’ One day, along with her mid-day frankfurter, the food truck delivered Zeinab’s first ‘culture shock’ experience. Practicing Muslims are prohibited from eating pork. After three months of nibbling on hot-dogs, a colleague illuminated Zeinab on the main ingredient of her favourite snack.

Two years later, in search of a “smaller, quieter place”, Zeinab moved to Ottawa where she worked for various government and private agencies. In 1992 Zeinab enrolled at Concordia University In Montreal and graduated in 1998 with Bachelor of Commerce in Finance. She returned to Ottawa and was hired as an investment representative by TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage.
Zeinab developed an interest in the retail side of banking and in 2013 began exploring career opportunities within this sector. Upon advisement from her employer that there were “lots of retail opportunities up north”, Zeinab applied for a position with the TD Bank branch in Timmins. Zeinab was offered the position and invited for a pre-acceptance branch visit on January 6th, 2014.

THE ARRIVAL
Prior to her first visit, Zeinab associated Timmins with two of the city’s hallmark endowments: cold weather and Shania Twain. Zeinab would have preferred to be greeted on the Vic Power Airport tarmac by Shania, instead she was rudely welcomed by a stiff -50 degree north wind. Nevertheless, the warmth of the people Zeinab met during her visit more than offset the effects of her ‘cool’ reception. Zeinab accepted the position and moved to Timmins on January 12th, 2014.

THE SETTLEMENT
Surrounded by a large family and supported by a bounty of friends for much of her life, Zeinab was initially disarmed by the comparative “lack of social life” she encountered in Timmins: “This is the first time I lived in a place where I didn’t know anyone so I narrowed the gap and created my own entertainment by watching movies, reading and regularly calling my family and friends in Ottawa, Toronto and England.”

Zeinab admits that, in time, she has come to learn to appreciate the slower paced lifestyle of the north and expresses gratitude for having met “some very nice people”.

Maintaining cultural traditions and religious practices since moving to Timmins has proved to be manageable. Cooking traditional Somali meals helps Zeinab preserve a link with her cultural roots. The Somali cuisine is a fusion of a diverse mix of Arab, Persian, Ethiopan, Turkish, Indian and Italian influences. Lamb and goat meat, Somali staples, are among Zeinab’s favourite dishes. Zainab typically tenderizes the meat by boiling it in stock and then sautés it in ghee with garlic and spices such as cumin, coriander and ginger.Like other Muslims, Somali eat only halal meat. ‘Halal’ refers to the method by which the animal is butchered. Because Halal meat is not available in Timmins, Zeinab orders hers from Toronto. In addition to meat, rice and baasto (pasta), are also common ingredients of Somali cuisine and among Zeinab’s favourite dishes.

Zeinab has become involved in the small but active local Muslim community and has helped contribute to the establishment and development of the first Muslim center/mosque in Timmins. As a member of the Timmins Syrian Refugee Committee, Zeinab is helping with the integration of a Syrian family into the Timmins community. Identifying with the plight of today’s Syrian refugees comes easily to Zeinab as the Syrian and Somali communities share many commonalities i.e., both Muslim, both being survivors of war, and both coming to Canada en masse.

The hijab, or headscarf, has become one of the most misunderstood badges of Muslim women. Zeinab shares a lamentable incident associated with wearing the hijab in Timmins: “Dealing with customers telling me to ‘take that thing off you’re in Canada now’ has impacted me . . . I know there isn’t as much diversity in a smaller community but I didn’t expect people to be so blunt. I wish people had a better understanding of the Muslim faith.”

Despite enduring such experiences, Zeinab has no regrets about her move to Timmins and provides the following introspective analysis about living in the rural north over the past two years: “I’ve learned a great deal about myself, I’ve experienced another way of Canadian living, and I’ve made some great friends. Learning to live on my own in an isolated community without family support has shown me that I have the strength to survive. Walking to work every day in the dark and cold winter mornings – I certainly didn’t expect that from myself. I also didn’t think I would be snowshoeing.”

Vincent Van Gogh once asked: “What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” Fleeing her war stricken homeland may have marked the beginning of Zeinab’s courageous journey towards a new life, but the indomitable fortitude that propelled her agonizing decision 29 years ago, has permeated Zeinab’s life in Canada. It echoed through Zeinab’s perseverance when finding work, ‘any work’, within days of her arrival in Toronto and through her determination when pursuing and completing a post-secondary education; that strength of spirit revealed itself in Zeinab’s independence when she moved to an unknown rural northern community to enhance her career; and it surfaces to this day whenever Zeinab responds to “why do you wear that thing?” with something she remembers learning in kindergarten: “for much the same reasons nuns wear their habits.”