Somali Institute for Research and Development

CONTACT:

PO Box 1999
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
781-772-1988

Mursal Farah Afdub, Director

DESCRIPTION:

SIRAD “believe[s] in the infinite possibility of human beings to change for the better”– philanthropy, right? – and “works towards peace and reconciliation in [Greater Boston’s] Somali...community by restoring a culture of open, public debate about the problems facing Somalis.” SIRAD also believes that the “poor and largely under-educated” Somali community “needs a cultural and intellectual life, and that a process of peace and reconciliation, of understanding what went wrong back home, and what therefore needs transformation here [will help the] social integration of our community into U.S. society." Dictatorship since 1969, and civil war since 1978, produced many emigrants to the U.S. who were often divided against each other. SIRAD was incorporated in 1999 to transcend those differences and learn the ways of democracy and freedom; it has created a public forum for open discussion, a Somali Students Association, a Somali Women’s steering committee, a Somali Women’s and Children Association, a Somali Bilingual Program at a West Roxbury Middle School assisted by 20 Wellesley College student volunteers, and it has affiliated with the Somali Development Center of Jamaica Plain. This is a bootstrap operation, and merits your support. Let’s help these folks become Americans, too.

(2003: INTERNATIONAL)