What does safety look and feel like to you?

Ahmed | Whakatū

After years of navigating conflicting identities, Ahmed now confidently embraces being both Somali and a New Zealander.

“I was born in Somalia. There was a civil war. We left when I was four years old. We went to Kenya. I came to Aotearoa when I was 11. And that in itself is an adjustment, growing up in Wellington. Having to constantly move, having to adapt, learn a new language, understand a new culture.

So safety for me is definitely not having so much movement and having whānau, and being able to raise my kids in a space where it’s quiet.

You find yourself navigating quite a lot as a young person. I came at an age where I was still a child, but you’re having to learn the language a lot quicker, adapt a lot quicker, and be that person at home who supports your parents.

And as you get older in your teenage years, you find yourself really conflicted about your identity and who you are because you sit in this space that’s like – you’re a Somali, but you’re also in New Zealand, and you’re adapting to a new culture, learning a new language, so it can be quite conflicting.

But over time, the identity that I pushed away so much became something I came to value.

I saw that when I had kids, and it reinforced in me to really claim who I was as a Somali, but also as someone who’s grown up in Aotearoa and can comfortably say, I am a Somali, but I’m also a New Zealander who’s grown up in Wellington.”