Waikato Times
By DEBORAH CUMING
 |
| Ajiil Farah is the first Somali to join the New Zealand Army |
Ajiil Farah's entry to the New Zealand Army did not go quite to plan he broke his collarbone playing rugby soon after enlisting.
But yesterday the Hamilton Somali community proudly celebrated
Mr Farah's recent graduation from the Waiouru Army training centre as
New Zealand's first Somali-born soldier.
They "ambushed" Ajiil Farah, 23, throwing a surprise party at
Hamilton's Waikato Migrant Centre. There were speeches by Somali
community leaders and officials, including Hamilton East MP David
Bennett.
"I didn't know it was going to happen," a shy Ajiil said after the speeches and formalities. "I didn't have anything prepared."
Despite the surprise, Ajiil said he was proud to have the
opportunity to thank his community for their support, and praised New
Zealand for the opportunity he was given when he and his family moved
from war-torn Somalia six years ago.
"The biggest success for me is being able to show my community that
they can do anything in this country that they want to to do,
especially the young people coming up," he said.
"It was good to hear the community is proud of me because, in the
beginning, people were saying `oh you are crazy to join the army'.
"But now they see that I have done it. If I can do it, they can do it.
"It was really hard for me to get into the army because of the
language barrier and they had never seen a Somalian person come to them
and say they wanted to join. They thought it was a joke.
"They gave me the form and said `okay, come back next week and we
will see what we can do'. I went there the next morning and they saw
something in me, that I was ready."
A New Zealand Army television advertisement sowed the idea of
joining up and Ajiil gained the support of Somali Friendship Society
president Mohamed Khalif Abdi and the Migrant Youth Training and Work
Service.
Mr Abdi said the community was proud of Ajiil and that he was an inspiration for young people.
"Most of my community do taxi driving and things like that," Mr Farah said.
The collarbone break did not slow Ajiil down, and now is considering the offer of a tour of duty in Afghanistan next year.
Source: Waikato Times
